The Steph Curry Effect

Over the last decade or so we've seen the game of basketball transform before our very eyes. Gone are the days of the dominant big man who could score with his back to the basket. Now a days all you see are players of all shapes and sizes whose main interest is to shoot from the outside. When we're talking outside we're talking from way beyond the arc. The further the better. You see kids in the gym spending more time working on shots from half court than on basic skills. All this has done is made players more one dimensional and easier to guard.

We are almost 20 years removed from the Michael Jordan Era and Kobe Bryant's last game was a few years ago. What people forget is how important the post up game was to these 2 amazing scorers. These guys were so unguardable because their game was so multi faceted. Try to negate their speed with a smaller player and they would take him to the post. Put size on them and they would work from the outside. That's what made their game so beautiful. They were unguardable because their game had so many wrinkles to it that they never had to force things. All they had to do was use the part of the game that was called for depending on the situation.

With all the love Steph Curry's long distance game gets, people forget how good he is at other parts of the game as well. He is a phenomenal ball handler and pound for pound one of the best off the ball screeners in the game. Add to that his smarts and his ability to read a defense and go to spots on the floor that are favorable to him and then you understand why Curry is the player he is. You begin to realize that his range is a small part of a huge basketball arsenal that he carries with him.

So when you practice your game, don't spend all of your time shooting bombs from 30 feet out. Learn all the elements of the game. Both the glamorous and unglamorous parts of it. This will make you the best player you can be.