I've watched all of his games, and I guess it depends on your definition of "star", but he's not enough of a natural creator to ever be the offensive hub at the NBA level. He will get his points in the flow of the offense and has some "catch fire" potential due to his outside shooting, but he's not a guy you throw it to and expect him to make something happen when the defense is keyed in on him. When he does have to create for himself, it's not necessarily always bad, but it's usually a bit of an adventure. Ultimately, I think he'll probably be an efficient 18 and 8 type of guy in his prime, not drastically underperforming or outperforming his draft position.
Jabari "Tragic Jabari" Smith Jr. The junior part breaks him. Can't be a junior when your dad doesn't deserve the senior.
Bari needs to go to the valley to be the man and get comfortable. He’ll figure it out in the long run.
not doing him any favors in the starting lineup. put him on the bench and see if there's synergy there and he's able to get more touches. that doesn't mean it's a demotion. we have enough of a sample size to see it's not working.
He was probable with an illness leading up to the game so I can ignore tonight's performance. However, it's been pretty bad. For me, his lack of burst and average athleticism is what is most concerning. He has a lot to figure out, but still has a pretty good foundation.
I still think Jabari is not a bust. He plays good perimeter defense but very bad team defense. The communication is not there, so he'd be better to play some games on G league or build his confidence at the 2nd unit. He's just not ready to start. His shots are beautiful when he made them, and I noticed he likes to shoot over the defenders. I think he is not used to this fast pace. It takes time to adjust.
Disagreed 100%. He needs to have set plays to get him open looks. Not open looks off broken plays, but designed open looks.
He was apparently very vocal as a leader in Summerleague, probably a lot harder to do now since he's still so new to the team. It's only been 11 games. I'm sure he'll be more of a leader as he plays with these guys but these guys are not listening to a rookie, not even the 2nd year players lol, probably why he got in a spat with Jalen. I think him playing in the NBA is best for his development. He's the #3 pick, we throw him in the ocean and see if he can swim, if not, well that was a high pick gone to waste (but every single team in the NBA picks him there I bet) and he needs to see and understand the level he's going to have to play at to be good in the NBA. While the Gleague would boost his confidence, he could easily go down to the G and dominate but I'd rather him work hard to produce in the NBA and see those results of his hardwork then to give him this false sense of confidence of dominating in the G.
Why though? It's basketball, if this is the case, why not get them involved earlier and learn as you go, its not like they are going to hurt us any. A top pick can add $500M to your franchises value, so if you take a guy 3rd overall who was projected at #1 overall, I think you get him involved and plan around him from the start, that is just too significant of an investment to put on the back burner. It seems more like incompetence than some well thought out development strategy.
I think Jabari wants to be team leader but his personality and style doesn’t seem to jell well with Green. Seems like they are on the opposite side of the spectrum. I’m not seeing Green or Jabari cheer for each other or look each other in the eyes when speaking, but you can see them do this with the rest of the team. I get the sense this could eventually be a problem if the chemistry isn’t there.
Even the 16th pick, aj griffin balled out tonight for the hawks with 24 pts and 3 steals against the bucks. Just ugh. I am just frustrated
I think you may be selectively recalling things. During the Orlando game there were plenty of times where they cheered for each other and gazed deeply into each other's limpid face-orbs. The Rockets currently have a boatload of issues, but I honestly don't think team chemistry is a major one. Especially because Jalen and Jabari are probably the most similar people on the team
I'm still a believer in Smith's potential, but he is going to need some mental fortitude to get through the next few years, because there's going to be a whole lot of s**t said about him and his play on fan sites and social media. He just has to tune it all out and focus on developing his game and getting there physically.
