Stephen Curry or Patty Mills: Who Is the Better NBA Prospect after the Showdown?

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

After watching the second round game of the Men’s NIT last night, it was clear that the game was exclusively about two people, Stephen Curry and Patty Mills. The game had so much hype about two of the most talked about guards in college basketball and it lived up to it...or did it?

Stephen Curry

When people hear or think of the name Davidson, they think of two things: the team that went far in March last year and Stephen Curry. One of the most touted prospects in the college game today proved he is a tremendous college player. 

A "College Player"

The college game is filled with supreme talent and superior athletes, most of whom are not suited to continue at the next level. Stephen Curry is a 6'3" guard who weighs 185 pounds, not the typical build for an NBA guard. Yes, he has one of the quickest, maybe the quickest release in all of college basketball, but does that carry on to the next level?

Compare him to arguably one of the best college players ever in JJ Redick, who was 6'4" and 190. Both players have endless range, but JJ has not been the best pro. It has taken him three years to even see the floor on a consistent basis. 

Adam Morrison was the most like Curry, in the fact that both players were on mid-major teams and were the stars of their teams. Both players were the center of attention at every away venue, but Morrison has been traded and does not even sniff the court in LA.

So looking at the game last night, where Curry faced an "average" St. Mary’s team, he did not look so good. Yes, if you look at how many points he scored he did have a good game with 26 points.

If you look closer at the game, he took 27 shots to get those 26 points. That is not evidence of great shooting numbers. Yes, he is the best player on the team, but he has to be: He takes every shot. The next highest shot total on his team was Lovedale who took only nine. 

When Curry gets drafted, he will be at most an off shooting guard, but his only chance is on a team without a star on it. On no NBA team will they let any player, let alone a rookie, take around 20 shots. This season he has taken over 20 shots 15 times, and six of the 15 came in a losing effort. He has also taken 30 or more shots twice this season.

He can't be a point guard because he is too turnover-prone, ending last night with six to only five assists. In the season, in 35 games he has only recorded 10 or more assists three times, while in nine games he has recorded five or more turnovers.

In his three seasons at Davidson, he has not shown he can take care of the ball with any consistency. In his freshman year he had 95 assists to 95 turnovers. In his sophomore year, the year he made the NCAA run, he finished the season with 104 assists to 93 turnovers.

Both seasons he was playing as the shooting guard, and this season after losing his point guard he had to take it over. He finished this season with 189 assists and 126 turnovers. 

All these numbers, remember, were done mostly against weaker competition in the southern conference. Does he have the potential to become a shooter off the bench, possibly? He is a tremendous talent, but I think his game would be better suited internationally rather than in the NBA. 

Patty Mills

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