Stephen Curry is breaking our concept of what makes a good shooter every day. He takes shots that would be terrible ideas for everyone else in the league, and sinks them at alarming rates. He makes defenses try to guard impossible spots on the floor, and punishes them when they don’t. Look at this nonsense:
So how did Curry make the ascension from one of the best three-point shooters in the game to a higher plane of basketball existence? According to San Francisco Chronicle‘s Rusty Simmons, he did it with the help of legendary shooting coach Bruce “Q” Fraser (pictured above), who runs personally-tailored drills for Steph. Here’s a sample:
People play Curry to drive right, so Fraser drills the left; people are running Curry off the three-point arc, so Fraser has Curry shoot from 30 feet; and people are showing, blitzing or double-teaming Curry on pick-and-roll sets, so Fraser finds answers.
If you’ve ever seen Curry give up the ball to a teammate when he’s double-teamed and then race to a spot where a pass can be returned to him, you’ve seen Fraser’s handiwork.
“I just haven’t ruined him,” Fraser said.
No, he has made Curry a lot better.
It shouldn’t be all that surprising that Curry has to practice to make missiles like this look routine:
But considering all the things every player practices, it’s simply amazing Curry has either the time to do this as well, or the skill to replace more routine drills with this one. Then again, it’s simply reflective of the adaptations Curry has to make to keep getting better even as stopping him has become the biggest task of NBA defenses everywhere.
But Fraser is no stranger to accurately preparing his players for their game situations. Just take this amazing anecdote about Fraser’s work with Warriors head coach Steve Kerr from back in Kerr’s playing days:
Kerr wasn’t playing many minutes. When he was in, he’d get a shot or two. Then, he’d return to the bench.
So, Fraser had Kerr re-enact his usual 48-minute game without Kerr realizing it. The two would chat on the sideline for six minutes and then Fraser would jump up and pass Kerr a ball at the three-point arc.
Make or miss, Fraser would go back to the bench. Sometimes, he’d start reading a newspaper or start asking Kerr about his family. After 12 minutes passed, he’d dart for the ball, shuttle it to Kerr for another three-pointer.
Curry and the Warriors better hold on tight to Q, because after this article, he’ll be in high demand around the league.
(Via San Francisco Chronicle)
