Steph Inflection

As I withdraw from following the daily chatter on civilization's fall into the abyss, I renew and revive my interest in the meaningless but at least aesthetically pleasing worlds of sports.

So in Major League baseball's postseason I've gone easily from a Yankees fan (because Andrew McCutchen was starting) and Brewers fan to a Red Sox fan, and there have been some beautiful games.  A couple of catches in the outfield last night were classic. The Sox infield is amazing.

I've even gone back to football despite my misgivings.  That's how heinous the news is.

But the NBA season has begun and that's golden.  As in Golden State Warriors, and Steph Curry.  A two-time MVP and 3 point shooting phenom who literally changed how NBA basketball is played, he's been kind of an afterthought the past two seasons.  But in this young year, he's back.

He's scoring at around a 30 point game average, but last night he had one of those signature Curry games.  He scored 51 points in three quarters (really, in two quarters plus a little more.) He hit 11 three point shots, and extended his series of records for 3s that is too dominant to go into. The Warriors were so far ahead after 3 quarters that he didn't play in the fourth, so there's no telling what records he might have set.

Here are two things I think about now when I think about Steph Curry.  First, that he ends his daily shooting regimen with 100 three pointers.  That's 100, to end  his workout.

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Second, there are these video ads on YouTube with famous people in various fields--acting, film directing, writing, etc.--advertising their Master Classes.  In his, Curry talks about what shooters focus on when they shoot.  The front of the rim of the basket?  The square over the basket on the backboard?  Curry says he focuses on the metal rings through which the nylon of the basket are threaded.

He said that from any angle he can usually see at least two or three of them.  He focuses on these as he takes his shot.

Consider then that Steph Curry, the documented best long range shooter in NBA history, is often shooting from about 30 feet away, or a little less and a lot more.  He hit a couple from 40 feet last night.

He is also known for one of the quickest releases in basketball--and he's even quicker this year.  No stare at the basket, dribble and set his feet and shoot.  His shot is off in a shot, as you can see from several long-range shots in the above video from last night.  How can he even see those metal rings from 30 feet and beyond, let alone focus on them in a millisecond?

Apparently Curry was hitting regularly from half court in his warmups last evening.  But it isn't until the game starts that shooters know if they're hot.  Game announcers often suggest that a particularly long range shot after several makes is a "heat check."  Once a shooter is hot, teammates look for them to shoot.  And in the first and third quarters last night, Curry's shot was on fire.  Several shots were not only from amazing distances and in difficult situations, they were beautiful.

So it's more than distraction.  It's wonder.