Why did the Warriors select Jordan Poole with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft?
"We drafted him for his ability to put the ball in the basket," coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Golden State's 123-101 loss to the Lakers on Saturday night. "You can see his confidence."
Yes, yes you can. It is oozing.
It doesn't matter that Jordan Poole misses this 3. What matters is that he hunted the shot and let it fly with zero hesitation. Dude wants to score pic.twitter.com/btvWRTKJ1J— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) October 7, 2019
Jordan Poole = immediate fan favorite. Chase Center is going to love this guy https://t.co/xA5AECVQWo— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) October 6, 2019
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The rookie out of Michigan scored 17 points on 5-for-11 shooting overall. He went 4-for-9 from 3-point territory.
The moment was not too big for the 20-year-old, as he showed great poise:
This is impressive: Jordan Poole recovers the loose ball near halfcourt, calmly/strongly goes past Danny Green with the shot clock winding down and gets to the free throw line. He doesn't look like a rookie pic.twitter.com/eWNAgDHOb6— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) October 7, 2019
Poole primarily is going play off the ball in the NBA, but he can get his teammates involved as well. He had 12 games as a sophomore with at least three assists.
Jordan Poole is more than just a scorer. He can handle the rock and create for others, but didn't get a lot of opportunities to show it in college pic.twitter.com/z8Y63t1Px0— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) October 7, 2019
But don't get it twisted -- his role will be to provide instant offense off the bench.
"He can shoot it, and he should continue to shoot it," Steph Curry told the media. "Take good shots. We need sparkplugs all up and down the roster. He can shoot the ball. He works at it and he's not shy.
"You can always reel people back in. You can't really tell a guy who doesn't have confidence to just get confidence. You're either born with it or not."
Love this quote. It's similar to how Warriors general manager Bob Myers -- when discussing Draymond Green's passion over the years -- has repeatedly said that he would rather have a player who cares too much than not enough.
Poole's confidence has gotten him this far, and he's going to need to lean on it throughout his rookie season if/when he's in a slump.
[RELATED: How Chriss showcased skillset in impressive Warriors debut]
It's what enables him to do stuff like this:
Watch how much space Jordan Poole creates on the stepback 3. This is big time pic.twitter.com/tu0A0ARxTa— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) October 7, 2019
We're not going to overreact to one exhibition game and say Poole is destined for NBA stardom. But we are going to say that he passes the eye test and looks like a guy who belongs.
