The Bay Area has skills, and the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry has the hardware to prove it. Even as he matched up against some of the most talented guards in the game during the 2011 Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Steph made sure he was going to bring that trophy home with him.
The Course:
Start from left hand corner, make a layup
Dribbling pilons to other side of court
Chest pass to open cylinder
Bounce pass to open cylinder
Jump shot form top of the key
Outlet pass to open cylinder
Dribbling pilons to original side of court
Make layup/dunk
Here's a brief synopsis of how it all went down:
First Round:
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors was up first, tearing through the first few sections, but struggled with the jumper from the top of the key. He made up for it by nailing the long outlet pass, then finished with an emphatic dunk. Curry completed the course in 34.1 seconds.
Russel Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder was up next, who finished dead last in last year's Skills Challenge and was determined to made up for it. He soared through the course with ease, finishing with a time of 30.0 seconds; taking the first round lead.
John Wall of the Washington Wizards' quickness was to be on full display, but he struggled with all 3 of the passing drills and the jump shot. He looked like he knew he was out of the competition early, finishing with a time of 39.3 seconds.
Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls must have left his quickness at home because he seemed to be simply going through the motions. He also struggled with the passing drills, but finished with a time of 35.7 seconds.
Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets' Skills Challenge was doomed form the start, missing the layup on the first section of the course. He also struggled with the jump shot, and cruised his way into last place with 42.1 second time. Maybe next time Chris.
Final Round: Steph Curry v. Russell Westbrook
Curry came out first and was firing on all cylinders, nailing his passes and his jump shot. He put some serious pressure on Westbrook as he tore through the course in 28.2 seconds.
Westbrook was up next. He zoomed through the first sections, but couldn't come up with the bounce pass, jump shot, or outlet pass. He knew half way through he couldn't catch Steph, eventually finishing in 44.2 seconds.
With the win, Curry earned teenager Karen Batani a $30,000 college scholarship through theTaco Bell Foundation's 'Graduate to Go' program, sponsered by NBA Cares and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
After the competition Curry said that the longer outlet pass is the hardest on the course, and instead of trying to look cool, he figured he "might as well go hard" and try and win the thing. Congrats Steph, you earned it buddy.