Michigan sophomore Jordan Poole is one of the Wolverines’ keys to a deep NCAA Tournament run, and he’s off to a good start. He was one of the best defensive players on the floor in a win over Montana, and the coaches were thrilled with is play though he only scored 10 points in the win with one of three triples made.
But many were still waiting for one of his patented multi-triple games in which he got in the zone and couldn’t miss. He didn’t get it against Florida, but he took a step toward it with a 4-for-9 performance, as well as three free throws on another in which he was fouled.
It seemed he was due, it was noted a day before he made four triples.
“You did say that. What did I say? That it was coming,” Poole said after the game. “It feels good. I think one thing is that being able to get out of Big Ten play when guys are really keying on me, I was getting face guarded. I haven’t seen a lot of zone. I felt in the zone I was able to be aggressive, able to finish a couple shots I haven’t seen in a really long time, just being aggressive.”
If he gets more of them, expect more to go in. Poole’s been streaky, but his stroke is pure when it’s working.
A couple I thought should have gone in I thought were going in,” he said. “Everything felt good. I was just feeling confident.
He finished with 19 points, a day after finishing with the best defensive percentage on a team with some elite defenders in a win over Montana.
Poole still wasn’t at his best. He has another gear, and assistant coach DeAndre Haynes let him know it. There were a few careless turnovers and some bad shots, but he continues to make strides.
“When he lets the game come to him, he’s a terrific player,” Haynes said. “He came to the bench one time and I said, ‘take a deep breath. Breathe. Slow down, take the easy shots they give you. When they close out hard, just drive past them and take a shot or make somebody else better.’
“He needed to take a deep breather. He had drove down and shot faked, threw up some crazy floater. We had to bring him down to earth a little bit.”
But they did, and Poole was the difference maker in getting U-M back to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year.
“It feels like an amazing honor,” he said. “It shows what direction the program is going, being able to consistently make it to the NCAA Tournament, Sweet 16. It shows all the hard work we put in over the summer, early mornings pays off. To be in a situation like that is amazing.”
He even got props from analyst Reggie Miller, who was helping call the game, on the way off the floor.
“I told him I liked his shoes,” Poole said in typical fashion. “He said he was extremely proud of the way I played. I told him I saw him out there and had to show him I could shoot that thing a little bit.
“To be able to get recognition from an amazing, great legend like that is something you dream of growing up as a kid watching him on TV. It was awesome.”
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