Jordan Poole had a stunning rise to prominence last season as he showed the basketball world that another splash brother had seemingly arrived on the scene. Poole averaged career-highs across the board and stepped up in spectacular fashion at various points last season, as the Warriors dealt with some injuries.
He was rewarded for his efforts with a 4-year, $140 million deal before the season started and the expectation was that he’d continue to progress at a rapid rate. That, unfortunately, hasn’t been the case as Poole’s numbers have dipped from last season. He is averaging 15.2 points on 40.6% shooting from the field, 30.1% from beyond the arc, and just 80.5% from the free throw line. Keep in mind that this is the man who led the NBA in free throw percentage last season and you can clearly see that something is wrong at the moment.
Warriors GM Bob Myers Is Confident That Jordan Poole Can Turn Things Around
It is quite possible that Poole just hasn’t recovered from a mental standpoint after being punched by Draymond Green. An incident like that isn’t something you can just easily get past, even if he did handle it very professionally. Head coach Steve Kerr explained his struggles by saying that Poole has been trying too hard to create every play and that they need more ball movement to win at this level. GM Bob Myers also addressed Poole’s early season struggles and stated that he is confident that the youngster will turn things around.
via Audacy:
“I can’t feel what he’s feeling. I only see what he’s doing in the facility or hear what he’s saying. But he’s pressing,” Myers said. “I can’t tell you of the why of it. ,,,But he can play. He’s played in the playoffs. … I do believe he’ll figure it out. He’s been up against it. Coming off the bench is tough. The transition to being a guy to come off the bench and finding a rhythm there…but moving from starter to bench, especially for a young player, is a challenge. … we believe in him, there is a reason why we committed to him, the kid cares, think he’s in a little rut right now but he’ll get out of it.”
It does seem like he is pressing just that little bit and having to come off the bench after starting 51 games last season has been difficult for him. We saw he wasn’t quite the same even in the playoffs once he had to come off the bench and maybe he’ll get better as the season goes on.
Myers also recently spoke about his team’s early struggles, as the defending champions have a 4-7 record to start this season. He stated it is too early to make any kind of drastic changes and that they’ll wait till around the halfway point to see if anything needs to be done. He’d probably be counting on the likes of Poole to turn things around by then and we’ll find out if they were right to believe in him.
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