Jordan Poole’s playing time has plummeted as much as his scoring. He’s been a non-factor offensively for the Golden State Warriors, and he only played 10 minutes vs. the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4.
He went scoreless in four shots (two from three-point range) and wasn’t even on the floor in the clutch. Steve Kerr may have lost his confidence in him, at least for the time being, and he’s not happy about that.
Poole recently took a shot at his coach, and he always claims he needs more playing time to play well. That’s why he didn’t want to address the media, and there was some tension in the locker room when he actually agreed to do it.
Jordan Poole Didn’t Want To Talk To The Media
(Transcript via Kerith Burke – NBC Sports)
“I happened to be in the locker room when Jordan Poole spoke. It’s been a while since he spoke but before we get to the words that he said, let me just paint a picture of what that locker room was like. So the Warriors PR was coming over and saying, ‘Jordan, could you please talk postgame?’
He seemed a little reluctant. You could tell he was very frustrated. He was facing his locker, actually, so as the reporters gathered around him, when it became clear he would talk to us, his back was to us.
So we’re all kind of around him, the sides of him. He turned his music off for us, but that locker room, the visitor’s locker room is really cramped, so when that music went off, all of the other players were listening as well.
You could see Andrew Wiggins, there was [Kevon] Looney right nearby and then GP2 [Gary Payton II] came to the locker. It was like all eyes and ears were on Jordan right there, and it just heightened the tension.
So, what did Jordan end up saying? Because we need to acknowledge that this hasn’t been a great series for him, maybe not even a great postseason for him. Something has happened to his shot. It’s just not there. We know that he has a good shot, but why is he struggling now? Why is he a little bit uncomfortable?
Just reviewing some of the things he said. It’s pretty short answers. ‘My shot. I don’t know. If I knew, I would tell you.’ He didn’t want to talk about himself. He kept saying we have a game in a couple of days.
I asked him, I was like, ‘Jordan, we know your work ethic is good. When you feel like you’re in a little bit of a funk; when things don’t seem normal, what are you doing? Are you getting back in the gym?’ He said, ‘Well, my work ethic doesn’t change; my routine doesn’t change. Maybe opportunity changes but you can only control what you can control.’ So the frustration was very clear coming through from Jordan Poole.”
The Warriors need Poole’s offensive production to overcome this, but he also has to be more mature about understanding his role and being accountable. Otherwise, he might not be cut out for this kind of team.
