Steve Kerr has never fought such a rich battle in his life: Jordan is in the starting lineup, shooting 29 points with 63% shooting, incidentally scoring a team-high 8 assists; Curry leads the bench, scoring 34 points on 17 shooting, and the only flaw is technical free throws on 2-of-4 shooting. The Warriors' home applause and cheers are no longer just thunderous for the Splash Brothers, and after Curry's lonely two years, they have ushered in a new god of possession.
'I never thought Jordan had played so well this season, and although he was already great last year, I still can't imagine it.' Cole, who was struggling to hold back a smile, said that he was referring to Jordan, of course, referring to the Warriors' playoff starting point guard: Jordan Poole.
Poole in the preseason once attracted opponents to pinch the opponent, allowing the opponent to empty Curry's vacant three-pointers. Although this crazy picture was not repeated, the Warriors fans at the time were already rejoicing in it - Poole, Porter, Bjelica, Cumminga, Payton Jr. Cole's cauldron of rice finally raised qualified rotations. And Jordan Poole, the 22-year-old, 1.93-meter guard, has completely soaked in the Warriors' big teapot, averaging 18.5 points per game with 59% true shooting, becoming the third scorer second only to the Splash Brothers.
Thanks to this, Cole was able to sacrifice a new version of the "Death Five": Curry, Thompson, Poole, Wiggins, and Green. The latest version of the five-squad used a total of 11 minutes in the first two games against the Nuggets, netting 28 points against the opponent, if converted to each round, this lineup can win the Nuggets by 1.3 points per game.
Monotonous stats don't tell the whole story of the lineup, and Poole's value can be summed up in one sentence — he's the player the Warriors have found to share Curry's pressure on the ball after Durant.
The defensive intensity and scale of the playoffs will always screen out a group of role players, infinitely highlighting the ability to hold the ball core and instigate the level of attack. However, the defensive concept of the small ball era is becoming more and more mature, and the forward rotation defense system raised by the Warriors has spread throughout the NBA, and when the core of the ball is focused on, and even the opponent's "number one big brother" is paired with each other, the deputy attacker who crouches on the flank is particularly important. Just as the Lone Ranger spares no effort to find a deputy attacker for Doncic, the Lakers will not hesitate to recruit Wei Shao to decompress Zhan Mei. Although the Lone Ranger changed a circle and found that the strongest secondary attacker was already in the lineup; although the Lakers changed back and forth, the result was that the double core load was getting bigger and bigger, but the idea itself was still no problem.
So the Warriors recruited the "strongest deputy attacker" Durant, so that J.R. Smith fell into the historical problem of "preventing Durant from dunking empty baskets or preventing Curry from shooting three points", after playing the prestige of "Cosmic Courage", the Warriors exchanged russell, Oubre, Wiggins, but Thompson's injury and Wiggins's ability cap has always plagued the whole team, even if Cole burns through the bottom of the pot, in the end, he can only take the old road of "Curry single core".
Looking forward to it, looking forward to it, the tea brewed, and the spring in Curry came again. Poole's growth rate is beyond everyone's imagination, he jumped from a substitute guard to a third quarter, and became the starting point guard of the Warriors in place of Curry, and really threw out no less efficiency and production than Curry. He scored 59 points in the first two playoff games of his career, surpassing Curry to become the second in Warriors history, behind only NBA No. 1 brush Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Facing the fourth position like Aaron Gordon, Poole's fake action is particularly realistic. His ability to misplaced singles is also an important reliance on the Warriors when facing a change of defense.
'I'm lucky enough to see Curry every day, I watch his game footage, I incorporate his elements into my game, he knows the defender has to respect his shots, and I want to manipulate the defense and achieve the purpose of the game in this way.' Now it seems that Pooler's wish has gradually become a reality, at least in the possession of the ball three points, the defender must respect him.
In this round, the Nuggets seemed to respect Poole too much, treating him as Curry, and Poole alone attracted a three-man defense at the top of the arc, and finally braved Jokic's reckless defense and scored 3+1.
In addition to the offensive ability to hold the ball, Poole is particularly commendable for his passing skills. In this round, he burst from the left to the basket, and after being covered by Cousins, he did not rush to touch the porcelain attack frame, but back to protect the ball, observe the defense, hit the ground with his back, and assisted the inside of the Bjelica basket to score.
I have to say that back passing is the glorious tradition of Warriors stars, as Curry said, the most fundamental charm of Warriors basketball is "fun". From this point of view, Poole not only learned Curry's technology and vision, but also inherited Curry's interesting soul.
For role players in the league, the Warriors' passing system may be the most complex and highest threshold playing style. Oubre and Wiseman have paid a lot of learning costs, while Poole's learning pressure is much less, and unconsciously, he has been able to act as a sexy dealer like Green, and play such a dashing card at the top of the arc.
The real strength of the original Warriors Five, in addition to offense, lies in their leading version of the defensive concept and the forward defensive tough guys represented by Green. Now, when Thompson is no longer visible to the naked eye because of his legs injured and his lateral speed, Poole is a firefighter for the Warriors' outside defense.
In the face of Aaron Gordon's breakthrough, Poole can also completely ignore the shaking, get ahead of the card, and create a foul on Gordon's offense.
Whether it is single defense or co-defense, Poole has become a reliable link in the new version of the five small.
With Poole's involvement, the Warriors' defensive aggression has become more and more ferocious. Although there is still a certain gap from the Warriors who were amazingly thick in the forward, this year's Warriors have once regained the throne of the league in defensive efficiency.
With such a three-point 36% cross-centered sub-attacker with both shots and passes, whether it is the death five or the rotation lineup, the Warriors have unlocked more gameplay and higher ceilings. As Kutang chases the Big Three, injuries and time may take away their athleticism, but Poole's timely addition, like a catfish, reactivates the Warriors' five-point play.
Cole said after the game: "Clay, Stephen and Dream are very adapted to this style, there is no essential difference from before, but different players have been added. But it was the new addition, the defender who was more and more similar to Curry, who gave Kerr more hands and even played the trick of letting Curry take the bench. The Splash Brothers and Poole form a trident arrow, Wiggins and Green form a halberd, holding more points, and the offensive threat is infinitely magnified, which is the biggest power of the new version of the Warriors' five small.
Of course, the lack of two top-paid Nuggets cannot pose a substantial threat to this Warriors, and their offensive and defensive intensity has not allowed the Warriors to go through a real test. The Grizzlies' rush for rebounds, the distribution of fire points no less than the Warriors, the overall strength of the Sun's near-suffocation, and even the Timberwolves' talent impact and increasingly sophisticated defense are all higher-order threats that the Warriors need to face.
But, the threats are always mutual, what does it feel like for a mature team to suddenly emerge with a strong point of possession? In the 2014 Finals, watching Leonard take away the Heat of the FMVP; the Nuggets who witnessed Curry's rise in 2013 and being played in infighting; and the Warriors' potential opponents, will have a lot of say.