Exit Jordan Poole
Poole's decision to stay in the draft is now 100% official instead of 99.9%:
IT'S OFFICIAL! Jordan Poole will be staying in @NBADraft
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) April 23, 2019
In two 〽️ seasons ⤵️
✔️ 63-15 record
✔️ 13-3 postseason record
✔️✌️ B1G Tournament
✔️✌️ straight Sweet 16s
✔️A Final Four & National Title Game
THANK YOU Jordan
WISHING you nothing but success#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/opW3tzVEPa
Thus ends a rollercoaster career with dizzying highs and equally despondent lows. Poole did this, of course:
That was the exclamation point to a promising freshman year spent mostly as a bench shooter. In his ~12 minutes a game he was able to flash the ability to get to the bucket and create some of his own shots.
A breakout was predicted, and a couple months into the season it looked to be in progress. By early January, Poole had an eFG% of 61 and was canning a majority of the many NBA threes he took. This turned out to be more curse than blessing, though, as Poole's shot selection became increasingly questionable and his percentages started dropping. The five-game moving 3P% average at Torvik tells the tale:
Poole alternated tantalizing blips with long stretches of frustrating play, particularly against Michigan State. Poole got pulled in the second half for a then barely-extant Eli Brooks because his previous few minutes meant he could not stay on the floor no matter who the replacement was.
He scored some but gave it back and more by gambling for steals and getting baited into fouling three point shooters; after each he'd come out the next game in a reserved mode that seemed like he'd been chastised into passivity. A game or so later the heroball tendencies would re-emerge.
What looked like a frustrating season became a frustrating career as it became clear that Poole was out. The decision coming before Poole, a marginally draftable prospect, even goes through the combine process, says something. Good luck to Poole wherever he lands.
April 23rd, 2019 at 10:48 PM ^
He could pass and create for others? Doesn't seem like we were watching the same player.
April 24th, 2019 at 12:24 AM ^
Thanks. I agree with your observations as well.
April 23rd, 2019 at 10:13 PM ^
I think this decision makes a lot of sense and is a major reason why paying players is in the best interest of fans as well. The odds that Poole would have vastly improved next year at UofM are probably lower than the odds that his draft potential would stay stagnant or decline.
If his goal is to maximize potential career earnings from basketball, this requires careful calculation. Say there’s a 90-95% chance it could net you an extra 100-200k in career earnings by starting the process of the G-league or heading overseas a year early. Would you take that over the 5-10% chance of staying and potentially adding a couple million? IMO this is the safe financial bet.
April 23rd, 2019 at 10:45 PM ^
Question that has to be asked now: Why didn't Jordan Poole enter the draft LAST year? His sophomore season was a dud. His game didn't develop one bit from his freshman year and one would presume development was the idea when he came back. He is going to the league armed with potential and nothing else. It would have been the same story if he bolted for the 2018 draft.
The only answer that makes sense is he blames the program and not himself for the lack of forward progress in his game. Looking at Beilein and his long history of consistently getting players to improve and fulfill their NBA potential by Year 3 (if not Year 2), it's easy to think that Poole may have some real issues with accountability. Nevertheless, wish him well.
April 23rd, 2019 at 11:22 PM ^
This is a legit observation. Poole should have thought about leaving last year but he was a role player so he felt another year in college being the starter would help him. It really only was a limited benefit.
Here is where I think you are missing an important part of his mindset. He sees college, not just Beilein, as not conducive to his talents. The NBA and college basketball are very different games especially Beilein ball which is dependent on more screening.
Now we haven't even begin to discuss how Poole feels about playing with Simpson. Poole is sort relegated to standing on the opposite side of the floor where the pick n roll is occurring. I can't think of any Big Ten system that Poole would like. It's just about a guy who plays wide open free long distance basketball which he has been playing.
I remember those highlights of Poole playing AAU ball which is actually closer to the NBA than college.
His odds of improving his NBA potential were much better after his Freshman season than they are now.
April 23rd, 2019 at 10:50 PM ^
I'll admit,that I had the thought, that his frustration with Beilein might be legit, and what keeps Beilein from winning the elusive title... but was only a fleeting thought..and I know better...
April 23rd, 2019 at 10:53 PM ^
Your post makes no sense.
April 23rd, 2019 at 11:23 PM ^
I think Poole has a longer NBA career than anyone on this year’s roster...
maybe he couldn’t be coached but part of me does blame beilein for not getting as much out of him...at least on O.
seems like only PGs are given the opportunity to dominate the ball in beilein’s offense. Normally I’m fine with that since it’s worked. But thought with Simpson at PG (limited O) we should have done more to tweak the offense.
imo THjr and Levert are much better pros then college players (relatively speaking)
burke is the opposite. Walton too.
maybe that’s just part of the offense.
April 23rd, 2019 at 11:49 PM ^
Stauskas was given plenty of opportunities to shine, and did. LeVert wasn’t limited by Beilein, he was just hurt all the time.
"seems like only PGs are given the opportunity to dominate the ball in beilein’s offense. "
Nik Stauskas?
Stauskas was awesome in the Beilein offense. Also a much better shooter in college (player, really) than Poole.
THJ had an amazing freshman season that people forget about. Toward the end he was a bit more spotty but he became a very good defender which helped him stay on the floor in the league. Better athlete than Poole.
Levert was an absolute stud in college who battled injuries. Ffs he was taken in the lottery even with the injuries.
Burke is small and had his shot desert him (some poor lifestyle stuff I think) before having a bit of a renaissance recently. Walton was a classic great college player who struggled to be truly elite at anything and so would always be a backup type player.
April 23rd, 2019 at 11:27 PM ^
I sincerely hope that Jordan is another Jamal Crawford, someone who enters the NBA with a lot of questions and has a great career. Unfortunately, I have to agree that this feels a lot like his step back threes with 15 seconds left on the shot clock. Possible that he makes it, but not a smart decision, shows poor self awareness and is against the odds.
I suspect that he is getting bad advice from parents and others who think that he has more talent than he shows on the court. They are likely blaming his mediocre season on Coach B or the style of ball in the Big 10. "Just get to another team, or coach or system and you will blossom Jordan." "You don't need school Jordan, you will make millions." The announcement seems to coincide with finals which seems to indicate that he is not participating. That likely sealed the deal.
Good luck Jordan. I wish you all the best. In the worst case scenario, you play in Europe and spend your summers in a nice condo overlooking Ann Arbor, training and taking classes. You might look up Drew Hanlon during the NBA combine if you aren't invited. He is the shooting coach to the stars and will not have much to do during the playoffs.
PS - Why are we never in on the very top players? Duke has another 5 coming in, two of whom signed in the last few days. Would be nice to make the effort to recruit these kids occasionally.
re: duke - we don’t go after one-and-dones. thankfully.
The only real question with Crawford was the development of his body since he was so skinny. That translated to defense too....but nobody questioned his offensive ability and overall talent. Dude has a 6'10" wingspan!
A lot more questions with Poole tbh. Not really a fair comparison imo.
April 24th, 2019 at 12:14 AM ^
Verily marginally draftable
Thus ends a rollercoaster career with dizzying highs and equally despondent lows.
We all can agree with the dizzying highs part. But the despondent lows part is overly, um, despondent.
More like frustration over what could have been. Should have been, really.
But it's not like he did the Auburn thing and knocked his team out of a Title shot by fouling a 3-point shooter at the buzzer.
Time will fade and we will all move on. But Poole will always have the Houston game, which catapulted Michigan to the National Championship game.
i wish him the best.
a frustrating, confusing player to watch - you could see the potential when he was engaged, but when he wasn’t you might as well have me out there.
i do have a question, though - there’s this rep of him taking step back threes early in the shot clock, and i definitely remember seeing them...but i wonder how many times he actually did that this year. ten? fifteen, at most? i’d guess that x and matthews both took more i’ll-advised threes than poole did, but poole’s seemed to get more negative attention. just an observation.
Franz will be an upgrade over Poole if we get him.
Not even the third best player on the team.....not sure I get it. But nevertheless, good luck kid.
Not a feel good story. I'm sure coach will have this opening sealed. Move on. Story over ...
April 24th, 2019 at 10:31 AM ^
At best, if he's lucky, a fringe NBA player. The guys at his position in the NBA are absolute freaks of nature. I'm not sure Jordan would do that well 1-on-1 against Charles Matthews.
good luck to the kid.
unlike other prospects that left early, like DJ Wilson, i don't think Poole's resume is particularly strong nor his measurables particularly enticing.
Not sure where the Jamal Crawford mentions are coming up. That kid left because of other reasons to move on and was a stud, getting drafted 8th overall... literally no one would second guess him if he was ranked as a 1st round pick, much less a top 10 pick, which Poole is not.
that said, good luck to Jordan wherever he ends up...it will be interesting to see what the scouts think
Agree the Crawford stuff is weird. Do people not realize how good he was and (still) is?!
I feel for the kid because (I think) he has a long road ahead of him with regards to basketball and the reality checks therein. That said, he could probably have a good career in Europe. Just not sure how he stays on the floor in the NBA to be honest.
Prove me wrong, Jordan. Good luck and thank you for the good memories!
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