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Things have cooled off a bit for the Golden State Warriors over the last week. As they head into a primetime matchup against the powerhouse Milwaukee Bucks, the Dubs are riding a three-game losing-streak. Prior to the recent skid, they’d won five straight. The last eight games have done a great job of encapsulating the Warriors’ season as a whole. For the most part, they’ve either been really good, or they’ve been really bad, not much in-between.
There have been many reason’s for Golden State’s struggles this season. They’ve dealt with their fair share of injuries, most notably with star guard Stephen Curry being sidelined for 26 games. Another prime reason that the Dubs have fallen short of the preseason expectations of many, has been the inconsistent play of Jordan Poole.
An anonymous Western Conference coach discussed the young star’s issues, during a recent conversation with Heavy Sports‘ Sean Deveney.
He pinpointed the preseason altercation with Draymond Green as the driving force behind Poole’s lackluster play.
“He has not been the guy they needed after he got the contract this summer,” he said of Poole. “He will give you 30 one night then go 5-for-20 the next. It is tough. The thing with Draymond in the offseason, obviously that hurt the chemistry of the team. But it looks like it put some pressure on Poole, too, that he has not responded to. He is a little better attacking the basket and being a playmaker, he has improved. But he just has not been right as a scorer and shooter and it is like he feels he needs to show he belongs on the same level as Steph and Klay (Thompson)—he shoots and shoots and shoots, probably too much.”
The anonymous coach circled back to the incident with Green, again citing it as reason for his letdown year.
“I don’t know, it is like he got punched and now wants to make sure that is not what people think of when they think of him. I am not a psychologist but that is how it looks on film.”
Four Warriors Listed on Injury Report for Bucks Matchup
The Warriors will have their work cut out for them as they look to snap their three-game skid on Saturday.
They’ll be without at least two key players against the Bucks, and may wind up being without two more.
“Jonathan Kuminga is out against the Bucks tomorrow night after that right ankle sprain in warmups yesterday. Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson are probable. Andrew Wiggins remains out. Giannis Antetokounmpo is questionable for Milwaukee,” tweeted Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Jonathan Kuminga is out against the Bucks tomorrow night after that right ankle sprain in warmups yesterday. Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson are probable. Andrew Wiggins remains out. Giannis Antetokounmpo is questionable for Milwaukee.
Stephen Curry Issues Strong Statement to Warriors Amidst Skid
Saturday’s matchup will be an important one for Golden State. With the Western Conference standings being so tight, they can’t afford to lose consecutive games the way they have been.
Following the team’s recent loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, their star guard put his squad on notice, saying they need to treat each game as if it’s the playoffs.
“The fact that we are not in a safe enough spot to do that,” Curry said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “You just got to look at the standings and keep it real. We have some tough opponents coming up, so [it’s] just a matter of, what we did on the road while me and Wiggs and GP [Gary Payton II] are out. I mean, they won five games in a row. Because you can rally around being short-handed, and the guys played amazing. When we come back on the road, those same principles apply because it’s way harder to do it away from Chase [Center], and we obviously haven’t shown that we can do that. And like I said, we’re not in a safe spot in terms of the standings or where we’re at, or just the vibe around how we’re playing. So, we got to keep repeating that until you’re blue in the face until you actually do it.”
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Jordan Poole Failing to Meet Warriors’ Expectations After Draymond Punch: Sources