Golden State Warriors: How Jordan Poole has emulated Stephen Curry

The remix is almost never as good as the original. Yet, Jordan Poole has successfully emulated the great Stephen Curry as he has become his own version of the Golden State Warriors‘ floor general.

Jordan Poole has found success by emulating Stephen Curry and putting his own style on the Golden State Warriors’ motion offense.

Poole plays with much of the same electric flash that made Curry such a superstar, to begin with. Except, JP is still much more erratic and turnover-prone, reminiscent of a younger and overly ambitious Curry.

Their playstyles are fairly similar. Both have a fascination with deep 3-pointers, are almost overzealous at times in their live-action passes and can surprise opponents with their finishing around the rim.

I do not think anyone is expecting Poole to consistently make the same homerun-type plays that Curry has made easy. However, Poole himself is not even trying to do that as his style is slightly different than Curry’s.

Poole isn’t a better ball handler, finisher or passer than Curry by any means. But, his lanky frame and athleticism give him an extra edge that allows for Poole to make plays Curry simply is not capable of. Again, this does not mean Poole is better than Curry at really… anything. Just different.

JP can navigate to parts of the floor and wrap passes around or over defenders that Curry can’t. While this is part of the reason Poole can get himself into trouble more often than not, it adds an interesting wrinkle that has opposing teams stumped.

In previous years, defense at the point of attack could mostly relax when Curry was off the floor. Sure, Draymond Green is a great playmaker and Klay Thompson is a lethal scorer but neither had the ball-handling ability to make opponents work on the perimeter.

This is no longer the case. With Poole and Curry staggering minutes, the Warriors are constantly applying pressure on the defense. They are both elite enough to break down a defender and get into the paint whenever — and either one of them is on the court at almost all times.

What’s more, the two never stop moving. Curry is in the top 30 for distance traveled on offense at 1.4 miles per game while Poole is slightly behind him at 1.2. Their constant motion is another factor that keeps the defense on its heels.

Poole is averaging 17.1 points and 3.3 assists as Curry’s partner in the backcourt. Though he has much room to grow as a floor general, Poole is quickly learning how to copy Curry’s success and add his own style to it.