The three reason why we will win 35 plus games this year is: Jabari is not lazy ass Wood…we plays defense! We are not going to trade Gordon now and he is going to win games for us in the first half Porter is going to average 19 to 20 points a game
Prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Holgren is not going to make it in the league, I am almost certain. Paolo will be solid, but I don't see a "star" in the making. The fun thing is, we will both find out.
good post. I actually liked all three guys for houston but for different reasons. Chet I think will be an amazing rim protector and paint presence and if he fills out he is prob the best player out of the three with his skill set he can do it all but it’s a big if out of the three if he reaches his ceiling (if the rockets had number 1 I would have chosen Chet) Paulo I liked. He has an NBA body and has just a tremendous feel for the game on offense which is why I think his defense wasn’t great at the college level. I hope he can improve on that end no reason he can’t with his build and athleticism. When I see him I see Julius Randal 2.0 which is an all star player. So I do think he’ll be really good don’t ever think he can be the best player on a championship team imo tho. He was the 3rd pick on my draft board. Jabari I like a lot for the rockets. I think he’s at worst a tall PF Klay Thompson, with even more impactful defense. Will be a great compliment to any team tbh he has the easiest skill set to plug and play and have impact on any team right now that’s a championship level team which is exciting. If he can develop his slashing he can be a 25ppg scorer. If he just stays what he is I think he’s a solid 18-20 ppg guy for 10+ years. I like this kid a lot. He’s money from 15 ft out like lamarcus Aldridge. he was 2 on my draft board. I think Jalen Greenis the guy for the rockets imo he’s the real deal and is going to be a true franchise top 5 player at his peak and the best guard in the league at some point. He’s got freaky athleticism with a great shot and legit handles that will make him one of the best iso players and a guy that can get a shot at any point. Ultimately I think he does end of dominating the ball and being a SG in the mold of Kobe Bryant. Not James harden we’re he is the PG but he will have the rock and initiate the offense once it’s in the half court. rockets are in good hands with green and Jabari. I think tyty Washington can be a good fit next to them if he can improve his 3 point shot and become a plus Defender. kpj has talent will see I like him a lot the skill is their it’s just can he put it together and be a team guy. I have hopes but this is his imo last chance at being a starter on a good team going forward. He’s not playing with wood anymore and he played great without wood so we’ll see fingers crossed.
A better Horry would be my expectations. If he learns to handle the ball at a high level and works on his body so he can handle the physicality of the NBA he can be a star level player. Anyway he's going to be really good for a long time and his game fits Green,, Sengun's like a glove.
I find it weird how somebody is always considered a "role player' just because they may not be elite at generating individual offense, like that's the only skill of any real use in the NBA. His ability to shoot contested threes over people will allow him to score quite a bit even without being spoon fed.
Jabari also runs in transition. Rockets are likely going to be even faster this year. No more wood grabbing boards and slinking his way up court.
The return of the HOUnds! But I'm salivating at the thought of Jabari, Tari and Usman locking everyone down. Hope to get a taste in SL.
Pretty much all of that is from being fouled on his jumpshots, not due to driving (I've watched most of his games now and he drives like 1.5 times per game at best and never does close post-ups).
You have a lot more faith in Silas than I do. I’m guessing Tari and Usman barely see the floor the first half of the season. Hope I’m wrong though.
I honestly find it a bit ridiculous that ppl act like Jabari will just suddenly show us things he's never done in college and still shoot the same high percentages on contested jumpers vs NBA defenders, but at the same time completely gloss over the fact that Chet&Paolo already have shown like 5x the offensive arsenal (spins, hooks, up&unders, hop steps, cuts that Jabari has never done really) and assume they'll not improve a single thing or become more consistent shooters as well. All these "Jabari will become the best out of the three guys" narratives make little sense to me and always assume that the other two completely stagnate or regress for some reason, while Jabari suddenly develops a versatile game he hasn't even hinted at in college and can shoot above NBA defenders as if this was the NCAA.
Yeah I know, but a lot of those fouls are Hardenesque-fouls - as in the defender holds his arm out and he jumps into the arm to provoke a foul. He has really mastered that skill for a college player, and since defenders will have to play him close, he should be able to do that in the pros as well.
Because if you have a shooting touch like Jabari it is easier to learn things like hooks, plus he's already shown he can spin. A natural scorer at his height is hard to label as a bust because at worst he is a spot up 3 point shooter on offense who can play some D so he'll be around for years based on that alone. Personally I don't care if Paolo and Chet are good. I hope they excel actually. Chet would be a fun player to watch if he got it together and Paolo could be the new and improved Tmac for Orlando. Jabari just has that shooting touch + height that you cant teach, so adding other moves on top of it might be a little easier IMO, especially since he has flashed some of these moves already.
What does any of that have to do with that I said? I would guess many last year had Cade or even Green winning ROY and many didn’t have Barnes in the discussion. Doesn’t matter where you fall or so called potential you may have coming in the draft.. it’s where you go and what you when you get there…
No one is saying he'll be a bust, just that his ceiling is probably much lower from what we've seen so far. I'd also say that there are far more examples of players improving their shooting in the NBA (especially when Chet and Banchero already have solid numbers and good-looking mechanics) than suddenly developing multiple new skills&repertoire when a player has shown nothing of that in college. I can't remember any player (or only drastic outliers) that have come into the league with basically just a jumpshot and later developed into complete scorers with a wide array of moves.
Paolo is still the guy I think ends up being the best player from this draft because nobody else has the handles at his size, but very happy with Jabari. If we get another Top 5 pick in 2023, Jabari offers more flexibility in who we choose.
