On January 24, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Warriors narrowly defeated the Jazz 94-92. Although the ball was won, many Warriors fans were still worried after the game, because Curry only shot 5 of 20 and 1 of 13 three-pointers in this game, scoring only 13 points. And whether it's this game, or the whole month of January, Curry's form is poor.
According to statistics, Curry shot 1 of 13 three-pointers in this game, which was the worst performance of the season. In addition, Curry's worst 6 shooting performances in more than 20 career shots have occurred this season. In addition, throughout January, Curry shot 35 of 117 three-pointers, shooting 29.9%, the worst single month of his career. These data are enough to show that Curry's projection ability this season has indeed declined, and it is not stable enough.
But should the Warriors be concerned about Curry's form? In fact, it is not necessary, because although Curry projects some iron, the opponent cannot dare to let him throw, and still has to defend him. So Curry can still contain the opponent's defense and create opportunities for his teammates through passing, which Kerr also mentioned in the post-match press conference.
What's more, Curry is temporarily iron, but he is a superstar after all, and when it comes to the key game, Warriors fans can fully trust Curry to find his touch. So Curry's projection problem, the Warriors do not need to worry, and what really gives Kerr a headache should actually be another problem, that is, whether to let Thompson or Poole be Curry's starting partner in the backcourt.
In this game, the Warriors arranged a Truce for Thompson, And Poole started, and as a result, Poole scored a team-high 20 points to help the Warriors win a thrilling victory. Since Thompson's comeback, the Warriors have played in games with a total of 2 wins and 4 losses, but instead of 3 games of rest, the Warriors have won all. Why is this happening? In addition to Thompson's own poor form, he occupied too many shots and starting positions, which also affected the play of other Warriors players, of which Poole in the same position was the most affected.
Statistics clearly prove this, as Poole has averaged 7.8 points and 25.8 percent from 25.8 percent of his last four games off the bench. In poole's last three starts, he averaged 20.7 points in 31 minutes and shot 42.6 percent from the field. Obviously, Poole and Curry start together, with Curry involved in the defense for him, in order to play a good performance, but once he leads the team alone, he will often be lost, which is also a manifestation of Curry's role.
So Poole is actually more suitable to start with Curry, not suitable to be a 6th person to play as a substitute, and referring to the current competitive state of warriors players, Thompson is obviously inferior to Poole. However, Thompson's status and merit in the Warriors are incomparable to Poole, and once Thompson can find his form, his theoretical strength ceiling is also much higher than Poole's. That's why Kerr let Thompson start when he came back and gave him a lot of shots.
But such a choice is bound to bring huge risks, after all, whether Thompson can get back to form like Durant, no one knows. Once Thompson was unable to get back into form throughout the season, and Poole was eliminated for playing as a substitute, the Warriors were "losing the lady and folding the soldiers."
But the good news is that after all, there is still a long time before the start of the playoffs, and the team atmosphere in the Warriors is better, and Poole, even if he is in better shape, has not opposed to giving Thompson a substitute, so this problem can be shelved for the time being. If Thompson can get back in shape before the playoffs start, or If Poole adapts to the role of the sixth man on the bench, that's the best news, but if the situation still doesn't change by the end of the regular season, kerr should probably consider whether to change the Warriors' starting lineup.