‘Cancel the flight’: Warriors lobbied to keep Jordan Poole with team
With the clock winding down before Jordan Poole was set to leave on assignment for the G League, the second-year guard produced his best game of the season on Saturday to help the Golden State Warriors defeat the Detroit Pistons.
Poole recorded a season-high 16 points off the bench in the 118-91 victory, while shooting 4-of-8 from the field in 20 minutes. The performance prompted several of his teammates to lobby head coach Steve Kerr to cancel his assignment, but those efforts came up short.
Instead, Poole will leave for the G League bubble on Sunday.
“Guys on the bench were yelling, ‘Cancel the flight!'” Kerr said after the game. “He had a great night. I’m really happy for Jordan. He has worked hard this last year and a half. It’s so nice to see things come together for him and see all of his work pay off. I thought he was great and he really enjoyed himself out there. It’s a good send-off for him. … (But) he is still going.”
Poole this season has made 15 appearances with the Warriors, averaging 5.5 points and 1.2 rebounds in 9.5 minutes per game.
While he has fallen mostly out of the rotation, he has produced when given the opportunity to play. In the five games that he has logged at least 10 minutes, he has scored in double figures in four of those contests.
The opportunity to play with Santa Cruz in the bubble will likely help Poole stay in a rhythm and be prepared for the rest of the season. He is looking at the assignment with a positive mindset and is ready to play heavy minutes.
“I really just feel like it’s the trials and tribulations,” Poole said on Saturday. “The G League isn’t looked at as a negative impact. I wasn’t getting minutes and I wasn’t playing and I wasn’t able to get on the floor and in the G League, I will be able to play 30-plus minutes. If that’s what it takes for me to get onto the court then I will go down there and play basketball. At the end of the day, I’m a hooper and whenever I get on the court, I just try to play my game.”
The G League last week released the full 135-game and TV schedule for the 2021 season set to tip off on Feb. 10 at the Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. 18 teams, including Santa Cruz, will each play 15 games through March 6.
Kerr said last week that the plan is to keep both Poole and Nico Mannion with Santa Cruz for the entirety of the shortened season but injuries and health and safety protocols could change that.
However long Poole will be there, the former first-round pick will be ready to play.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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