Stephen Curry’s Shooting Struggles Continue in January
Stephen Curry is having his best season of his career. But there is one thing that should have Golden State Warriors fans concerned is his shooting percentage. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Stephen Curry is having his best season of his career. He is more popular than ever, and with injuries to superstars Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul, he is destined to start the All-Star game in New Orleans. He would be the first Warrior to start since Latrell Sprewell in 1995. It will be a much deserved honor for Curry, who has set career highs in points, assists, and rebounds this season. But one thing that should have Golden State Warriors fans concerned is his shooting percentage.
Experts have labeled Curry as the best shooter in NBA, but he is actually having his worst shooting season of his short career. Curry is only shooting 44 percent from the field, his worst shooting percentage for a season. He is also shooting career lows from three-point range and the foul line. An easy explanation for this is that defenses are keying in on Curry as the Warriors first option because of his magnificent performance in 2013 playoffs.
I would not be so concerned about these numbers, but they are progressively decreasing every month with January being his worst shooting month. He is only shooting 42 percent from the field, 30 percent from three-point range and 87 percent from the foul line. Curry is currently playing almost 38 minutes per game, a considerable amount of minutes for a player that does everything for this team. With all the minutes he is playing, he may be tiring out early in the season, which would be terrible news for the Warriors.
Fatigue leads to injuries, and Curry is injury-prone. The Warriors need to find a way to acquire a backup point guard to aid Curry because Toney Douglas and Nemanja Nedovic have been non-existent all season. I really like Kirk Hinrich because he is a veteran that can shoot the ball and is a great defender at the point guard position. The Chicago Bulls are in rebuilding mode, so they should be willing to talk to the Warriors about making this deal if the Warriors are interested.
Andre Miller may be another good add on paper, but I don’t think he is a good match for the Warriors. He is a half-court player, has been a nuisance to the Denver coaching staff and is a below average defender. The Warriors are an uptempo team with great chemistry and are becoming a great defensive team.
Whoever the Warriors acquire, that player must aid Curry because if the Warriors keep playing Curry almost 40 minutes per game, they will not reach their ultimate goal. This four-day rest has come at the perfect time for the Warriors, which will allow Curry to get some rest after a grueling road trip.
The Warriors will play 10 of their next 14 games at home, which may be just the thing Curry needs to get back on track. It will start with the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, who he absolutely torched during the playoffs. It may be just the thing Curry needs to turn his shooting season around and propel the Warriors to bigger and better things.