I have just come across this film of Jabari - including every shot and every defensive posession he played last season. I thought I share this here. What immediately jumped out at me: he doesn‘t get easy shots - at least no easy 2pters. I don‘t see any screens or assists to help him get good shots inside the 3pt line. Every 2pter is contested and it‘s usually him creating his own shot - it is just not a very good shot (heavily contested midrange, usually of 1-3 dribbles, sometimes a fadeaway). It‘s no wonder, that his 2pt percentage is this bad. Now the question is: is his shot selection this bad, or is his team this bad at getting him good shots? He definetly shouldnt take at least half the shots he takes here - but then again I also see no good assist or screen, that would make his life easier.
Good stuff man. Not seeing pure PG with TyTy but a combo guard. And not seeing a lot of plus traits. Okay first step, below rim player - lacks vertical pop, size is good, vision is good, jumper including 3P mechanics is good, loves his floater and gets it off often, needs to improve FT% and FT rate. He really thrives in transition, running hard nonstop. Runs around screens full speed. Mid range game is good but he is excellent from corners especially when not defended. Tight handles and does have plus AST:TO. And he is good defender with very good steal rate. Very good D/WS, DRTG and BPM. He seems to play a little too fast too rushed but not out of control - great TO and foul rate. That goes to IQ and discipline. Wingspan is above average to very good, 6'8 for +6'3 guy (better than Green's same as Tate).
Video extracted from this post : https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/...uo-made-in-heaven.316217/page-3#post-14141101
Thanks for the great video link, OP. I keep hearing Smith's shooting percentage is bad. But when I check online, I see he shot .435 from the 2 and .420 from the 3. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jabari-smith-2.html That doesn't seem bad at all. What am I missing?
That's what I hate about TyTy.....the step in from the 3-pt line jump shot. That's the John Wall and Westbrook love of long two's that should have players banned from basketball. Dumb basketball I.Q. Other than that reminds me of Maxey
Got it. Though I think his .435 from the 2 isn't bad considering it's almost all mid-range jumpers and very few attempts at the rim. Silas could probably run more plays to get him better open looks, but at the same time, it looks like Smith will have to add more dimensions to his offensive game. Fortunately, he'll have a few more years to figure it out.
Jabari does this too - he passes up semi contested threes to take two dribbles and then takes a heavy contested 2. I hope he cuts this out…
Most of that game was some ugly bad basketball. But it makes me feel better about tari and Jabari because both should thrive on a team around other highly skilled players. If either one of these guys were on duke or Gonzaga they'd probably have looked even better.
True but I don't expect Jabari to be a number 1 option as he was with Auburn. Kessler and those two guards didn't do Jabari any favors. Sengun, Green, Porter, JC should provided a very good 3-pt shooting Jabari many more shots in his wheelhouse. TyTy will have to adapt to a greater extent imo. He is a facilitator that can get into the paint like Westbrook/Wall.......don't settle for pull up 19 footers!
Yeah people saying his FG% is bad because they assume a 6’10 player should have a FG% way higher than that. Normally that’s the case because bigs take majority of their shots around the basket. But Smith is the one exception. Majority of his shots are 3s and midrange shots. His FG% isn’t bad at all in that context.
He also had terrible guard play at auburn. He was their only legit threat to score. Kessler just cleaned up rebounds and was there for defense
He shot 50% around the rim, iirc. Which, frankly, is awful for someone who is 6'10". It should be closer to 70%, especially for an elite 6'10" guy. He has stiff shoulders so he doesn't really manipulate his body well in traffic to get good looks. He's also a below the rim player, again despite being so tall. I am a fan, no doubt, but he has issues.
Takeaways: 1. Auburn outside of Jabari SUCKED. They were so bad. Every decision that the other players made on that court was in essence a bigger mistake than whatever Jabari could have done while smothered by the other team's best defender. 2. Did I mention how much Auburn SUCKED? They were the top seed in the nation with an offense that was essentially, "get the ball to Jabari and gtfo the way," or it was one of the wings or guards making bad decisions. Zero ball movement when Jabari gave it to a guard. 3. Excepting the results of Jabari shooting insanely high degree of difficulty shots over and over. If you just take his skillset in a lab it belongs to someone for whom the median outcome is NBA all-star. What are the hater comps? Harrison Barnes...if Barnes was 6'11 and 50% broader at the shoulders. Channing Frye...if Channing Frye was thicker, had ELITE lateral quickness, and could actually make the NBA first team all-defense. Stone nailed this one in his interview. There is no comp for Jabari. Anyone that comes close is missing something...either the elite shooting, the elite defense, or the work ethic. Jabari always talks about his dad who was a fringe NBA'er, and how from a young age he was trained to always work hard and never take a day off. Like Green he's a little quiet, but to me that might also mean that we drafted the modern NBA's version of Tim Duncan, personality-wise. Another reason I've argued from the start that Jabari was my top choice: what was previously believed to be "uncoachable" over the years has gradually shifted, more and more towards the physical side over the cerebral. It's always true that you can't teach height, speed, athleticism etc. But things like shooting and court vision, which were once thought to be unteachable, we've progressively over time nibbled away at. Look at the top developmental systems in the NBA today--the Spurs, Raptors, Heat, and Warriors I'd argue, and maybe the Grizzlies too with their success in late round picks of late--and the biggest takeaway from all of them is that you draft for traits, and secondarily coach a prospect up, within your system, to improve that processing speed to the point where you don't even really need a true point guard on the court anymore. It's not about having a QB on the court as much as it is just making the decision-making as automatic as possible, type 1 thinking if you will. So to me, the closest comparison of a prospect that began as a raw defensive specimen-type and got taught the moves and adequate passing acument to make himself a triple threat, legit top 5 superstar was Kawhi Leonard. Paul George is another. To me Jabari is coming into the league with equal traits as those guys (plus a couple inches in height) but already a better, essentially pure, shooting touch. The scenario where Jabari becomes a top 15-20 player is over 50% in my book, and people are underrating his ceiling even at that number. Sure, he doesn't ever look like he'll be a ball distributor or penetrator of any repute, but that really doesn't matter in the playoffs. In the playoffs the easy stuff gets shut down, and what you are seeing in his highlights is essentially all the unguardable stuff that comes through in spades once it gets to nuttin'-up time. Couldn't have had a better draft outcome in my book.
