This week, JR Smith is a guest on JJ Redick’s podcast, and he talked about Matthew Dellavedova’s harassing defense of Stephen Curry. The Australian put himself shabby to limit the impact of the Warriors leader during the Finals. An expenditure of energy that still makes the former 6th man of the Cavaliers laugh. “I love Delly madly, but Delly almost died defending on Steph Curry,” Smith recalled. “He literally nearly died! We have footage of him in the ice bucket, and he’s up to his neck after defending on Steph! »
A sequence that De’Aaron Fox saw before Game 1 against the Warriors, and he confirms that it’s hell to defend on Stephen Curry. Especially since Mike Brown had decided to make a box on the All-Star leader, whom he obviously knows very well.
“Did you see the sequence where JR Smith talks about Delly? » Fox asks the press. ” It’s the truth ! Really ! I didn’t defend Steph all the time, mainly in the 1st and 4th quarters, and this sequence is realistic! »
Author of 38 points, Fox therefore also sacrificed himself in defense to prevent Curry from having the ball, and that is what Brown had asked of him. “Obviously, my team wants me to do things in attack, but Mike told me about it when he arrived here: he doesn’t care what I can do in attack, and he wants me to improve in attack. It is a challenge that I accept. »
There’s no shortage of great point guards in the NBA to gauge his progress on defense, but Curry is arguably the toughest challenge because he’s as strong on and off the ball. It therefore requires constant attention, and a lot of stamina.
“Playing 40 minutes and scoring 38 points is fun. But you have to try to disturb a guy as much as possible who, if he is not the best player in the world, he is the best in terms of his range of shots, his skill, his shots in catch-and-shoot or after a dribble … This guy is one of the most creative players in ball-in-hand history, and disrupting him is the most important step. I don’t care about proving things to others, but I want to prove to myself that I can go out there and try to harass the best defenders in the league.”
