It’s been a long time coming, but on Friday night, rookie Jordan Poole turned in a stellar individual effort. Sure, the Warriors suffered a sound defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat, but this season has long been about development, and Poole showed some signs in the loss to the Heat.
In the end, the rookie connected on five of his 10 field goal attempts, with all of his makes being from beyond the 3-point line.
The Warriors’ other rookie, Eric Paschall, couldn’t help but notice his teammate’s effort. Entering play on November 29, Poole was shooting just 27% from the field, including just 23.5% from 3-point territory.
He fared much better against Eric Spoelstra’s team.
From Paschall (via the San Francisco Chronicle):
I felt like he’s just been keeping his confidence real high. I feel like that’s one thing that we always keep want him to do is just keep shooting the ball and tonight he showed that he can still shoot. I felt like all it was was just keeping his confidence high and letting him see one go in…
Paschall has emerged as one of the most talked-about rookies in the NBA class. Aside from his individually excellent performances, Paschall was a four-year collegiate player whose age was looked upon as a negative by many NBA teams. He’s been on a mission to prove that he belongs, and to this point, he has.
Eric Paschall on the strides Jordan Poole made tonight: pic.twitter.com/05jGaueVw9
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) November 30, 2019
He can relate to the type of night Poole had against the Heat, even though it came in a loss.
It’s always good to have a night like that. In the NBA, especially as a rookie, you gotta earn your respect. So I feel like every night just having that confidence and feeling good every night is one thing that you gotta do, especially as a rookie.
What Paschall and Poole each hope to do over the course of the season is become seasoned professionals and prove themselves worthy of earning a rotation spot on Steve Kerr’s team for years to come.
Finally, Poole may have provided some data that suggests that he may be up for the challenge.