With the game on the line and the Warriors down 115-112, he just couldn’t help himself. The ball swung into his hands with a little over 10 seconds left on the clock. Stephen Curry was on the court. Klay Thompson was on the court. Andrew Wiggins had an opening underneath the basket. But the 23-year-old still didn’t hesitate.
Look, in Poole’s defense, he was having a solid game. The youngster added 21 points off the bench and drained six 3-pointers. The Lakers were also throwing the house at Curry, which gave Poole a relatively open look. Still, I think we can all agree you don’t settle for that shot in that situation with that much time on the clock. I mean, if anything, at least put the ball on the floor and inch closer to the 3-point line!
I know I wasn’t the only one to think about Denzel Valentine the moment Poole bent his knees. I’m sorry to ruin your Wednesday, but here’s the infamous moment that will give Bulls fans nightmares forever:
Please, make no mistake: Poole is by far the better player. He also didn’t pull up for the shot like Valentine did with nearly 20 seconds left on the shot clock and 54 seconds left in the game. So, yes, Valentine still gets to claim the uglier shot. But the two moments both represent a troubling sense of overconfidence and, thus, highly-questionable shot selection. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s important to have faith in your abilities. You’d rather have Poole feel like he can hit that shot than the alternative. But you’d also rather have Poole recognize the moment and generate a far better chance in such a high-stakes moment.
All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton joined Channing Frye and Taylor Rooks to watch the conclusion of that Warriors-Lakers game. The interaction between him and Frye over Poole’s decision led to a pretty hilarious moment:
*Jordan Poole pulls up from 28 feet*
Channing Frye: "WHAT?!"
Taylor Rooks: "Oh my g— He can't be serious!"
Tyrese Haliburton: "What's wrong with that shot? I’m not mad at that shot… I would've shot that too."
All jokes aside, I don’t think Frye is far off in alluding to the perception change that analytics has caused. Younger players who were trained on the 3-ball are going to view most wide-open looks behind the arc as an acceptable gamble. And, look, I know there are more players than ever before that can hit the shot Poole took. But not all open 3s are the same, people! Valentine was technically wide-open when he took his shot. Are we now considering that a fine play!?
A good observation here about Warriors-Lakers from Mr. Caruso:
This series is almost like new gen vs old school stylistically.. shooting vs paint/FTs
Golden State took 53 shots from behind the arc last night, nailing 21. Los Angeles took 25 shots from long range, nailing just six (hey, they’re like the Bulls!). The difference in style was truly staggering, particularly when we consider the Lakers shot 29 free throws to the Warriors’ 6. I’ll be very interested to see which team ultimately adjusts to the other. With the lack of size down low for the Warriors’ it’s going to be hard to match the Lakers’ physicality, but someone is going to have to try!
Joel Embiid walked away with his first-ever MVP trophy on Tuesday night. I got to admit, I was pretty shocked to see how heavily the voting leaned in his favor. He received 73 first-place votes compared to Nikola Jokic’s 15. To be clear, I don’t at all have an issue with him winning, but I do think it should have been considered a closer final tally.
Joel Embiid is the first player to win the Kia NBA MVP Award with the 76ers since Allen Iverson in the 2000-01 season.
Speaking of the MVP, Embiid is also the first player ever to receive the Michael Jordan Trophy! Here’s a little refresher on what makes the new trophy so special:
I have so much respect for the way Coby White developed his game this season. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: He’s the kind of talent you keep around.
Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.
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NEWSLETTER
