How the perfection of Steph Curry maple syrup made pancakes for Celtics

“Sometimes when his technique is super clean and you feel it – it doesn’t hit the edge, the rotation is perfect, the rotation is the right arc, everything in the universe is going right for Stephen – I just say, ‘Maple syrup,’ and he smiles.

You know the story. Stephen Curry treated the Boston Celtics as a high stack. His elderly 43-point performance in the 4th final did not see pancakes for the syrup.

Throughout the play-off, including defense, Curry took the basketball giant to a new level, and no one was happier or prouder than Curry than Fraser.

One of his tasks is to work with Curry while shooting – before training, after training, before games. They have been on the team since 2014, when Steve Kerr was hired as head coach, hired Fraser as one of his assistants, and hired him along with Curry and Klay Thompson. Soon it was just Curry.

Fraser, who everyone knows as a Q because he asked a lot of questions at university, has fed Curry a million times, give or take. They have developed a close relationship and mutual trust. Having seen these millions of shots, Fraser can spot teenage mistakes and suggest small changes to Curry’s mechanics. Fraser also offers in-game observations and suggestions. Sometimes they just laugh.

Fraser is therefore the perfect guide and he agreed to take us out of the finals, leaving Curry-centered inside, including a peek after the klint at the team party.

According to Fraser, the Warriors went to the finals with their eyes open.

“We knew from the first game that we knew their strength and skills,” Fraser said. “We felt how good they were. We knew it would be the hardest opponent so far.

The Celtics had the protection of the No. 1 league in the main season. They are natural and in the finals tend to be looser, allowing more contact. The Celtics took advantage.

“They wanted to punish Stephi, exhaust him, be physical, lay hands, call the judges,” Fraser said. “It simply came to our notice then. He can’t be the one to win us over was probably their strategy. Not only is Marcus Smart good, but Jaylen Brown is strong, natural and tall, as is (Jayson) Tatum.

Did Curry ever appeal to the judges?

“I wish he had done so. I I complain, but my voice is not his. … I actually sued Kane Fitzgerald at the end of one game (Judge). On one shot, Tatum hit Stephit with the body, pushed him, then hit him on the wrist during the shot.

“I said, ‘Kane, Steph was hit.’ He’s like, “How do you know?” Because he only complains when it’s really bad. I’ve been around him for a long time and I know that about him. For his merits in the league he shall not complain. And Kane says, “No, you’re right.” That’s good for him. I said, “Well, you should look at those shots again because he was hit.” He’s like “Point taken.”

Curry set a 3-point record in the NBA career in mid-December, but then fell for a long time. He was coming out of it when he suffered a leg injury by the end of the main season of the month, which brought him out of the last 12 games. Fraser said he came back to the start of the playoffs, ready to tear up.

“It’s the most focused I’ve ever seen in the play-offs. I can just look that. Without being a whisperer to horses, I saw it in his ways: his eyes, his commitment to detail in film screenings, his voice in those screenings, and his focus on our training and games. You could see it.

“I saw in more detail what he wanted to do before and after the workout. … He was very, very aware of what he wanted in that workout, and receptive when I added things. … I felt a level of concentration, I don’t know, how to put it any other way than just feeling that its intensity … leads to what he’s going to do in games.

Game 4 was crucial. If the Celtics won, they would have a 3: 1 lead, which could shatter all hopes of Dubs returning. Before the game, someone asked Fraser what Curry looked like on warm-up.

“I just said, ‘He’s focused.’ And they looked on me, and said, He is locked up. I knew he had a game. “

Fraser said Curry would never say anything like, “I feel it” or “My shot looks great.” Sometimes Fraser tempts Curry to say something positive. It was just a shared feeling that night.

Curry had one poor throw-in, Game 5, when he missed all nine three-pointers as a result of the Warriors victory. Otherwise maple syrup.

“His shot was good,” Fraser said. “There’s never been a time when you would think,‘ It won’t go in. ’He made a few bad punches in the series, heavy punches, long when they weren’t needed, but he wanted to get going.

“You have to live with one of them with Steph, because when he goes out, it’s over.”

Fraser offered Curry some in-game thoughts during the final. At some point, he told Curry that when he danced with the ball, too much triblades, the Celtics hit him. “You need to be more direct with your attack,” Fraser suggested. Second: “Work the ball off early (feed it) and move around quickly, get direct triblamine.”

Now we’re in the sixth game. The desperate Celtics raised the heat.