"I thought he was great" - Steve Kerr had no problems with Jordan Poole despite missing game-tying 3 against the Lakers
Golden State Warriors shooting guard Jordan Poole has faced heavy criticism for his deep game-tying three-point attempt to end Game 1 against the LA Lakers.
The Warriors had a chance to force overtime while down 115-112 with the ball in the hands of their best player Steph Curry. Curry was double-teamed on the perimeter and gave the ball up to teammate Draymond Green.
Green then quickly swung the ball to Poole, who took a deep 27-foot three-pointer that clanked off the iron with 9.1 seconds remaining. The Warriors went on to lose 117-112 with many blaming Poole, however, according to Warriors coach Steve Kerr, he was happy with Poole’s production.
In an interview with '95.7 The Game' on Wednesday, Kerr spoke about Jordan Poole’s mental toughness. Kerr added that he thought Poole was great in Game 1:
"Jordan's mentally tough,” Kerr said.
“(Poole's) a bit of a lightning rod. People are judging him on a daily basis. It's not easy as a young player and person to have that type of scrutiny on your every move. The way he responded last night, I thought he was great," he added.
"Jordan's mentally tough. [Poole]'s a bit of a lightning rod. People are judging him on a daily basis. It's not easy as a young player and person to have that type of scrutiny on your every move. The way he responded last night, I thought he was great."
- Kerr on @WillardAndDibs
Kerr echoed a similar sentiment in his postgame interview on Tuesday night. This came when Kerr was asked what he thought about Jordan Poole’s shot. Kerr said he was fine with it as Poole had been playing well and he knows that it is a shot he can hit:
“Yeah, I thought Jordan did a really good job,” Kerr said.
“I had the timeouts left, but I saw them double-teaming Steph (Curry) at halfcourt. So I knew somebody was gonna be wide open if we could just get the ball out. And Steph did a great job, he got the ball out of the trap and Jordan was wide open and got a pretty good look.
“And that’s a shot he can hit so, you know, really happy with that possession. And again, Jordan had hit six threes already. So it was a great shot for us.”
Jordan Poole finished with 21 points, six assists and six three-pointers on 46.7% shooting in Game 1.
Draymond Green defends Jordan Poole’s last gasp three-point attempt in Game 1 against LA
Like Steve Kerr, Draymond Green also defended his teammate Jordan Poole.
Green took to his podcast 'The Draymond Green Show', where he said that he liked Poole’s shot. However, he added that he would have liked to see Poole take a couple of steps closer before attempting the shot:
"It was also good to see Jordan get going … He hit six threes, but that’s neither here nor there," Green said.
"I know everyone’s talking about the last three that he missed. Quite frankly, I liked the shot. Obviously, you know, you tell him to eat up the space and take the three a little bit closer. He could’ve eaten up the space, but Jordan can shoot the ball, and he got a good look at it.
"Yes, you want him to take a couple of steps in and get an even closer three, but Jordan taking that three is not why we lost that game. And I know everyone’s going to point at that one play and say he never should have shot that three.
"Prior to that three, he was 6-for-10. You’ve got a guy 6-for-10 that you know can shoot the piss out of the ball and you get an open three, you live with it."
After stealing Game 1 on the road, the Lakers are up 1-0 over the Warriors in their Western Conference semi-final series.
Game 2 will take place on Thursday back in San Francisco.
Also read: "This will be a series that will go his way" - Draymond Green expects Jordan Poole to bounce back after a disastrous clutch miss in Game 1