SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole has struggled to search out his footing over the 2 weeks, however the Warriors consider they've simply the answer to snap the fourth-year guard out of his droop.
Enter Donte DiVincenzo.
DiVincenzo returned to the motion Friday towards the Cleveland Cavaliers after lacking about three weeks with a hamstring harm he suffered whereas contesting a shot towards the Sacramento Kings. He was restricted to round 20 minutes however added a much-needed increase to the bench, which hasn’t been capable of finding its id a couple of month into the season.
DiVincenzo isn’t a fix-all resolution to the bench woes however his return ought to assist get the secondary unit again on observe, and that begins with unlocking Poole.
With DiVincenzo sidelined, Poole has performed largely on the level however has struggled to create for himself. With DiVincenzo again within the fold, the Warriors now have one other ball handler who can assist relieve Poole of these duties and permit the 23-year-old guard to play on and off the ball.
“We actually appreciated the Donte and Jordan dynamic within the preseason and early within the yr,” coach Steve Kerr stated earlier than Friday’s recreation. “I at all times prefer to have a ball-handling level guard subsequent to Jordan.”
Poole has averaged simply 14.4 factors per recreation over the past 5 video games earlier than Friday’s matchup towards the surging Cavaliers. He’s been taking pictures a shoddy 35.4% from the sphere and 27% from deep.
DiVincenzo’s power as a ball handler and perimeter defender ought to take some stress off Poole and permit him to play extra freely.
“As a result of Donte can deal with the ball and move it, they actually find yourself divvying up the purpose guard duties. And I feel Jordan’s at all times been extra snug form of enjoying as a combo guard, reasonably than having to handle the staff and run the purpose on his personal,” Kerr stated. “So each of them could make performs and each can play on or off the ball they usually’re each good shooters so it’s a great mixture.”
Warriors again at it
The Warriors spent their uncommon three-day in-season break between video games to shore up their protection.
Golden State entered Friday with the fourth-worst defensive ranking (115.8) after being one the league’s high defensive items only a season in the past. The Warriors are recording 23.9 fouls per recreation and sending opponents to the charity stripe 29.5 occasions. Each are league highs.
“We actually locked in on our defensive errors that we’ve been making, No. 1 being fouling,” Kerr stated. “So labored exhausting in our drill work in defending with out fouling and transition protection, two areas which have actually harm us. After which tried to get higher with our offensive execution… It was a really productive couple of days, so hopefully that interprets.”
Rookies updates
Kerr stated he’s obtained “good experiences” from Santa Cruz Warriors coach Seth Cooper on Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins.
The Warriors assigned their two rookies to the G League Sunday to permit them the chance to play extra significant minutes that aren’t accessible for the kids on the NBA stage.
Each are working to search out their rhythm. Baldwin Jr. scored 15 factors and grabbed 5 rebounds in Wednesday’s loss earlier than fouling out. It took the No. 28 total choose 15 photographs to attain 16 factors one evening later.
In the meantime, Rollins appears to be simply positive after tweaking his knee in Wednesday’s recreation. He scored a game-high 27 factors (12-of-20 taking pictures).