Mychal Thompson is laughing in the face of those who think Matthew Dellavedova can stop Stephen Curry. In fact, he thinks the Golden State Warriors’ struggles in the NBA Finals are due to their players having off nights rather than the Cavaliers’ defense.
“Dellavedova, he couldn’t stop Steph if Steph was asleep,” Thompson, the father of Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson, said on his “Thompson & Trudell” show on ESPNLA 710 Thursday. “Steph is that good of an offensive player, that great of a shooter, that great of a ball-handler.
“So giving him credit for stopping Steph Curry, people who are doing that don’t understand that Steph Curry is one of those kind of guys – Kevin Durant, Kobe (Bryant) when Kobe was in his prime. There’s nothing you can do with guys like that. They’re going to score. You’re just trying to make things as difficult as possible for him. And Dellavedova’s scrapping, and he’s hustling. I give him credit for that. And he’s trying his little heart out. But no, come on. That’s a joke to think he can stop Steph Curry.”
Scrapping, hustling and playing “his little heart out” are disrespectful ways of describing Delly’s abilities. We understand that Thompson, a former two-time NBA champion with the Lakers, is a homer who is rooting for his son, but come on, you have to give some credit to Cleveland for making things tough on Golden State’s typically potent offense.
Just take a look at these numbers. As SportVU says, Curry was 0-for-7 when Delly guarded him in Game 2 of the Finals, and he was 3-for-9 in Game 3 when the Australian guard defended him. You can’t tell me that is just a coincidence; Delly is playing good defense, and that is one big reason the Cavs have been successful even with Kyrie Irving hurt. It’s also why Dellavedova has become an internet god over the past week, receiving tremendous photoshops and memes.
