Golden State’s Stephen Curry is already one of the NBA’s most creative players. Here is the video of one of his moves which is getting a lot of publicity.
I have heard this move called the “Steve Nash Hook” and the “Duck Under.” Now, the play has been branded the “Dream Shake,” the “Show-and-Go,” and the “Step-in-Steph.”
I teach the move to the players that I train and a couple girls used the move in games this season, though not with Curry’s violent fake or success.
How does a player train these creative finishes and prepare to use them in the games?
“I have a lot in my bag of tricks,” Curry said. “I was always a short kid on my team, so I would always get my stuff blocked. I’ve had to find creative ways to score my whole career.”
His imagination has been fueled with Golden State. Curry says “watching Monta (Ellis’) genius” around the rim has helped, and, of course, there are the hours the rookie spends practicing.
During pre-pre-game warm-ups, it sometimes might appear that Curry, Anthony Morrow and C.J. Watson are messing around. They take turn after turn sprinting toward the basket and trying a variety of inventive layups, which they call “crafties” and look like shots that wouldn’t be tried on a playground.
Until they are. And then they are tried in an NBA game.
“They do it in a loose environment and then when they come into play in the games, they’re used to shooting them in a relaxed state,” Smart said.
Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter, Volume 4.
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