I gotta say , I read it . Idk if it’s that innovative. jabari Smith is at least 6’10” how many players nowadays that are 6’10” exclusively play the 4 ? It is a unique idea having him primarily shut down a corner
it's good that he is this flexible. He could play the 5. The bigger question is: should he. Right now his offensive game is jump shots - from 3 or long twos. He is shooting over people, maybe shoots off of 2 dribbles. He has no real post game, he is a good but not great rebounder. He is a great defender - but what sets him apart is his ability to guard smaller, quicker players. Not his ability to guard big strong guys. And I am sure he can bulk up, improve his post game and his post defense - and I am sure there are times, when it will be advantageous for him to play the 5 and cause matchup problems. But right now I would rather see him and Tari playing the 3 and 4 interchangably and causing havoc on defense and lighting it up on offense than him learning other skills to play a position that doesn't really suit his strengths.
absolutely the way the NBA is going, Jabari can play the 4 or 5; especially as he fills out his nba body. I’m grateful we have such a versatile, switchable big right out of central casting for the modern NBA. Hope the fans will give the 19 yr old a chance to develop and not rush to judgement. It’s gonna take a little bit but he’s got all the tools and the length u can’t teach.
Jabari's biggest strengths are shooting and switching on defense. PnR is a staple of NBA offenses, and big man scoring is limited to a few teams and usually to starters. Tari and Jabari at the 4 and 5 have the potential to kill PnRs. While I like Sengun starting to face the starting centers, I hope to see Smith and Tari at the 5 and 4 a lot when the opposing starting center is sitting. As a lot teams go small ball with second units, this would give the Rockets a very mobile defense against smaller lineups as well as spacing the floor to help playmaking with Sengun on the bench. Caveat: I'm not sure Tari and Jabari will be on court together much first couple of months.
Yeah, I doubt that Tari will be a starter at the beginning, likely not at all in his first season, unless he really shows he's much better than veterans like Tate in the time he is on the floor. Jabari, on the other hand, will be a priority for development much like Green was last season. So it is unlikely that we will see Jabari and Tari playing together a lot.
Folks need to reeeeeally pump the brakes on Tari. He was prone to making a lot of mistakes (think Alpi but on defense) and that will probably only get amplified by the level of competition in the NBA. Summer League really has a way of blinding people. I'm thinking him and Tyty will see RGV duty for a bit. Garuba and Tate will both be ahead of Tari in the pecking order and the SF/backup SF position shouldn't just be handed to a 17th pick. He might have a Herb Jones type of breakout but again...would ease up on those expectations.
Cmon bro you know this place is going to go into DefCon 1 with the finger on the red button after his first "bad" game. Its Clutch Fans!! The place where Cup Half Empty reigns!
Bless you but that’s not how CF works. I would bet Jabari won’t make a strong box score impact his rookie year but will be doing a lot of the little things especially on the defensive end.
It will be a battle between Silas wanting/needing wins a the need for development. Eason is too good for RGV. He needs to make mistakes to learn. His athleticism is crazy and in RGV will cover up his mistakes. TyTy could see decent RGV action just cause of a minutes crunch, but we'll see. I hate Nix so rooting for TyTy to get backup PT time.
LOL pump the breaks on Tari? Tari is more NBA ready than Smith his game is much more versatile the only thing Smith is better at is shooting the 3 and Tari is not terrible at that. No position should be handed to anybody, it's Smith that would benefit more from a stint in RGV, not that I am advocating for that. Where somebody is drafted has nothing to do with anything at this point. Just when I think this place can't get any more crazy now you got somebody advocating for Garuba over Tari.
If he never develops a handle, it does not matter how jacked he is. I really don't think he needs to get more jacked, maybe it will help him finish at a high level, but it could affect his mobility as well.
I think it is never wrong to pump the brakes on any rookie that is getting a lot of hype. These are young guys that will make mistake and have some growing pains. One of the biggest knocks on Tari and one of the reasons he fell to 17 is his decision making - he made a lot of stupid mistakes that led to turnovers or bad shots in college. Doesn’t mean he will also do that in the NBA - he will play a completely different role here. But don’t expect him to be a finished product.
Agree that Tari absolutely has areas that he needs to imorove, especially TOV%. But no one is expecting Tari to be as ball dominant as he was in college. He was LSU instant offense off bench which required him to do more than he should have. And FYI - Tari averaged 2.2 TO per game while Paolo average 2.4 TO per game. Just saying, Tari's role will be very different in NBA. His role at next level is 3-D rather than dominant scorer.
He's tall enough to play the 5 but not necessarily strong enough. I'd rather play him on wing than the post. Chuck Hayes is only 6'6" but had the body to play against taller 5s.
