Jordan Poole’s emergence last season was a big reason why the Golden State Warriors became champions once again. He excelled both off the bench and also when he was filling in as a starter for them due to injuries. The Warriors rewarded him with a 4-year, $140 million extension before the season, but Poole hasn’t progressed quite as well as they would have liked.
He has been quite inconsistent, but the up-and-down nature of his play seems to depend on whether he gets to start the games. As a starter, Poole averages 26.5 PPG to go with 4.0 APG while playing 34.2 MPG, and as a reserve, he puts up 15.2 PPG to go with 4.7 APG in 26.8 MPG. Even though the minutes do go down, he is averaging 11 PPG less as a reserve, which is quite the drop-off. Head coach Steve Kerr was asked about why Poole performs much better as a starter, and here’s what he had to say.
Steve Kerr theorizes why Jordan Poole plays better when he starts games pic.twitter.com/OpLB8o8YvQ
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 23, 2023
“He seems to play better in the starting lineup, for whatever reason. I can theorize, you know, more space when he’s playing with Steph (Curry). He’s generally going to have a lesser defender on him. I think he makes other people better too in the starting lineup because of the space and shots that he can create. So, it’s a good fit, but we have to fight on the glass defensively because we’re pretty small.”
“But it’s something that we’re excited about doing and I thought it looked pretty good against Boston. I thought we could have gotten even better shots than we did and that’s the challenge as we go, to understand we can get great shots playing a smaller lineup like that because of the space and the shooting and the ability to attack closeouts from all five spots, so we should be seeking great shots every night.”
Poole has been a starter for the last 4 games, and he has averaged 26.3 PPG in that time. He does give them a massive offensive boost when he starts games, but they have gone even smaller to accommodate him, as Kevon Looney has been sent to the bench. We have seen mixed results for the team with this new approach, but time will tell just how effective it can be.
Stephen Curry Reacted To Viral Clip Of Steve Kerr And Jordan Poole
While Kerr is a big believer in Poole, he realizes that the youngster still has a lot to learn and improve on. He has gotten on him multiple times this season and went off on him in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Poole committed an offensive foul and then got a delay of game violation which led to Kerr being furious with him. He stated after the game that he wants to get Poole to the point where he realizes that every play counts. Stephen Curry liked how Kerr handled the situation as he stated that Kerr is coaching the way he should and added that Poole responded in the right fashion as well.
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