Michigan basketball coach John Beilein previews the Big Ten tournament. Recorded Tuesday, Feb. 27. Nick Baumgardner, Detroit Free Press
NEW YORK — Of all the destinations on this list, this one — New York City — has to be Jordan Poole's kind of town.
"Why do you say that?" Michigan's electric, never bashful freshman from Milwaukee said earlier this week.
Maybe it's the flair for the dramatic. Or the ability to come off the bench and bury triples before breaking a sweat. Or the willingness to exchange trash talk with an opposing student section. Or the short shorts. Or the self-proclaimed nickname of "The Microwave."
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Big lights, big city, Madison Square Garden. Has to be Poole's kind of party, right?
"Maybe a little bit. Kind of. Off the court I'm more of a chill, laid back guy," Poole says underneath a growing smile. "But I guess I know what you mean. Bright lights? For sure.
"I'm a big-time player I think."
Michigan thinks so, too, which is why Poole will get a sizable opportunity to show the country his stuff this week in the world's most famous arena.
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After starting the year with no promise of playing time, Poole slowly forced Michigan coach John Beilein's hand with his ability to create instant offense off the bench by way of the three-point shot.
Slowly but surely, Poole showed Beilein and company he was more than that, too, as his ability to get to the rim off the dribble and create space for himself has been top-notch all season for a player his age.
Asked last week what's changed about Poole's game of late, Beilein's answer was simple.
"I think the head coach is playing him more," said Beilein, whose team will open Big Ten tournament (full bracket) play against Iowa on Thursday (2:30 p.m., BTN).
Poole turned in double-digit minutes in every game but one during the month of February, and finished the season with three impressive days against Ohio State, Penn State and Maryland. As of now, Poole's in Michigan's top seven and is often the first player (along with Duncan Robinson) Beilein brings off the bench.
Poole had 15 points against Ohio State, 13 against Penn State (including a highlight reel jam on the run) and 12 against Maryland as an offensive spark plug.
But it's been more than that. If his shot was the only thing working, Beilein insists his minutes wouldn't be where they are. But his overall floor game, along with his defense and willingness to use his high basketball IQ, has forced Michigan to trust Poole more in critical situations.
"If you saw him in practice now, his focus and his attention has (allowed me) to put a lot of trust into how he's approaching the game," Beilein said. "He realizes there's a lot that goes into this game. A lot more than he probably thought. And now that he's thinking it, he's taking pride in it and he knows he's being held accountable for it, I've seen his game grow.
"The questions he's asking, the answers that he has right now show me he's paying attention. ... Now we're on the same wavelength of what winning basketball looks like."
On the surface, Poole might seem like the first player to offer an "I told you so" in jest to his head coach. But he also knows exactly what he needed to do in order to find more floor time this season.
Poole's known Beilein a long time, as he committed to Michigan all the way back in October 2015. He knew what type of detail, process-oriented coach Beilein was when he picked Michigan and that's part of the reason why he chose the Wolverines.
He loved the idea of playing in this offense and growing inside the system. Which is why he's over the moon about having the opportunity to earn more trust from Beilein this late in the year.
"I think everybody knows I'm a pretty confident guy at this point, but it still sort of surprises me knowing how much of an impact I've been able to make this early," Poole says. "There's not a lot of freshmen who get to go out and play a lot this time of year. But (Beilein)'s put some trust in me and when my head coach puts trust in me like that, (it's big). When he's letting me go, he knows my ability and he trusts me to help win a game. That's big.
"I'm thankful. Coach B doesn't always trust freshmen like this. So it's big for me to know he has my back as much as I have his back."
As for the big city, Poole's been to New York before. He's never played inside Madison Square Garden, though.
And while he understands he's earned more minutes by showing an ability to play under control, he also knows his penchant for cutting loose and letting it fly is one of the reasons why Beilein loves him so much.
New York City, meet Jordan Poole.
Things could get interesting.
"I know it's ridiculously famous arena. The Knicks play there, all those great NBA games. Spike Lee, he's there," Poole says. "Guys have gone in there and made high profile performances over the years.
"It's a big, big time game in a big time environment."
Contact Nick Baumgardner: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.
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