The Golden State Warriors came into the 2022-23 NBA season looking to repeat as champions.
Thus far, they haven’t looked much like a legit title contender.
Currently the Warriors are 5-8 on the year and sit 13th in the Western Conference. Only the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets have worse records.
Golden State has been struggling on both sides of the ball.
This week, Draymond Green addressed one big Jordan Poole-related issue the team is having.
“It’s a lot different. For the most part, coming off the bench we’ve had kind of an elder statesman if you will, that will kinda slow things down, right the ship,” Green said on Sunday night.
“It’s different now where you come off the bench. The reality is the first guy you come off the bench with is usually JP, and JP’s a sixth starter, so that’s a different feel.
“Whereas it used to be kind of a different offense if you will, it’s more like the same,” he continued.
“And I think we have to figure that out in that second unit, and understand that what you’re accustomed to is Steph [going] out the game and the whole offense changes, and it’s more sets. But with Jordan it’s still gonna be more of the same as you get with Steph, and I think guys have to really adjust to that, and it’s taken some time to adjust to that.”
The reserves are simply used to playing a different style of play. And at the moment, they are not adjusting to what Poole brings to the table.
“For the majority of those guys, they don’t play a ton with Steph, so they don’t really understand that,” Green continued.
“Whereas opposed to when Jordan comes in with us, we’ve played with Steph for so long [that] we understand the randomness of it. I think that group has to start understanding the randomness of it, but like I said, that takes time.”
It’s hard not to read Green’s statement and wonder if maybe he means Klay Thompson should be coming off the bench. It’s an idea that has really been picking up steam as of late, so much so that head coach Steve Kerr has had to address it.
It will be interesting to see where the Warriors go from here. The season is still young, obviously. There is plenty of time to right the ship.
The video speaks for itself. https://t.co/rWQtHPm3C3
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 14, 2022
But something needs to change.
What will that something ultimately be?
Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
