In the 19-20 season, under the leadership of Green + Russell (Wiggins), the Warriors only achieved the bottom record of 15 wins and 50 losses in the league, from a team that rushed to the finals for the championship for five consecutive years to compete for the championship, which was a pity for a while.
And even if Curry returns in the 20-21 season, he will play a personal performance comparable to that of the 73-win season (averaging 32 points per game). However, due to the Warriors' overall dependence on Curry for the overall win, it eventually lost to the Lakers and Grizzlies in the playoffs, and once again missed the playoffs...
Season 21-22: Poole played well, helping the Warriors to play in the league's top three
After two consecutive years of missing the playoffs, Wiseman's season reimbursement, Oubre's departure, and Thompson's return date undetermined, I thought that even if Thompson returned, the Warriors would only be able to get the eighth to sixth place in the West this season, barely squeezing into the playoffs.
But what is unexpected is that in the new season, when Wiggins played an all-Star performance and Poole played a starter performance, coupled with Curry and a number of substitutes, the Warriors even stabilized the position of the league's first record for a time.
If it were not for the fact that Curry's state fell back and Thompson's return needed to adapt to time, resulting in the overall strength of the team fluctuating; perhaps the Warriors would not have been surpassed by the Suns and Grizzlies and slipped to the third place in the league.
Compared with the previous two seasons, the biggest change in the Warriors' lineup this year is that Poole has played out completely. In the regular season of the new season, Poole averaged 18.6 points, 3.4 boards, 4.0 assists per game, 45.1% shooting rate + 36.4% three-point shooting rate. In fact, with his data performance, placed in any team in the league, is enough to play the starting position...
But after Thompson's comeback, Poole inevitably returned to the bench. If the original plot development, in front of Thompson and Curry, Poole will definitely not be able to return to the starting lineup - after all, Tomp is more important than Poole in Kerr's heart. However, after Curry was injured, Poole replaced Curry and returned to the starting lineup again.
Warriors vs Nuggets: Despite playing well, Poole still can't get a starting spot in the next series?
Before the start of this year's playoffs, it was almost generally believed that Poole could not play the individual performance of the regular season in the playoffs in the defense of playoff intensity. But as a result, Poole played even better, averaging 21.0 points, 2.4 boards, 5.4 assists per game, 54.8% shooting and 48.4% three-point shooting...
But even if the first round of the playoffs is dazzling, it will be difficult for Poole to get the team's starting place in the next round of the series. Because as the playoffs progressed, Curry's injury slowly recovered, and his personal condition was getting better and better. With his team status and personal strength, he will definitely return to the team's starting lineup in the next series.
And Kerr can't start the three-guard lineup all the time, so in the second round of the series, curry, Thompson, And Poole, there will be one person back on the bench. In terms of the current personal state, overall strength, and tactical status, among the three of them, the only one who has the least suspense in the starting appearance is Curry.
While Poole averaged "21.0 points, 2.4 boards, 5.4 assists, 54.8% shooting percentage + 48.4% three-point shooting rate" in the series, Thompson also averaged "22.6 points, 3.8 boards, 1.4 assists, 50.6% shooting rate + 45.8% three-point shooting rate"; compared to Poole, he was also able to average 20+ points per game...
So, Curry's return to the starting lineup is a foregone conclusion, and who is Thompson or Poole going to play as a substitute?
1. Compared to Poole, Thompson's offensive performance is more stable. In the first round of the playoffs, Poole's 21.0 points + 54.8% shooting rate and Thompson's 22.6 points + 50.6% shooting rate were both efficient and excellent enough, which is the main reason why Kerr has been hesitant to let Poole play as a substitute.
But in fact, even if the overall shooting rate is higher, Poole's offensive stability is not as good as Thompson's. In the first five games, Poole had two underperforming offenses — G4:11 + 30% shooting and G5:8 + 30% shooting.
In these five games, Thompson's personal offensive performance in the first four games was relatively stable, and only the G5 offense was more "crotch-pulling". But even if G5 doesn't perform well offensively, he has an offensive performance of 15 points + 38.5% shooting.
2, compared to Pooler, Thompson can do more in the game. Judging by Poole's physical talent and intensity, it is really difficult for him to help the team in other aspects other than attack. Let him organize and tandem the team, his vision and experience is far inferior to Curry and Green; let him strengthen the defense, but lack of physical talent and defensive experience.
In addition to Thompson being able to effectively help the team on the offensive end, even if his offensive firepower is temporarily choked, he can also rely on his own physical talent + defensive experience to successfully entangle the opponent's ace scorer. Even defensively, he has the ability to grab a lot of rebounds.
So from this point of view, it is obvious that Thompson is more suitable to be the team starter, after all, in addition to scoring, his ability in defense and rebounding can also help the team.
3, personal playing style, position, Thompson and Curry will not overlap at all. Judging from Pooler's current personal playing style and physical fitness, there is a certain overlap between him and Curry. After all, if he wants to maximize his advantages, he must have a certain amount of ball power in his hand, and only through a large number of singles and breakthroughs with the ball can he play a better personal performance.
And with his physical fitness, he and Curry can only form a double point guard. In contrast, Thompson can act as a pure endpoint, just give him a certain amount of shot power, he hardly needs to hold the ball in his hand, he can have efficient scoring output...
And Thompson's physical fitness is fully in line with the requirements of the quarterback, when he and Curry are on the field at the same time, it is a combination of "point guard + quarterback", and it is not the same as when Pooler and Curry play at the same time, there is a situation of overlapping roles and positions.
In summary, although the new season has been so far, Poole has seized the opportunity to play a good personal performance in both the regular season stage and the playoff stage. However, due to Thompson's offensive stability and individual comprehensive strength, he is stronger than Pooler, plus Thompson can fit Curry perfectly regardless of position and personal playing style.
So if Curry returns to normal form in the second round of the series and the team can't continue to start at three guards, then in the end Kerr will most likely choose Thompson to start, not Poole.