Jordan Poole is having a resurgence under Brian Keefe
Jordan Poole's first season with the Washington Wizards has been tumultuous. He struggled in his new role as the team's primary ball-handler. His shooting splits have been inconsistent on a night-to-night basis. However, in the final few weeks of the regular season, Poole has started to turn a corner.
It all began with Poole being moved to the bench. He spent 12 games with the Wizards second unit, and quickly began to prove he could still be a viable offensive weapon. His performances appear to have convinced Brian Keefe to insert him back into the starting rotation.
Keefe was rewarded with a season-high 38-point performance against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
“Obviously he’s been great, this has been something that we thought we envisioned him when we put the balls in his hands," Keefe said during his post-game news conference. "We have complete trust in him to make decisions for himself and for his teammates and obviously had a big scoring night, but he’s been playing very well since we’ve initiated him more to initiate the offense. This is the style we want him to play, be aggressive for himself, but also for his teammates. He draws a huge crowd, and that frees up his other guys.”
Poole was acquired to be the Wizards point guard of the future. He and Kyle Kuzma are viewed as the two elder building blocks on the rebuilding team. Poole's shooting and playmaking are supposed to be the first step in building a contending roster. If he can continue to produce at his current level, fans will quickly forget about his struggles to begin the season.
Moving teams is never easy. You're in a new city, a new environment, playing with new teammates, and learning a new system. Some players take time to get acclimated. For Poole, that time was the majority of the season. As such, it's logical to expect a drastic uptick in production next season once he has a full summer to work on his game and continue acclimating.
Still, a lot of the credit has to go to Keefe. Poole has been playing noticeably better since he stepped in as interim head coach. Whether he remains on the sidelines next season or not, Keefe may have saved Poole's tenure with the Wizards and, potentially, in the NBA.
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