PARIS – LeBron James and Stephen Curry run a play they call “too small.” It’s an action where Curry, Team USA’s shortest player at 6-foot-2, sets a screen for James, one of the greatest drivers to the rim of all time because of his 6-8, 260-pound frame and stunning athleticism. Often in this play with Curry, the defender who switches onto James is “too small” to stop him.
Advertisement This is an enormously successful play for Team USA this summer, as Curry explained Monday. “I’m a good screener and can cause some confusion for a guy like (LeBron) having the ball,” Curry said, before the Americans’ practice in preparation for an Olympic quarterfinal against Brazil Tuesday. “We do it a little bit in Golden State where you have somebody else having the ball and me setting it, and I have a lot of different actions you can run, but if you get (LeBron) going downhill, good luck to anybody trying to stop him and having me come off into space.
“Just try to make teams make decisions and the more decisions you can make a defense make the better chance you have to create confusion,” Curry continued. In eight games this summer, James is leading the USA at 14.6 points per game, but is also tops with an astounding .
627 shooting percentage. At 39, James is getting to the rim and otherwise into the lane with relentless precision, as only seven of his 47 field goals have been 3s. James hasn’t scored every bucket off of the “too small” play, but it is certain.