Jordan Poole making strides
Nice to see he’s taking advantage of this opportunity. Looks like, at minimum, he’s going to be a valuable bench option.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/20/can-jordan-poole-emerge-as-steph-currys-longterm-backup/
February 20th, 2020 at 9:40 PM ^
Unpopular opinion I know but Tiktok is LITERALLY the worst.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:37 PM ^
This opinion may not be as unpopular as you think.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:25 AM ^
It's a WMD - Weapon of Mass Distraction.
I'm in my 30s and I don't get its appeal. Maybe I'm old school...
/shrug
February 21st, 2020 at 8:13 AM ^
Well, I’m in my twenties.
February 21st, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
It's bad but I can't say it's literally worse than cancer.
February 20th, 2020 at 9:49 PM ^
One thing is for sure - He is blessed to have a locker next to Curry and learn from him. No better way to improve quicker than playing alongside a player of his caliber while remaining humble and picking his brain for ways to improve. He has all the resources he needs in front of him.
February 20th, 2020 at 9:53 PM ^
Poole, Brazdeikis, or Matthews. You can only have ONE on this year’s team. Who do you pick, and why?
I’m going with Matthews for more defense, drives to the basket, and ball handling.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:04 PM ^
Whichever one is best at DT
February 20th, 2020 at 10:04 PM ^
Winner.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:20 PM ^
I thought about this as well earlier in the season. I think Matthews as well for the same reasons. I think Poole would have to be #2 — mainly to provide a taller guard on defense - offense would be a bonus
February 20th, 2020 at 10:29 PM ^
poole for defense. haha. now that's funny.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:40 AM ^
Matthews is 1000x better at defending guards.
February 21st, 2020 at 2:17 AM ^
A 2nd year Iggy would have been lethal. Matthews 2nd. Poole 3rd.
February 21st, 2020 at 1:11 PM ^
Holy popups Batman! That's the worst fucking website I've ever encountered. Did not even read the article.
February 21st, 2020 at 2:26 PM ^
No shit. That website is like the game day experience. Totally monetized.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:28 AM ^
From that list, I would take Junior Poole.
Many fans just don't understand how good Poole could've been and would've been this year for us. And this team would benefit from more shooting.
Sure, Poole had his struggles as a rookie but he was drafted with the idea he would be Curry's understudy. Curry's injury forced Poole to play a larger role sooner than anticipated. When he was sent to the G League (which is frankly much better than the college level), he did very well and was called back soon thereafter.
That tells me he would have crushed it this year at Michigan.
February 21st, 2020 at 8:51 AM ^
Iggy without a doubt. The dude gets buckets
February 21st, 2020 at 8:56 AM ^
Mid January I think the answer obviously was Iggy. This team badly needed (and still does to some extent) someone who could knock down 3s at a consistent clip and also drive and attack the rim. I doubt the offense goes through huge droughts with Simpson dishing to Iggy at critical moments.
Matthews would be 2nd for his stellar defense and he’s a lesser version of what I said above about Iggys offense.
Poole 3rd because while he brings offense his defense would be much worse than Eli.
February 21st, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
ball-handling? Probably Matthews biggest weakness.
February 20th, 2020 at 9:54 PM ^
I don’t really care... his family talked a bunch of shit about Z before he left. Poole was a big reason why we lost to MSU three times last year. Maybe he is a good pro, but I’m not actively rooting for him like I am other M guys. Brooks > Poole.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:08 PM ^
You're a friggin, characterless, cry-baby fan idiot.
Of Poole, Matthews and Brazdeikis...this team needs offense...Juwan turns Poole into an assassin.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:29 PM ^
Maybe? But he didn’t stay so he’s totally irrelevant to me. Not only didn’t he stay, he talked shit on his way out.
Livers > Poole. Brooks > Poole. Z > Poole. Johns > Poole.Davis > Poole.
Poole played poorly on D in key moments, and did not seem like he valued the team more than his individual performance, as evidenced by trashing his pg. Good for him, but I don’t respect him for it.
Characterless is trashing your teammates.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:34 AM ^
I'm hazy on the details about the strife that happened at the end but it was clear Poole was frustrated by how Beilein used him (or didn't use him).
There was undoubtedly some internal discord but using a few comments to judge him seems...needlessly vindictive. Are you going to pretend Poole didn't give us one of the best highs of the last decade when he hit a clutch buzzer beater?
You're kidding yourself if you think players, even on winning teams, don't have arguments or beef. I was at Michigan as a student/volunteer team manager for the football team from 03-06. You better believe some teammates didn't like each other - and not everything stayed in-house.
February 21st, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
Talk about being butt-hurt. Livers and X are better college players than Poole. Johns not close to there yet. And Poole>Brooks, all day, every day.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:13 PM ^
I don’t hold guys accountable for their family and it’s both possible for Poole to have struggled in games and also that z’s inability to space the floor as an off ball player negatively impacted pooles ability to grow his game as a creator and driver
February 20th, 2020 at 10:37 PM ^
All of this is correct. Poole wasn't a perfect player but I maintain he was a bit hampered by our offensive...situation. Wasn't anyone's fault but we were a mish mash of players who's skills (these players had and have very good skills) could work but also bog down against certain teams.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:35 AM ^
Poole was hampered by not understanding what a good shot vs a bad shot is/was. Z had nothing to do with it. No one forced Poole to shoot NBA 3 pters. No one forced him to drive and shoot contested pull ups. No one forced him to dribble the air out the ball. BTW these were all things he was doing in the NBA to start.
I would love to have seen Matthews in Juwan's system. No doubt in my mind he would of finally been utilized on the block where he would of thrived.
February 21st, 2020 at 9:27 AM ^
Except having a PG who can't shoot does hamper that. If your guy can help off a point guard with impunity it clogs up the paint, eliminating driving lanes, making getting to the basket more difficult, and closing off passing lanes making anyone being a distributor more difficult. When Z is on the floor the offense absolutely has to go through him because the spacing doesn't work with him on the floor as not the creator. That doesn't mean Z is bad for Michigan, but it 100% puts a ceiling on what other players can do as creators by forcing them into contested shots or becoming just catch and shoot guys.
February 25th, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
By sagging off X it also allows him to penetrate further and create defensive problems of their own.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:23 PM ^
Seems a bit of a puff piece.
February 20th, 2020 at 11:00 PM ^
Making strides while making 29 pct of his shots.
February 21st, 2020 at 1:24 AM ^
Shot 46 percent tonight. Then again, major blowout of a game.
February 21st, 2020 at 12:53 AM ^
Poole leaving has allowed Livers to thrive. He's a better shooter than Poole ever was.
Now if he could just not be made of glass.......
February 21st, 2020 at 12:54 AM ^
I think you buried the lede a bit—I had no idea until I read the article that Poole is being worked out at point guard, a position he never played at Michigan. It's hard for me to picture him as anything but a catch-and-shoot guy, but he played PG in high school so maybe it's not that big of a stretch. He seems to have the right attitude, so maybe he can be more successful at PG than he was as just being a pure shooter.
February 21st, 2020 at 1:28 AM ^
and for that I watched the game tonight. Wasn't horrible but Warriors play AWFUL defense. Poole will need to grow into the role a bit.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:24 AM ^
This was one of my few criticisms of Beilein during the 2019 season.
I watched Poole in HS and noticed that he was a very crafty passer and he excelled as a combo guard.
I fully expected Beilein to use sophomore Poole a lot like he used sophomore Nik Stauskas - to frequently initiate the offense and run sets (when Walton was still a true freshman).
But for whatever reason Beilein never showed the same confidence in Poole that he did with Stauskas. I get the impression that Beilein couldn't handle Poole's inconsistency and wanted someone more steady - like Simpson - to lead the team.
I do think there was some friction between Poole and Beilein because it seems Poole felt a little marginalized given later comments.
I won't deny I sometimes wonder "What if Poole had returned for his junior season?"
I think he would've done quite well under Howard because Howard appears to be more of a player's coach. (There was a great article from Brendan Quinn iirc in the Athletic about how Howard's more encouraging style allowed Brandon Johns to gain confidence and flourish this season. I think Poole would've been allowed to play through his mistakes and rewarded Howard's faith.)
In any case things have worked out well for Poole and Michigan. I hope to see Poole win NBA Championships with the Warriors and be a great representative of Michigan.
February 21st, 2020 at 8:03 AM ^
The main issue with Poole initiating the offense was that Simpson is badly miscast as an off the ball player. Teams sagged off of him and the middle was clogged up. Maybe it would have worked just fine if Walton was playing alongside Poole. Simpson is really good at what he does, but his presence also limits the team's options on offense. Less so right now than last season, where he shot 25% from 3 in conference.
If another reason was needed, Beilein really hates turnovers.
Poole went in the first round. I thought he made out extremely well considering how he played last season. It could well be that if Beilein used him differently, Poole's weaknesses would have been more exposed and his draft stock would have suffered.
February 21st, 2020 at 12:55 AM ^
Man, I love this kid. I loved him at M when people were hating on him. But I’m here watching the game and he is not good tonight. He’s missing his threes or more often passing up open ones. Not the same kid who we watched in Ann Arbor.
Hope he gets his swag back.
February 21st, 2020 at 5:30 AM ^
Missing three's was his go to move at Michigan.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:16 AM ^
And yet he'll forever be remembered for a clutch 3 he hit - as a true freshman no less - which launched us into the Sweet 16.
February 21st, 2020 at 8:39 PM ^
Watched that game last night...it will be in my DVR forever ever!
February 21st, 2020 at 6:12 AM ^
One thing that cannot be disputed. Whether you like him or not. He has signed a NBA contract and he has an opportunity to be more successful at something he loves and played for fun as a kid. This young man has done zero wrong to the posters on this board. Get your money young man. Godspeed to you Mr. Poole. Also they can’t take away your Poole party.
February 21st, 2020 at 7:14 AM ^
The (understated) dislike for Jordan Poole around these parts is surprising to me.
Did he leave sooner than fans expected? Sure. When he was coming out of HS, I thought he would be a 3 year player and become a 1st rounder after his junior season.
As a Michigan fan, was I disappointed he left given how inconsistent he was in the 2nd half of the 2019 season? Yep.
But I'll always appreciate him for beating Houston with a buzzer-beater to launch us in earnest toward Michigan's 2nd Final Four under Beilein.
He got drafted in the 1st round, is playing for a winning organization that is retooling for the future, and is part of Golden State's future.
He has personality and chops. I wish him well.
February 21st, 2020 at 8:56 AM ^
Fans tend to like players who hustle and give 100% whenever they're on the court. That's why a guy like Brandon Johns is becoming a fan favorite. Dude has an Endless Motor (TM) and lays it all on the line. Poole was often lazy on D and complained and didn't appear particularly tough. That's why some fans didn't/don't really like him.
February 21st, 2020 at 9:08 AM ^
His lack of effort on the defensive end probably has a lot to do with many fans not liking his overall game.
February 21st, 2020 at 9:03 AM ^
It was his defense , particularly in the 3 games vs MSU last year , that I was most disappointed in.
February 21st, 2020 at 10:55 AM ^
This can't be right. I was assured the only way for Poole to get better was to come back to Michigan and spend less time on his game while worrying about maintaining a GPA.
February 21st, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
A few comments on Poole. There is no doubt he is an extremely talented basketball player. However, he is also an undisciplined player at this point. He was taken high by GS because of the talent and the hope that they can fix the discipline and work ethic issues.
People always remember the shot against Houston. But they also forget that after UM had made a mini run and had a chance in the 2nd half to maybe get the lead under 10 against Villanova, Poole goes 1 on 5 and takes and takes an ill advised shot that effectively ends all chances even of making the end a little interesting.
People complain that Beilein never gave Poole a chance to run the show. He did. People forget the 2019 Wisconsin game. Poole ran the offense a ton. It worked okay in the 1st half as his superior quickness sprung him free. 2nd half not so much as he got extra attention. As others point out if Poole is the PG, Simpson is the off guard. Considering what Simpson is doing in terms of generating assists per game how can anyone insist that Poole was the better choice.
The other issue I had with Poole's game is he did not seem to want to work hard on offense. For a team with a lot of perimeter threats he rarely had open looks. Was Simpson shutting out or more likely Poole is not either working hard to get free and/or paying attention to proper spacing.
There was a reason why Poole got benched for Eli Brooks who last year had zero confidence in his shot. Personally I think Poole would fit in just fine with the Cavaliers. Lots of talent that does not want to listen to a coach. Hopefully he puts it together, else he will break the NBA record for the crummiest shooting percentage for a season.
February 21st, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
You mean he’s making 2-10 shots instead of 1-10?