Walt Frazier thinks his D could stop Steph Curry from shooting 3s
For all of reputation as a stylish, metropolitan figure in swingin’ New York City, Knick legend Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s game was blue collar through and through. The seven-time All-Star and two-time champion was a defensive stalwart in an era that often saw players giving a wink and a promise to that side of the court.
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The long-armed guard notoriously swallowed up contemporaries like Jerry West and Jo Jo White, and made it so it was quite the relief for rival Earl Monroe when the Pearl was eventually traded to New York.
Unfortunately, Frazier has now entered what has become a familiar realm full of stars from the 1960s and 1970s that swear that they’d know what to do when it comes time to face down the Stephen Curry Machine.
Sigh.
From Mike and Mike in the Morning, as transcribed by NJ.com:
“Defense was my forte,” Frazier said Thursday during an interview on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike” show. “I had to guard Oscar. I had to guard Jerry West, Earl the Pearl (Monroe), Dave Bing. Any phenomenal player, I had to guard. So when I’m guarding these guys, I’m trying to take away what they do best.
“So today if I’m guarding Curry … he might have 25 2s on me, but he’s not going to have 13 threes because I’m going to be forcing him inside of the arc.”
(Giving up 25 two-pointers is 11 points worse than giving up 13 three-pointers.)
Frazier, just like Oscar Robertson before him, is strangely acting under the premonition that NBA defenses want Stephen Curry to shoot three-pointers. As if they’re A-OK with a player, one that has hit more than half of his shots from 30-feet and out, pulling up for a 25-footer.
That’s sort of the point of the fake, Clyde. That you pretend to be dribbling in for a layup – because you’re Stephen Curry and your handle is better than anyone’s in the game – prior to stepping back for a three-point release that’s so quick that it defies basketball logic. Players don’t want to give Curry three-pointers in the same way they don’t want to give Kevin Durant free throws, Allen Iverson a clear lane to the basket, or Michael Jordan dunks.
Sometimes defenders actually get … y’know … fooled!
Defenses are desperate to take away Stephen Curry’s threes, they’re not new to this gig, but a goodly chunk of Curry’s brilliance comes from his ability to still develop clean looks from outside in spite of defenders that are hugging him outside the line. That’s what makes Curry and other legends so special – he knows that you know, but he also knows that you are powerless in stopping what you know is coming.
Dave Bing was quick and strong, Earl the Pearl was cunning and crafty, and Oscar was an absolute brick house in the post. Jerry West was probably Curry’s best comparison, as he had shooting range that far outstripped most guards of his era. Because there was no three-point line back in his era, though, West would work for a 15-footer even though he could make 40 percent of his 25-footers, because there was no real point in lunging for a slightly lower percentage shot.
This is a long way of saying that Walt Frazier was lucky that he never had to deal with the fear of the three-point line. Outside of ABA/NBA exhibition games, he never had to work with it save for three games in his final season in 1979-80 (not that this is germane, but Clyde retired having missed his only three-point attempt).
In perhaps the greatest Game 7 performance in history, Walt dominated Jerry West to the tune of 36 points, 19 assists and five steals in the deciding game of the 1970 NBA Finals (West finished with 28 points). With that in place, it’s also important to remember that a Stephen Curry-like showman also played his best game as a pro against Walt Frazier’s defense:
That’s 68 points from Pete Maravich against Clyde, all on two-pointers. So maybe Frazier’s boast about giving up 25 two-pointers to Curry isn’t that far off. Pistol had 26 of ‘em.
In a bit of a surprise, though, each of these combative retirees could learn a thing or two from Patrick Ewing, who honestly answered a question about longtime rival Michael Jordan in an interview with David T. Foster of the Charlotte Observer:
Q. If you and Michael played one-on-one right now, who would win?
A. He would. Right now I think he’s in a little bit better shape than I am. He has been on a mission lately trying to get his weight down, and he’s succeeding. Meanwhile my knees are bothering me and I haven’t been able to do the same thing.
Translated: He’s better than me, I’m out of shape, and my knees hurt.
What’s so wrong with admitting that?
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
