TORRANCE TRIBUNE March 3, 2016 Page 5 Up and Adam See Up and Adam, page 6 The Enigma That is Steph Curry By Adam Serrao Sometimes it’s hard to shift interest over from a football season that takes place every week to the long, 82 game year that the NBA boasts. One person who has certainly been making that shift quite a bit easier is the Golden State Warriors point guard, Stephen Curry. Curry has made quick work of becoming the face of the National Basketball Association. LeBron, who? In just three short years, Curry has not only brought his team to a championship level, but has also won an MVP and is reconstructing the game of basketball as we know it. Sure, it’s hard to stay focused on every game of a season that’s so long, but when Steph Curry suits up to take the court, all eyes are transfixed on the Warrior. For those that don’t know much about Curry, the son of former NBA player Dell Curry and the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft played college ball for Davidson. The 6-foot-3, 190 pound point guard started making headlines at a young age. It was at Davidson that Curry was twice named the Southern Conference Player of the Year and set the all-time scoring record for not only his team, but also the conference. During his sophomore year, Curry fully developed his touch. He set the single-season NCAA record for 3-pointers made, foreshadowing what the sharpshooter would soon become in the NBA. “He’s doing things that nobody’s ever done before,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of his superstar after he turned in another 51 point effort in a win against the Orlando Magic. It wasn’t just any other win, though. It was a win, on the road, on a back-to-back night after a hard-fought game against the Miami Heat where Curry scored 42 points, including a 3-point shot that eventually decided the game. If you haven’t caught on yet, Curry is simply mastering the 3-pointer. From fall-away’s, to fade-away’s to even half-court shots; if Curry puts the ball in the air, it finds a way to fall through the hoop. Just last week, Curry set a new consecutive 3-point mark that was formerly held by Atlanta Hawks guard, Kyle Korver. In breaking Korver’s record, Curry made a 3-point shot in his 128th consecutive game. Something makes it seem as if that record will last well beyond 128 games. “I have a hard time seeing how that streak is ever going to end,” said Orlando Magic head coach, Scott Skiles. “It would have to be kind of a fluke night. He’d just have to be off that night, and that certainly doesn’t happen very often.” Curry set the record against Skiles and his Magic team in the Warriors 130-114 win. Even Kerr, Steph’s own coach, is downplaying the significance of the records that his star player is setting. “It’s so simple for him. His 3-point shot is like a 2-point shot,” Kerr explained. “It’s what he does. It’s to the point where we expect a half-court shot.” Perhaps the most amazing thing about Curry is that no one can shut him down. Whether it’s the best defensive team in the league or the best individual defender, Curry finds a way to avoid being stopped. He’ll shoot a three right in someone’s face, beat his defender off the dribble, orcut to the basket from the 3-point line, confusing his opponent, only to get an easy bucket at the rim. “The strength that he has is allowing him to step further and further back without changing his mechanics,” Curry’s trainer Brandon Payne said. “He’s able to create any look that he wants because he’s able to get backward away from pressure.” Curry’s incredible range is exactly what sets up other opportunities on the court. “If you get up tight on him, that’s actually what we want you to do,” Payne continued. “We want you to get up tight on him because then it’s going to open lanes to the basket when he plays off the high post.” Last Saturday night at Oklahoma City, Curry put on his purest demonstration yet of how and why he’s clearly the best player in the league. Not only did Curry tie a record for most 3-pointers made in a game (12), but he broke his own record for most 3-pointers made in a season with 24 games still remaining. Ray Allen previously held the record with 269 3’s made. Curry broke Allen’s record in the 2012- ’13 season with 272 and has broken his own record every year since with 286 in ‘14-’15 and 288 this year with plenty of games still to be played. Aside from the records, Curry’s phenomenal play guided the Warriors into overtime against the Thunder and a ridiculous shot from more than 35 feet out not only won the game for Golden State, but also had the rest of the league in awe. “@StephenCurry30 needs to stop it man!!” LeBron James tweeted after Curry made an absurd shot look routine to win the game. “He’s ridiculous man! Never before seen someone like him in the history of ball.” Dwyane Wade tweeted out, “Curry is UNREAL!!!!” and Magic Johnson chimed in saying, “@StephenCurry30 has a chance to be the greatest player we’ve ever seen, if he plays at this level for the next 4-5yrs!” Clearly, Curry has everyone’s attention. Curry is the closest thing that the NBA has seen to “un-guardable” since Michael Jordan dawned the red and black for the Chicago Bulls. Even now, six years into the league, Curry is being labeled the greatest shooter to ever play the game. He has no trouble garnering other labels, too. He’s the new face of the league, the reigning Most Valuable Player, an NBA Finals champion and was named the 2015 Male Athlete of the Year by The Associated Press. Curry is bringing finesse back to a league that was so recently enamored with slam dunks and inside post play. The power game has become a thing of the past. Now, people want to show up early to catch warm-ups just to see Curry dribble the ball or shoot 3-pointers that range out toward the half-court line. Steph Curry is not only changing the way basketball is played, but he’s changing the way that we, the viewers, watch the game. Whoever would have thought that the 3-point shot would be exciting? Now, people tune in to watch the Warriors to see how many Curry will make in a night, who he’ll shoot them over, and how long the Warriors will go without losing a game. A 20 point deficit, for Curry and these Warriors, can be erased in the blink of an eye. No lead is safe. The 52-5 Warriors are on pace to beat Michael Jordan’s Bulls best season record ever of 72-10, giving us all yet another reason to tune in every night. Basketball has never been so exciting and it’s Steph Curry who has truly changed the game. • Burkley & Brandlin LLP A T T O R N E Y S A T L AW Living Trusts/Wills, Probate, Employment Law, Personal Injury Trust and Estates Litigation, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation 310-540-6000 *AV Rated (Highest) Martindale - Hubbell / **Certified Specialist Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization Lady Warriors Reach Third Straight CIF Final By Adam Serrao There’s no secret to who the best girls basketball team in the city of Torrance is. If there ever was, Hayley Tanabe, Kalei Atkinson and the rest of the Lady Warriors have done their part to prove their point. With a 47-42 victory in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA playoffs against Redondo last Saturday night, West High made their way into their third CIF finals appearance in as many years. Getting to one CIF Final is hard enough. You can ask any team from any other sport around the city. To get to three straight, though, is unprecedented. If you know anything about this West High girls team, then you know that’s exactly what they’ve become - unprecedented. It was just one year ago that the Lady Warriors beat Troy 52-41 to take home their second straight CIF championship. Two years ago, the legacy all started with a 65-52 Division 2A championship victory over El Dorado. This year, the Lady Warriors will look for their third championship in a row when they take on Ventura this Friday night. it certainly won’t be easy. It never really is. But something about this West High team says that they have the upper hand when it comes to playing in championship games. Getting there was no walk in the park, either. The Lady Warriors were faced with a tough matchup against one of their biggest rivals in the Redondo Union Sea Hawks. “We play our biggest rival on Saturday,” Hayley Jones said after a stunning comeback victory over Valencia last Wednesday night to reach the semifinals. “I’m very excited. We did not give up, we didn’t have a doubt in our mind.” Jones and the rest of the Warriors took that same mindset into their matchup with Redondo. All they had to do first was get past the first quarter. “We notoriously have a bad first quarter,” head coach William Atkinson explained of his team. “They don’t give up. They know they can come back.” The Warriors got off to their slowest start of the night in the first quarter once again. The difference this time was their defensive effort, spearheaded by Jones. Though West only put up eight points in the first eight minutes of play, they held the Sea Hawks to just seven. Jones came away with six steals on the night, adding five points, seven rebounds and four blocks. “In a big game like this, you have to take care of the basketball,” Redondo head coach Marcelo Enriquez said. “We didn’t do a good job of that tonight.” Thanks to Jones’ effort, the Warriors were able to overcome their first quarter woes and finally hit their groove moving into the second half of play. West held a 10 point lead with just under four minutes remaining in the game. From all indications, it looked as if the team would cruise into their third straight CIF Final appearance. Redondo didn’t give up without a fight, though. A 7-3 run capped by a Nicole Swift 3-pointer brought the Sea Hawks to within three points with just seconds remaining in the game. Redondo intentionally fouled Tanabe on the next possession to put her at the free throw line. As she usually does, Tanabe showed up in the clutch, knocking down both free throws to give her team a five point lead with just seconds remaining. “She makes this calming,” Atkinson said of Tanabe. “It’s like, ‘I’ve been there before, so it doesn’t seem as pressure-filled’” Once the final second ticked off the clock, all of the pressure of the moment was, indeed, lifted. The Warriors walked away with a five point victory and will now game plan for their championship matchup. Tanabe finished the game with nine points, three rebounds and four steals while her fellow teammates Kalei Atkinson and Katie Timmerman scored 10 points and six points, respectively. Redondo hadn’t allowed more than 30 points all playoffs long. The Warriors put up 47. West’s stout defense also forced 22 turnovers on the night. Follow the Warriors in their quest for a third straight championship
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