Coming off a breakout season in his third year in the NBA, Jordan Poole made a splash in the league and was rewarded for his efforts with a four-year, $140 million contract extension with the Warriors.
But that same confident young guard has yet to be seen on a consistent basis this season.
“JP's in a little bit of a funk right now, but we know what he can do,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the Warriors’ 116-113 win over the Kings on Monday night at Chase Center. “I'm very confident that he'll get it going."
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It was Steph Curry’s heroics that saved Golden State from its sixth consecutive loss Monday. Meanwhile, Poole finished the game with two points on just 25 percent shooting from the field, and didn’t make either of his two 3-point attempts in just over 21 minutes.
After Curry dropped a season-high 47 points on 17-of-24 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc and had eight rebounds, eight assists and zero turnovers, he talked about Poole’s recent struggles.
“He’s just got to find that balance,” Curry said postgame. “One, we know who he is, we know what he’s capable of. He’s shown some really big flashes of it at times earlier throughout this season. But for the most part, it’s just continuing to stay confident that one, he’s on the scout report for most teams now. He’s not going to sneak up on anybody. But you got to kind of let the game come to you.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations around that, how I see the game and how he sees the game. Just instilling confidence that he’s that guy out there and he’s going to help us win games. He helped us win a championship last year, so you have to maintain your confidence through the rough patches and not let it attack the way that you carry yourself out there. That’s his biggest challenge, and I think he’ll be up for it.”
Golden State Warriors
In the first 11 games of the 2022-23 season, Poole is averaging 15.2 points, 4.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 28.8 minutes. In the final 11 games of the regular season last year, Poole averaged 25.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 35.3 minutes before the Warriors made a playoff run and won their fourth title in eight seasons.
Poole has had his struggles in the league before, but it's clear this isn't that.
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There won't be a need to send the 23-year-old to Santa Cruz. After all, it's still early in the season.
And there's definitely no need to count out Poole just yet. The last time he was heavily criticized and doubted, he made a run for a very convincing NBA Sixth Man of the Year campaign.
The Poole Party isn't over just yet. In fact, it's just beginning.