As the saying goes, "The Warriors have no Curry, and Poole is called the King." Today, the Warriors continued to win in the absence of main players such as Curry and Dream Green, and Poole was indispensable, he blasted down this season's new high of 32 points, especially 4 of 8 three-pointers, which is a goodbye to the bad feel of the past 7 games. The Warriors, who have proven countless times this season to get rid of Curry dependence, have proved it again today. And the fans who have been fascinated by Curry for two consecutive games have also received a different kind of surprise today.
But before being affectionately called "Brother Tea" by Warriors fans this season, Poole, whose name bears the word "Jordan," has walked a thorny road.
Poole, 22, was born in Milwaukee on June 19, 1999, the son of Anthony Poole and Monette. He had an older brother who worked for Wade's alma mater, Marquette University. In addition, he has a sister, 4 dogs and 2 cats.
Poole attended Rufus King High School in Milwaukee before transferring to La Rumir High School in Indiana, where he was ranked 92nd and number two in the Class of 2017. Invitations from universities flew like snowflakes, including Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Memphis, Marquette, Virginia Tech and Auburn University. In the end, Poole chose the University of Michigan.
Before stepping onto the college campus, Poole ended his high school career with a championship. In the 2017 National High School League Finals, Poole scored 3-of-7 from three points, had 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, and teamed up with Brian Bowen (who signed a two-way contract with the Pacers and now plays for the Timberwolves' Development League team) and the current Grizzlies interior lineman Jaren Jackson Jr., to win 70-52 over Montverde High School, led by current Knicks guard Barrett.
Fans familiar with the Japanese manga "Slam Dunk Master" will remember "Ryukawa Fate" and Sakuragi Legion, they are the support clubs of Kaede Ryugawa and Sakuragi Hanamichi respectively, but the composition of the members is very different. In Poole's first season with the University of Michigan, the "Poole Party" also appeared in the stands on the sidelines, which was the Poole support meeting organized by the university's student union, and Poole's popularity was evident.
In his freshman season, Poole played 38 games, averaging 12.5 minutes per game, scoring 6.1 points, and led the team to the Big Ten Division. In the second round of the 2018 NCAA Championship, Poole hit a winning three-pointer to lead the team to victory over the University of Houston to advance to the Sweet Round of 16. Poole then led the team to a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat Loyola University Chicago. In the end, in that year's NCAA finals, the University of Michigan fell to the feet of Villanova University, which included Mikael Bridges, Di Vincenzo, Jaylen Brunson and Spelman.
In his sophomore season, Poole averaged 12.8 points per game, shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from three-point range. He led the University of Michigan to the Sweet 16 again, but stopped in the quarterfinals against Texas Tech, which owns Culver, which also defeated Gonzaga University with Brandon Clark and Eight Village Bases in the NCAA Finals. For 2 consecutive years, Michigan lost to the final NCAA champion.
Finally, Poole decided to take it to a higher level. He ran into the NBA draft with teammates Braz Dekis (now for the Magic) and Charles Matthews (2019 draft winner, now playing for the Cavaliers' development league team) and was selected by the Warriors with the 28th pick in the first round and signed a three-year, $6 million guarantee contract.
However, what Pooler did not expect was that when he came to the Warriors who had just returned from the Finals, what awaited him was a ordeal. In the 2019-20 season, Durant left New York, Klay Thompson was sick, and Curry only played 5 games to hang up the free card. Warriors who want to fight and see instantly adjust their target to a pendulum.
It is reasonable to say that such an environment is conducive to the newcomers to enjoy themselves, but Poole is not surprised, but "frightened".
In his first 29 games for the Warriors, Poole averaged 21.7 minutes per game and scored only 7.1 points, shooting just 25.4 percent from the field and 24.2 percent from three-point range, giving the Warriors plenty of reason to delegate him to the Development League. After being recalled, Poole's performance briefly picked up, but in seven games from the end of January to the beginning of February 2020, he averaged only 4.7 points per game, shooting only 20% and 26.3% of the two shots, and beat himself to the bottom.
Intolerable Warriors fans began to attack Poole, jokingly calling him "Tie Guanyin" and resenting the Warriors for wasting a first-round pick. In this way, Poole ended the rookie season in a nameless manner, only to average 22.4 minutes per game, scoring 8.8 points, and shooting 33.3% and 27.9% of the failing answers respectively.
At the beginning of the 2020-21 season, Poole's cup of tea did not seem to be brewed, and the Warriors also delegated him to the development league for the third time at the end of January this year. However, this was also the last time Poole was deported. After his return in early March, he was a big surprise to Warriors fans. In the first seven games after the return, Poole averaged 20.9 points per game, the two shooting rates rose back to 54.5% and 44.2%, and the tea that was once unfilled also began to smell fragrant.
In the end, Poole announced his official ascension to the throne with his performance in this year's preseason. He once shot down 30+5+5 to lead the team to victory over the Blazers; he also scored 28 points in just 2 quarters against the Lakers and was on Twitter. Anthony Slater, a Warriors reporter for The Athletic, said the Warriors set Poole a small goal: to become a quasi-All-Star like CJ McCollum. Curry even said that the 22-year-old Poole had a chance to be better than himself.
The joke of the ugly duckling turning into a swan, stepping out of the fairy tale book, really happened to Poole. Marcus Thompson III, another Warriors and team reporter for The Athletic, wrote an article titled "Jordan Poole, It's Your Turn to Appear", which suggested that the improvement of training, confrontation ability and shooting in the development league is the top three reasons why Poole has completed a surprise transformation.
After today's game, coach Kerr bluntly pointed out that it was Poole who led the whole team on the offensive end of the game, and he was proud of Poole. And this season's Poole will rush with the Warriors to a grand goal. (Supine Braces/Hairy)