Why Poole's mistakes just as vital to development as success

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The Warriors are taking the good with the bad during Jordan Poole's stint in the G League bubble just outside of Orlando, Fla.

Poole entered the Santa Cruz Warriors' Monday game against the Agua Caliente Clippers as the G League's leading scorer, averaging 24.4 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting from the field and 35.0 percent behind the 3-point line. He's also second -- behind teammate Nico Mannion -- in turnovers per game (4.3), and Poole committed an ill-timed foul on 3-point shot with 4.6 remaining in regulation of a game last week.

Warriors president of basketball operations and general manager Bob Myers said that's all a part of Poole's growth.

"This is why he's down there, to be honest. It's to learn from these mistakes, and to get better," Myers told Santa Cruz Warriors play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Danna at halftime of Santa Cruz-Agua Caliente. "But the talent is there, and he's shown -- whether it's the scoring or the play-making, those are hard-to-find skills and skills that we liked when we drafted him [in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft]."

Poole didn't have as much space to make mistakes in the Warriors' crowded backcourt rotation, as he averaged just under 10 minutes in the 15 NBA games he played this season. The 21-year-old entered Monday fourth among qualifying G Leaguers in usage rate (27.9 percent), far exceeding his usage with Golden State this season (23 percent).

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Playing over 35 minutes per contest for Santa Cruz, Poole's getting a chance to develop during games that he hasn't in the NBA so far. That's not a chance young players would often get prior to the foundation -- and subsequent expansion -- of the G League, and it's one the Warriors believe Poole is taking full advantage of.

How else would he be able to iron out the kinks in his game?

"Not that things aren't on the line now, but it's much more on the line in an NBA regular-season game, possibly playoff games, than it is in Orlando," Myers continued. "And so this is a place you go, and learn and try to get better, and when you come back up with us, hopefully you've improved in those areas."

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