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Which Warrior of the future caught your eye in the loss to Phoenix Suns?
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Which Warrior of the future caught your eye in the loss to Phoenix Suns?

Poole, Mannion, and Wiseman gave us all plenty to chew over as the Warriors enter their All-Star break vacation.

Daniel Hardee
Mar 5, 2021
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Which Warrior of the future caught your eye in the loss to Phoenix Suns?
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Yesterday was an important day for the two active stars the Golden State Warriors employ. First, former defensive player of the year Draymond Green celebrated his 31st birthday.

Twitter avatar for @WarriorNationCPWarriors Nation @WarriorNationCP
Join Warriors Nation in wishing 3x NBA Champion, 3x All-Star, and 2017 DPOY, Draymond Green, a happy 31st birthday! 🎉🎂
Image

March 4th 2021

163 Retweets1,411 Likes

Additionally, two-time MVP Stephen Curry was selected third from a talented pool of All-Star starters and will team up with his old rival Lebron James Sunday in the exhibition. Per the Warriors site:

Curry will make his seventh All-Star Game appearance (all starts), matching Rick Barry’s franchise record for All-Star starts and trailing only Paul Arizin (10 appearances) and Barry (eight) for most All-Star selections in Warriors history. Curry made six consecutive All-Star appearances from 2014-19.

But there was also a GSW basketball game played last night, with neither Curry nor Green on the court as they got an early jump on All-Star vacation. That forced the Warriors to unleash their rookies and G-League developmental projects in a regular season game that ultimately could have playoff seeding ramifications in a competitive Western Conference.

Normally we’d see these youngsters getting their feet wet in a summer league or preseason game, but these are strange times. Let’s take a look at how these young cats balled (or didn’t) in the 120-98 b̶e̶a̶t̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ learning experience they took from the Phoenix Suns.

Wait, Jordan Poole and Nico Mannion can contribute NOW?

There has been no position more scrutinized for GSW this season than their backup point guard situation, and with good reason. Veteran PG Brad Wanamaker was brought over from a playoff Boston Celtics squad in order to provide steady playmaking and defense. While the defensive chops have been there, his offense has been comically TURRIBLE.

I didn’t fact check this next tweet but it FEELS right:

Twitter avatar for @antonin_orgAntonin (Jordan Poole fan account) @antonin_org
Fun fact: This season Brad Wanamaker has had more shots blocked (19) than he has made threes (12)

March 5th 2021

50 Retweets751 Likes

So when the Warriors recalled their 2019 first rounder Poole from the G-League alongside their 2020 first rounder Mannion, there was palpable intrigue over their current abilities. Last night they showed us flashes of what they’re capable of.

Poole came off the bench to lead all scorers with 26 points in a hot shooting performance: 10-of-16 from the field and nailed half of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Two of the three-pointers he nailed were a couple feet from beyond the arc, territory that normally belongs to the Splash Bros.

Twitter avatar for @anthonyVslaterAnthony Slater @anthonyVslater
Jordan Poole scored 26 points in 26 minutes tonight. He made 10 shots. Here are all 10 -- creative drives, soft finishes, deep range, an array of successful moves against Jae Crowder, Devin Booker, Jevon Carter.
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March 5th 2021

39 Retweets403 Likes

Last year there were concerns over Poole pressing too much and fumbling opportunities because of youthful impatience, but he looked mature and in control last night. He toggled his pace to toy with defenders, hit catch and shoot jumpers, and attacked the paint with vigor.

Twitter avatar for @kendra__andrewsKendra Andrews @kendra__andrews
Steve Kerr on the possibility of Jordan Poole getting rotation minutes in the second half of the season: "When you play like he did tonight, you earn another look. The way he played tonight, he earned more minutes."

March 5th 2021

6 Retweets118 Likes

Mannion started the game and had his hands full with one of the greatest point guards of all time Chris Paul. Yet the rookie played with zest and creativity, leading the team in assists with 6 (and turnovers with 5). He shot a rough 3-of-10 from the field, but showed his range as all three were from beyond the arc.

Twitter avatar for @warriorsGolden State Warriors @warriors
this entire sequence from @niccolomannion >>>
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March 5th 2021

251 Retweets2,297 Likes
Twitter avatar for @niccolomannionniccolo @niccolomannion
look at how God works 🙏🏼

Golden State Warriors @warriors

Played high school ball in Arizona. Played college ball in Arizona. Tonight, @niccolomannion makes his first NBA start in Arizona. https://t.co/5eiP1BpSl9

March 5th 2021

84 Retweets1,147 Likes

Meanwhile Wanamaker scored 7 points on 7 shots, with 3 assists and a block. Not bad in 17 minutes of play, but certainly not an exciting outing on a night that his younger competition provided promising sparks. TO BE CONTINUED…

James Wiseman has some homework to do

Wiseman, the #2 pick in the 2021 draft spent much of the night getting spun around like a top on defense as the Suns worked the youngster over.

Twitter avatar for @SunsPhoenix Suns @Suns
JEVON CARTER 🤯
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March 5th 2021

94 Retweets887 Likes
Twitter avatar for @SunsPhoenix Suns @Suns
DO YOUR THING @dariosaric!
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March 5th 2021

40 Retweets316 Likes

That’s just tough for the 19-year old big man. Centers have to defend the paint with instincts and intimidation; here it’s clear JW isn’t quite comfortable mirroring the footwork of his opponents AND he doesn’t know when/how to get physical to muck it up. That should come in time as he gets more experience.

On the offensive end, things didn’t fare much better as he struggled to 5-of-14 shooting.

Although that shot profile is ugly, he still showed glimpses of his potential, whether connecting with Mannion on a spicy lob or getting downhill like this:

Twitter avatar for @NBCSWarriorsWarriors on NBCS @NBCSWarriors
Wiseman in attack mode 🌪
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March 5th 2021

14 Retweets166 Likes

Despite his struggles, he still turned in a 11 point, 11 rebound double-double with 0 turnovers and only 3 fouls. That shows that even in this baby deer stage of development, he’s still capable of contributing…even if it’s in a blowout loss (sigh).

Twitter avatar for @wcgoldbergWes Goldberg @wcgoldberg
Steve Kerr on James Wiseman, who logged a career-high 35 minutes: "He just needs the reps, there's no shortcuts. He's gonna have to play a lot more games just like tonight and fight through some growing pains." Points to rebounding as the area where he needs to improve the most

March 5th 2021

4 Retweets63 Likes
Twitter avatar for @juanonjuan10Juan Toscano Anderson @juanonjuan10
Kid gon be a MONSTER. Rome wasn’t built in a day https://t.co/Ng9mnJ5ThS

Warriors on NBCS @NBCSWarriors

James Wiseman admitted the first half of his rookie season was hard at times, but he feels he's better for it https://t.co/VLyHPj2Weu https://t.co/eIzU2DyM9X

March 5th 2021

113 Retweets1,392 Likes

Moving On

Okay that’s about as much as I care to think about from this final L before the All-Star break. I’ll need some time over the weekend to digest this first half of the season: was it good? bad? ugly? What do you good people think?

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bobbita
Mar 6, 2021

JB ripping on wiggins https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/jim-barnett-frustrated-warriors-andrew-wiggins-specific-area?amp

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bobbita
Mar 6, 2021

https://youtu.be/RhNCmAKZigM I absolutely hate that Wiggins is happy here. Just look at him in that video. Makes me not want to trade him

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