Jordan Poole

Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole never let any of the criticism bother him. Instead, he just put his head down and did the work.

He put up 18.5 points per night and in the postseason thus far, Poole is averaging nearly 23 points while shooting a ridiculous 48% from deep. Many believed he wasn’t the right fit for the Warriors because of his poor shot selection, sub-par passing, and lack of handles. The guard went off for a team-high 31 points off the bench while going 5 for 10 from downtown.

The Golden State Warriors put shooting guard Gary Payton II in the starting lineup, and his performance did not disappoint.

Expect to see Payton II, who typically is given the Morant assignment, back in the starting lineup for Game 2! He hounded him into tossing a layup off the backboard for the game-ending miss. He did help end the game though.

Jordan Poole #3 of the Golden State Warriors goes to the basket against De'. Justin Ford/Getty Images. The Warriors might be ...

That didn’t work for a hobbled Denver, but it might work for Memphis. The Grizzlies aren’t Grindhouse anymore, but they still have a handful of physical defenders to throw at Poole, and even with his explosion on Sunday, Memphis only lost by one. If they can put the clamps on him, then Golden State becomes more familiar, and easier—not easy, but easier—to defend. The Nuggets showed how to neutralize him late in their five-game loss last round: rough him up, force him into tough shots and tougher passes, and hope that you can still slow down his legendary teammates. His release has gotten faster, and his shot has improved as a result: He shot just 33 percent from the field his rookie year with a 28 percent three-point conversion rate, but this year, his first with a substantial amount of starts as Golden State nursed a variety of injuries, he hiked those numbers up to 44.8 and 36.4 percent, respectively. Even when Green is around, giving Golden State yet another creator from the perimeter opens up defenses in a way that is hard to game-plan against. For my money, none of his nine assists were more impressive than the give-and-go bullet pass to Andrew Wiggins late in the second quarter:

The transformation of former Michigan basketball player Jordan Poole from late first-round pick to potential superstar has been incredible to watch.

He’s also making 92.5 percent of his free throws and led the league in free throw percentage during the regular season. In short, Poole is arriving as an NBA superstar and as a Michigan basketball fan, it’s really fun to watch. Yet, the Warriors are pretty exciting too and with the emergence of former Michigan basketball standout Jordan Poole this season and in particular, these playoffs, Golden State is looking every bit like a team capable of winning an NBA championship.

Warriors guard Jordan Poole is lighting it up in his first postseason, even picking up for Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, writes Ric Bucher.

That extends to the brotherhood of shooters in the dark. Ask any efficient shooter: It’s the quality of the shot that makes the difference." "You have to game plan for him, or he’ll torch you," Curry said of Poole before the Memphis series. The difference is it’s not a 6-[foot]-2 center coming over to trap the ball, it’s a 7-foot, athletic big. "So obviously, the game plan switched up a bit, which was really cool to see, this being my first time being in [the postseason]. "What makes us special is if you’re going to go to those lengths to take me out of the game, we have so many other players who are able to step up. Both Thompson and Curry were less than their optimal best to start the series against the Nuggets, but it didn’t matter because Poole took up the slack. The 28th overall pick of the 2019 draft out of Michigan, Poole has improved his accuracy in every phase of the game every single season and led the league in free-throwing shooting this year at 92.5%, nearly a 13% jump from his rookie mark. By the glow of the Exit signs, Mullin went through his usual full-court shooting routine anyway, and the next day, he went a scorching 16-for-21 to tie his playoff career high of 41 points and lead the Warriors to their only win of the series 125-124. That’s "E" as in Eric Housen, the team’s director of operations. That proved to be vital for the Warriors this season, with Thompson sidelined until January as he recovered from a torn ACL and Achilles tendon and Curry laboring through the worst shooting season of his 13-year career. It was reminiscent of his performance in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, in which Poole had 30 on an über-efficient 9-for-13 shooting, including five of seven 3-pointers.