Chris Rock is a comedian who generally says things that make people go, “Damn, that’s so TRUE” while laughing hysterically. He recently filmed a birthday video for Mark Jackson, which was transcribed by Diamond Leung of the Bay Area Media Group.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Rock said before starting to joke. “You watch the games, and you go, ‘Oh so now Steph Curry’s going to play defense for the white man. Couldn’t play it for the brother. Now he’s like Dennis Rodman.’
“Couldn’t do it for you. Yeah, everybody’s boxing out now. Couldn’t do it for a black man. Ooh, they play some defense for the white man, don’t they? Ooh, they play some good defense for the white man.”
On the surface, Rock’s comments have that familiar “Damn, that’s so TRUE” ring to them. The Warriors are basically the same team (plus Shaun Livingston) as the squad Mark Jackson took to the playoffs twice. However, under the stewardship of Steve Kerr the Warriors are winning over 80% of their games and Curry has received plaudits for his defense since the beginning of the season.
Rock’s comments were funny, mostly because they were delivered in that special Rockian way. The only issue is that his premise is 100% wrong, because Curry was simply following Jackson’s orders before Kerr came along. Jackson wanted Curry to shoot and facilitate while leaving the heavy defensive lifting to Klay Thompson. Curry is far from a troublemaker, but he repeatedly mentioned that he would’ve liked more chances to defend opposing point guards instead of covering the weaker member of each opposing team’s backcourt, which is what he did under Jackson.
One of Kerr’s first proclamations after taking the Warriors job was that Curry was an underrated defender. The man who serves as Kerr’s defensive coordinator, Ron Adams, challenged Curry to do more than play passing lanes. After some encouragement and plenty of video sessions, Curry became a guy who can play better one-on-one and team defense. Sure, his steals went up, but more importantly Curry wasn’t getting posted or crossed up on a regular basis. The result: Curry is no longer considered an easy target, and his reputation as a guy who’s helped hold some of the best point guards in the league to middling offensive numbers has helped his MVP candidacy, especially when people compare him to James Harden.
Another quibble with Rock’s jokes: the Warriors were actually a better rebounding team under Jackson. Kerr has focused more on ball movement than boxing out, which the Warriors haven’t had to do as often because they force so many turnovers and make a higher percentage of their shots than any other team in the NBA. Jackson never had problems getting his team to play hard, but the Warriors are playing a lot smarter this season under Kerr.
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Mark Jackson is Jim Harbaugh and Chris Rock is his little Kawakami media puppet. Owners always know best and Mark Jackson held the Warriors back the way Jim Harbaugh held the Niners back. If you think the Warriors are impressive this season, wait until the Niners go 15-1 and everyone forgets who Steve Kerr is because they’re so busy doing a 180 on my homeboy Jed.
FAITHFUL
VIVA JED!
BASportsGuy Yep, Rock definitely off-base. Knicks fans being bitter over Steph is nothing new, either.
BASportsGuy is he sitting next to frankie muniz?
BASportsGuy so Chris Rock is still alive
BASportsGuy Bill Cosby on that video wishing him a happy birthday is hilariously ironic…
BASportsGuy I thought you were talkin about Rocks line “Steph Curry is Allen Iverson, w/ BOTH parents in the house”
faith or delusion? harbaugh and MJ were apples and oranges…
This is Chris Rock! Who is this guy?
Some white man on crack? Jim Harbaugh held the Niners back? Held them back from continuing a decade long losing streak!
That little white man Jed York has the short man complex. That’s three strikes
against you right there- short, white, and his name is Jed. Jed fucking Clampett!
Striking it rich with his grand daddy’s money!
This is Chris Rock signing off.
Thanks Pizza Mike! What the hell kind of
name is Pizza Mike anyway?
chickenfried234 Dear friend, you have clearly been brainwashed by the media haters. When Jed made them drive an extra 40 miles down to Santa Clara they all instantly got sticks up their butts. Clearly Jim Tomsula is an upgrade, the media is lying to you. Wake up!
FAITHFUL
VIVA JED
Pizza Mike I’m not sure if you are agreeing with me or not, friend. I’ll assume you’re on my side and that you’re a true Jed believer like I am. All these Bay Area Sports whatevers will be stuffing their faces with crow like press box hotdogs when the Niners go 15-1.
FAITHFUL
VIVA JED
Playing smarter for the white man. I see how it is.
SuperFreakingFaithful49JedYorkPwns4Life Pizza Mike Your sarcasm is suffocating.
SuperFreakingFaithful49JedYorkPwns4Life Lets you and I make a bet on the success of the 49ers. I say they don’t win more than 7 games. Boy stupid and Baalke have destroyed this team and it will show this year. I got lots of money saying they stink.
If your so in love with this team, lets you and I make some bets on this coming season. I will put $5000 down on the 49ers winning no more than 7 games. You want that action? You can reach me at buellm@comcast.net and lets see if you really think boy stupid and Baalke have put together a winning team.
Your homeboy Jed is a moron and he will be exposed this year when the team finishes last in the NFC west. He and Baalke are the laughingstocks of bay area sports.
MarkLopez2 Dear friend, you have clearly been brainwashed by pressbox hotdog eating malcontents with blogs and angry misogynists on the radio. They’ve never been a GM or an NFL owner, so how exactly can they criticize the guys who have a 44-19-1 record over the last four years in spite of having a clearly terrible coach.
VIVA JED!
FAITHFUL
MarkLopez2 SuperFreakingFaithful49JedYorkPwns4Life I’m guessing you’re a Raiders or Seahawks fan? Because clearly there’s no other reason you’re rooting against the 49ers. The faithful do not question. The faithful support and enable!
VIVA JED!
FAITHFUL
MarkLopez2 I don’t make bets with people who clearly are not faithful. The fact that I’m even responding to you is me stooping to your level. Faithful don’t question. Faithful enable.
VIVA JED!
FAITHFUL
I call it delusional, not faithful. People have to earn my fandom. I root for teams with excellent ownership and front offices like the Warriors and the Giants. I don’t root for dysfunctional messes like the Sharks. Raiders, and 49ers. I have been watching the NFL for a very long time and I know a lousy ownership and front office when I see one. Harbaugh saved them for more years of losing. Without Harbaugh ,any more years of losing is on the horizon. You just wait and see. We will see who is right and who is delusional.
You conveniently forgot about the decade of losing until Harbaugh came along. Now that Harbaugh is gone the losing will start all over again, because your boy Jed is clueless and a loser.
MarkLopez2 When did Jed take over, Mr. “I have been watching the NFL for a very long time “? Or is that another contradiction by you? You really need to get your story straight here, cowboy. Jed took over just before the 2009 season. Since then the 49ers have 3 winning seasons, 2 8-8 seasons and only one losing season. That’s winning a lot more than it is losing.
You keep making contradictory statements. Get your act together and maybe we can talk about the finer point of football.
FAITHFUL DON’T QUESTION. FAITHFUL ENABLE.
VIVA JED!
Wow are you showing your lack of intelligence. Your a funny guy. What I said is that the Yorks have NEVER had a winning season without Harbaugh as the coach. Look it up smart guy
MarkLopez2 For being so smart, you’re pretty bad at recognizing a Poe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law
I don’t think any of this crap. You’d figure between my over the top username, avatar, and signoffs you’d have picked up on it.
Thanks for the entertainment.
SuperFreakingFaithful49JedYorkPwns4Life MarkLopez2 A clearly terrible coach. Three straight NFC title games and a super bowl. Yeah, he sucked!! Now lets see what your boy Tomsula can do. Just remember that your Yorks have NEVER had a winning season without Harbaugh.