Warriors' Jordan Poole, the 'third Splash Brother,' has long history as a playoff breakout star
This isn't the first time Jordan Poole has decided the postseason would be his breakout party.
There's the shot everyone remembers – his buzzer-beater 3-pointer that pushed the Michigan Wolverines past the Houston Cougars in the second round of the 2018 men's NCAA Tournament. Poole, then a freshman, came off the bench with Duncan Robinson for a team that reached the championship game.
But Poole's playoff poise actually traces its origin story to his freshman year of high school, long before his performances through three games of the 2022 NBA playoffs have helped the Golden State Warriors take a 3-0 series lead over the Denver Nuggets.
As a teenager at Rufus King – a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, public school powerhouse –Poole had not yet played in the sectional final. The undersized, underweight freshman caught the eye of then-coach Jim Gosz.
"He's a winner," Gosz told USA TODAY Sports from Denver, hours before Gosz watched the Warriors punish the Nuggets for the third straight game. Poole had 27 points to complement Games 1 and 2 of 30 and 29, respectively. "Everywhere he's gone, he's won.
"He delivered in every big game we played."
Gosz inserted his precocious player into the high school game. Rufus King trailed by three with about six seconds left, Gosz remembered. Poole inbounded the basketball before getting it back.
Poole buried a shot from just inside the logo, sending the game to overtime. Rufus King won and advanced to the state tournament.
“The kid can flat-out score," Gosz said. "Even when he was at Michigan, even in high school, he was a natural scorer. In high school, he was very under-developed physically.”
Gosz said he looked like a middle schooler. At the invite-only Nike Top 100 camp in St. Louis between Poole's sophomore and junior year, he was the smallest kid, Gosz said. He was on the championship team at the camp.
“He’s on the big stage now. I have no doubt he’s ready," Gosz said. "He doesn’t care either. The kid has no conscience. The kid is just going to go out there and keep playing. He’s not looking for a pat on the back.”
What Poole didn't have in size back then he had in shot-making ability, Gosz said. That trait followed him to Michigan, which he left after his sophomore season.
Poole was the less-talked-about Milwaukee-area prospect the night of the 2019 NBA draft. That distinction belonged to Tyler Herro, who went 13th overall to the Miami Heat. The Warriors took Poole with the 28th overall pick.
Herro experienced his playoff moment first, as the Miami Heat went to the 2020 NBA Finals inside the Orlando, Florida, bubble.
"Milwaukee people know both of these guys didn't cut corners or had things handed to them," said Gosz, who also coached Alex Antetokounmpo, brother of Giannis, for four years at Dominican High School. "No one ever questioned the work ethic of those two."
While Herro received national recognition, Poole and the Warriors were at home – one of the eight teams not invited to the bubble. Poole played 11 games with the G League Santa Cruz Warriors the next season and saw his playing time with the NBA team decrease despite increasing his scoring to 12 points per game.
In 2021-22, with Klay Thompson still injured to begin the season, a role for Poole presented itself. He started 51 games for the Warriors and shot 36.4% from three while averaging 18.5 points per game.
Poole is 13 of 22 from beyond the arc in the playoff series against Denver – the Warriors' first playoff appearance since losing in the NBA Finals in 2019. In Game 2, Poole added eight assists, including a pair nifty behind-the-back passes.
IMPACT PLAYERS: Luka Doncic out, Stephen Curry in: 5 players who could impact their team's playoff run
TITLE KEYS: NBA championship keys: How each playoff team can win the 2022 title
"I don't remember a better start for a playoff debut for a guard," Thompson told reporters after Game 3. "It's incredible what Jordan's doing."
Gosz said Draymond Green took Poole under his wing during Poole's rookie season. They have a natural rivalry between Green's Michigan State background and Poole attending Michigan.
During a timeout in a November contest, Green and Poole exchanged words. Green had to be held back. Poole wouldn’t use the screens Green set for him, The Athletic reported.
Green missed three months with an injury. During that time, he told reporters that Poole learned to slow the game down.
“All the credit goes to him,” Green said after Game 2. “He figured out pace and how to slow down, when to go fast, when to bait a guy because I’m trying to get to this. He’s made it a lot easier to play with, play alongside him, and we’re starting to build a pretty good connection.”
Poole isn't a finalist for the NBA's Most Improved Player, a snub to which Green took offense ("the NBA really needs to relook at their process"). Green has even gone so far as to say Poole is doing "his best impression" of (Steph) Curry, who, along with Thompson, have become the "Splash Brothers."
"Jordan is doing some of the same stuff Steph does. You’re going to game plan for Steph, you’re going to game plan for Klay, but now you got to game plan for Jordan," Green said. "That’s a different beast."
Gosz said, “You know what? I always saw this coming."
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jordan Poole, Warriors' NBA playoff star, doing 'stuff Steph does'
