It would be great for Jabari to get to Kawhi’s level of overall offensive game. Kawhi is great comparison since he came into the league without handles. I truly hope he gets there. Surprised it took this long for someone to bring up Kawhi. Klay Thompson also benefitted from the ecosystem he developed around and by playing next to Curry. I understand the Klay comparisons since he’s an elite 3&D player but GSW is too unique of an ecosystem.
Reading some of the comments are comical. He has played 1 summer league game with no knowledge of defensive schemes, no knowledge of a offense, no Turkish center, no Jalen…I think he his work ethic, shot and defense is what will set him up for a great career in red. Banchero looked great but was playing the LeBron role. Jabari took 8 shots played pretty good defense especially on the switches. You could see his nervousness by him continuing to fall for shot fakes by smaller players. I’m good with the process that will come. Just wait til the Dream gets in the gym with him. Look what it did for the great players that trained with him. **Kobe…fades back and hits a balled up piece of paper in the trash can**
If he can score 20+ ppg at a high percentage, he will be a star. I think he already has that in him. He just needs time to gain more experience and better understanding of the game. If he can overcome his weaknesses (handle and passing), he will be a superstar. The other two guys have their weaknesses to overcome. Paolo needs a more consistent outside shot. And he needs to play better defense. Chet needs to gain more strength and avoid serious injuries. (BTW, I watch Chet dribble. He has very good dribbling skills but his height is an obstacle and the handle isn't tight enough to avoid getting stripped.)
What do Chet and Paolo having handles as big men have anything to do with drafting stars? Paolo, Chet and Jabari all have different playstyles they need handles in different capacities. With Jabari's playstyle he doesnt need handles except when he is leading the fast break. It also doesnt prevent him from playing like a star. Chet's 2nd game he had a dropoff from his 1st, did his handles stop him from getting manhandled by Kevin Lofton Jr? No. So again, handles are important for guards but are just a bonus for a big man. Plus we didnt have a chance at Chet and Paolo to begin with so not sure what you are complaining about.
You can be a superstar even without handles. There are so many people with tight ass handles thwt cant even get into the NBA just ask the globe trotters. I swear some of these posters saw clips of Kyrie doing the crab dribble and thought thats what it takes smh.
Ball handling is not nearly as important for bigs as it is for guards. Smith's handles simply needs to be good enough to get around 4s or 5s, against anyone smaller he should just be backing them down.
He has to have good handles to be a Star. I believe he is a taller Klay Thompson, our guards are ball hoggers.
Everyone keeps talking about his bad ball handling - what exactly are we talking about? about his inability to create a good shot with his dribble drive? Then I am with you. Or do we think he is a turnover waiting to happen if he puts the ball on the floor? Then I don’t see it. I don’t see superstar when I see Jabari. I can be wrong and I hope I am wrong. But I do see a star - and one that fits with any other star on a team and that can play his part on both sides of the floor flawlessly. That’s good enough for me.
Agreed. Summer League, like All Star games, rewards dribble-drive shot creators. Not fundamentally sound shooters or defenders. We have enough of the former already … as do most lottery teams. But every championship team is stacked with the latter, and we had exactly none. Jabari is not as athletic as Paolo or Chet, won’t ever be able to run an offense like they could, and won’t look as good in pickup ball. But he will hit big shots at a high pace, defend well at all levels, and space the floor for the dribblers. That is exactly what we needed and more than enough for the third pick given the other two were not available in any case.
To add to this, Banchero looked good for a quarter to maybe a half. He made a couple really nice shots but struggled to get by his man and finish at the rim. He’s not a good enough shooter to play this way. Passes were solid, but he had guys moving for him. That’s more system based.
Jabari is a better athlete than Paolo and probably Chet in the run, jump athleticism. He doesn’t have their fluidity and feet. Edit* on the offensive side. Moves his feet really well on the defensive side.
Wow, just wow... step back and listen to yourselves. The young man has played one SL game in an extremely disjointed offense and you're already trying to pigeonhole him in a role or typecast his career. Let's just let Jabari be Jabari. He's an elite shooter, which is the most coveted skill in our game. He's only 19 years old as of (May) and is a tireless worker. He's going to get better and hopefully our coaching staff will find a way to get him the ball in good situations. I'm super pumped by the talent we've added the last 2 years. It's crazy to think we've had 7 1st round picks. If we get 4/7 that are starters going forward that's crazy successful drafting. I think with Green, Sengun, Smith and Eason we potentially have those 4 starters. If 2 of them can become stars then we'll be in great situation to add additional players to build a championship team. We're in the early stages of the rebuild, expect lots of learning this year, but some great glimpses of what the future can be. I just hope the revamped coaching staff can harness the enormous potential they've been handed.
Who are the current superstars without handles in this current NBA? The lack of ability to create for themselves or others?
How did we go from "Jabari is the best fit because we have so many great ballhandlers, we don't need another one" to now "Jabari needs a real PG to thrive, KPJ likely won't ever be"?
But it is important to be one of the better players. Nothing wrong being a super role player if that what he ends up being. Like I said, the Rockets are in the stage in which the goal is trying to draft superstars. Is it not?
I still don't see what you are complaining about. Are you saying that Smith was not the best player available at #3? Are you saying that the Rockets should have traded up to grab Banchero? Well, they tried but Orlando wouldn't bite. Are you saying that Ivey would have better superstar potential than Smith? What is it that you want?
Welp, I thought the "coach" would try and draw a couple of simple plays to get him some looks, but it's a summer league game after all, so no big deal. He showed enough flashes both on offense and defense to justify our expectations IMO. Hopefully he's a bit more relaxed and plays better tonight vs OKC.
