The NBA Draft is just over 24 hours away and three former Wolverines will learn their professional fates Thursday night.
The Stepien recently released an NBA Draft podcast where they analyzed two of Michigan’s draft prospects. Ross Homan and Mike Gribanov broke down Jordan Poole’s game extensively on their latest podcast.
Gribanov was very high on Poole’s offensive game, especially his shooting.
“Poole I think is one of the better shooting prospects in this class,” Gribanov said on the podcast. “You could even make an argument he’s the best shooting prospect in the class. Just really, really good off the catch. He’s pretty automatic, 80 percent free throw. [He] has a nice pull-up game. Could shoot off screens. Really I think his biggest strength as a shooter is probably just the range. He could get out to 30 feet, especially off the catch without any issue.”
Poole was a 37.0 percent shooter from three in his two seasons at Michigan. He often took shots from the NBA 3-point range and looked comfortable doing so.
Gribanov thinks Poole can continue to get better as a shooter.
“I think something that people overlook at times is shooting among all kinds of major skills is really one thing that tends to improve with age,” Gribanov said. “Poole is pretty young for a sophomore. Considering his shooting numbers at this stage, in two or three years, you could see him becoming one of the better shooters, even in the in the NBA if that breaks right.”
For Gribanov, Poole’s passing and his dribbling are also two of his best offensive strengths. Gribanov doesn’t think Poole has the best handle or is someone you want being your top creator, but said Poole has some nice moves off the dribble.
Homan said Poole is good at running pick-and-rolls at times, but he said he could stand to improve his handle and the mid-range game because he won’t always be able to get to the rim in the NBA.
“He’s not a bad athlete, but he’s definitely not the best athlete,” Homan said on the podcast “But he still was really good around the rim. It was a smaller sample size, he wasn’t getting to the rim a ton, but he was a really good finisher around the rim due to that craft and finish in different ways.”
On the defensive end of the court, both analysts had concerns about Poole. Gribanov said he thinks at best could be not a negative defender.
“On the defensive end, he won’t be as physical or as aggressive as you want,” Gribanov said. “Most of the stuff that holds him back from being a really impact defender is just kind of focus and stuff like ball watching and attention span. You can say that’s young player stuff, but at the same time there’s a lot of guys that have that and aren’t able to improve on that in any serious amount.
“When he wants to and he really gets in a stance, he could really stick with guys. He does a pretty good job on ball overall against more two guards and even as a team defender. Has a decent frame.”
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