Despite a tough loss, Stephen Curry is back and is still the alpha dog that leads the Golden State Warriors each time they take the floor.
The Warriors signed Kevin Durant, a four-time scoring champ and former MVP in the offseason to help take the load off of star guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Through the first 37 games of the season, Durant has emerged as the Warriors’ best player, while Curry has slightly dwindled in his production this year.
Now, does this mean that Curry should take a backseat to Durant?
No, it does not. In fact, Durant should take a backseat to Curry.
Yes, Curry’s production is down from his two MVP seasons with averages of 24.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, and 5.8 apg. His shooting percentages are down from his two MVP seasons shooting 46.9% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc, according to stats.nba.com.
Durant’s numbers this year are slightly better than Curry’s numbers. He is averaging 25.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 4.6 apg, and 1.6 blocks per game.
Don’t get me wrong Durant’s numbers are better than Curry’s numbers this year, but Curry’s value to the team is more significant because he is the primary ballhandler and Durant plays the “point forward” position for some stretches. When Curry brings the ball up, he is constantly double teamed at half-court, Durant does get double-teamed when he brings the ball up the floor, but not as much.
Durant should take a backseat to Curry and this is one of the reasons why:
Warriors' Kevin Durant calls for ball on crucial late possession, Stephen Curry relents, Draymond Green reacts w/ frustration pic.twitter.com/VROJSAZ0cZ
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) January 7, 2017
As great as KD is, sometimes his decision-making is not the best, such as in the video above (via @BenGolliver) when Durant thought he had a better matchup and went one-on-one when Curry should have had the ball in his hands to go with a Curry-Durant pick-and-roll, which is probably the Warriors’ best play.
The coaching staff needs to implement that play more in crunchtime. Yes, Curry deferred to Durant on this play, but he has to realize he is the floor general, the point guard of this team with an unreal shooting ability as a weapon. I’m not saying this is Durant’s fault for taking the shot, but with Curry handling the ball for this play, the Warriors would have got a better shot than just a dribble-into-contested three-pointer.
Another example of Curry being the alpha dog of this Warriors squad was earlier in the year when the Rockets came to Oracle Arena and beat the Warriors in double overtime with Curry fouling out in the second overtime and the Warriors stagnated without Curry on the floor and went several possessions of isolation with Durant. The Warriors would eventually lose that game to the Rockets, their third loss of the season at the time.
Curry has to assert himself more as the alpha dog and stop being so nice and relenting to Durant and be more aggressive when the game gets close in the fourth quarter. With Curry handling the ball in crunch time than Durant or Andre Iguodala, it gives the Warriors a bigger threat as he will almost always get double-teamed, and it presents several options.
Once Curry asserts himself as the alpha dog of the Warriors, the fourth quarter meltdowns will go away and this Warriors team will present themselves as the most dominant team in the league this season.