The ROY resides in Sacramento

By: Sherwood Strauss

Sorry, everybody, I know I suck. Just sayin’ is all. And this isn’t some court testimony—opinions could change if Curry drops a 40-10-10.

But Tyreke Evans is an uncontainable, inexorable force.  “Too Easy” hasn’t dropped off, and he’d go number one if the draft were held again.  The kid is far from perfect, but he can sleepwalk to the rim.  It’s hard to argue with 20-5-5, and I’m too tired to try.  This depressing season has worn me out.

My Curry-love is well established in these parts. I even shudder when it borders on Patton Oswalt’s creepy fictional Quantrelle Bishop obsession.  Steph is the primary reason to watch a Warriors game, as he unveils new spectacular moves every week. I’m damned thankful for the emergence of No. 30, and I’m far from alone. We’re finally getting the answer for what would happen if Reggie Miller and Steve Nash had a baby, and Warriors fans will even root for this guy when he leaves the team in three years (Also known as the “Warriors bar mitzvah,” it’s a departure that marks when our blossoming talents truly become men.  If we’d drafted Bogut, it would have been a “Warriors walkabout”).

We don’t need Curry to win ROY, though. I’m satiated with his fantastic play, and would get sick of the PR trumpets if Steph got this relatively meaningless plaudit.  If Curry won, Warriors HQ would act as though the season was some shimmering success. Actually, they’ll do that anyway, but why give them a tangible award to shake about?  Just chuck the thing to Tyreke already, and let me resume my “Cohan, please leave,” séance.

There is a theme I want to rebuke, though. It’s the faux sophistication of saying, “Curry can’t play defense!”  Assailing a player’s defense is the Salem witch trial tactic of NBA fan-hood. Few people actually watch defense, even fewer analyze the complex stats that would (more like, could) reveal who the best defensive players are.  But man is it easy to screech that a rival player is “bad” at defense.

Today, Curry is likely not good at D.  But he’s a rookie playing on a squad without a semblance of a team defense concept. Steph will probably never be Evans’ equal on that end, due to Tyreke’s physical stature.   So yes, Evans is probably a superior defensive presence today and tomorrow. But let’s stop acting as though defensive prowess is some immutable quality that should determine a ROY award.  Many have noted how Rashard Lewis, Mo Williams and Ray Allen magically turned into good defensive players once they joined good defensive teams.  Defense is as much about understanding a team role as it is about a player’s individual talent (unless of course, that’s not true—again defense is murky and subjective).

So I like Evans for ROY—I just don’t want to hear any of that defense crap.  At this point in their careers, it’s a pretentious, flawed way to judge a player (Hey, remember when Durant was bad for OKC due to his poor defense?).  Those arguing that Tyreke’s D makes him undoubtedly better for the team are going to have to answer for his inferior +/- (Evans is a bonus on defense (-2.1), but the Kings offense sputters with him on the court (-9.1)).  Tyreke deserves this individual award because he put up better individual stats. Let’s not get into fuzzy subjectivity about Curry suffering through ball hogs and D-Leaguers. Better simple numbers should net the ROY.

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