Golden State Warriors: 3 ways Stephen Curry can improve defensively

1. Make better decisions

Curry’s two early fouls against Chris Paul  in the Houston game took him off the court midway through the first quarter, and also ruined the Warriors’ rotations for the night.

Against Memphis, Curry committed his fifth foul of the night when he  bumped Mario Chalmers.
There was no need for Curry to press Paul when he could have called for a switch and roam the passing lanes. Instead of forcing the issue with Chalmers, Curry could have lured Chalmers into a trap with more capable defenders.

Last season, Curry averaged a win share total of 3.9 and in his MVP season, he cracked the top ten in defensive win shares with 4.1. With that said, he didn’t post those numbers by forcing the issue on defense nor did he post them by being reckless.

In most of his matchups,  Curry gives up size but playing smarter on defense could be his greatest equalizer. If that means calling for switches more than playing iso or committing to being more of a help defender, so be it.