A microscope will be fixed on Jordan Poole this season as he’s expected to make a big leap in the third year of his NBA career.
He lived up to the preseason hype in the opening night victory against the Los Angeles Lakers before coming back down to Earth with a seven-turnover game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Against the Sacramento Kings Sunday, Poole scored a season-high 22 points in a season-high 32 minutes, but it was his defense that had his coaching staff glowing.
Warriors coach Mike Brown joined 95.7's The Game's “The Morning Roast” Monday and shared some strong thoughts about Poole’s defensive development this young season, and admitted that he was a little worried about Poole’s defense a couple of weeks ago. Listen to the full interview above.
"I've been in the league almost 30 years,” Brown told Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky. “I don't know if I've seen a guy improve defensively as much as Jordan has in a week's time. He’s gone from just an OK defender to a good one.”
Coach Steve Kerr also lauded Poole’s two-way effort in the game, telling reporters Monday, “Watching the tape on the plane, I thought it was the best game he ever played, from a total two-way standpoint.”
Veteran forward Draymond Green said he’s enjoyed seeing the way Poole has responded to challenges from Kerr, Brown and veteran Andre Iguodala. Green also agreed with Kerr’s assessment of Poole’s defense against the Kings Sunday and their talented backcourt with Tyrese Haliburton, De’Aaron Fox and Davion Mitchell.
“I thought he did a great job not fouling, making extra-effort plays, not dying on screens,” Green said. “He’s taking steps in that direction which is important. At the end of the day, he’s still a very young guy in this league.”
Numbers don’t hold much weight just three games into the season, but Poole ranks third on the Warriors with his 97.8 defensive rating, according to NBA.com, behind only Otto Porter Jr. (88.7) and Andre Iguodala (95.1). For comparison, Poole’s defensive rating was 106.9 last season and 110 in his rookie year.
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Listed at 6-foot-5 with nearly a 6-foot-7 inch wingspan, Poole has the frame to help shut down opposing wings -- not just guards -- when he’s sharing the floor with Steph Curry.
"He's hitting home run marks in most of our concepts that we throw out there to our team, because he wants to get better,” Brown said. “He's showing his quickness, he's showing his length, he's showing his physicality and he's showing his understanding on that end of the floor."
Brown added that Poole’s development on defense hasn’t been rivaled for any of his teammates, before adding some lofty praise.
"I tell him this all the time: 'Jordan, if you can get there on that end,’ -- and I hate to put that pressure on him -- ‘You're looking at an All-Star caliber player,'" Brown said. "That's the only tool piece that he's missing for a young guy. He's been fantastic. I can't give him enough credit in terms of the jumps or the leaps that he's made on the defensive end of the floor.
"It's been head and shoulders above everybody else on our team."
