Predictability can be a problem. For whatever reason, we tend to grasp this more in other sports. That football coach got too predictable with his play calling, for instance. Or with baseball, it’s fairly understood that we’re watching a high-level poker game between pitcher and batter. The pitcher isn’t just trying to overwhelm the batter; He’s trying to fool him.



Take José Altuve, as good an analog in that sport as I can conjure for Steph Curry. He’s a diminutive but devastating fastball hitter, baseball’s more obscure version of an undersized player dazzling fans with a freakish ability. So yes, you wouldn’t want to give Altuve many fastballs over the course of a playoff series, but you also wouldn’t throw a changeup literally every time. He’s a professional athlete. Maybe he likes “fastball,” but he’d rather know “changeup.” He might have preferences for the heat of the moment, but...