The thing which has disappointed me the most has been the fact he doesn't know how to catch the ball half the time. A lot of the turnovers aren't even in traffic either. As bad as Green was last season, I honestly would say Jabari - at best - is just as bad. I think he's started his career even worse. In his defense though, it is mind boggling for a shooter of his size, a simple pnr with him popping for a shot is not something that's utilised. Like, at all. Makes me wonder how bad next draft's savior will look playing under Silas, and if not a PG, alongside KPJ.
Jabari is going to be fine. There are several things going on simultaneously that are really challenging: - Adjust your 3pt range - Adjust to not shooting for long spells - Adjust to a very difficult start to the schedule as one of the youngest players in the NBA - Try to score or defend off ball with poor execution by everyone including himself at times - Starting line up still developing chemistry All rookies are dealing with some of these things, but it's really happening simultaneously for Jabari. It's just figuring some stuff out. Just give him 10-15 more games, he is going to be very good after that. It would also help for Sengun, Green and Tate to elevate the level of playmaking out there and take some pressure off KPJ. People need to chill out, the team needs time. They were already slated to be one of the worst teams and we started with a really rough schedule. Our rotation is mostly in their first or second year in the league. Even if we were going to win 35 games, this is how it would start. You'd be a fool to have expected anything that would lead to significantly more wins. We've been competitive and slowly improving throughout. Jabari, Green and Sengun are going to stabilize at some point and the offense will skyrocket. KPJ is improving slowly, but improving nonetheless. With Tate hopefully replacing Gordon, we should soon have a much better product on the court sooner rather than later. That's the upside of having such a young rotation, they can improve a lot within a season.
A real question: Has there been a player who shot lights out in college became a career bad shooter in the NBA?
It is not even that but the fact that we fans have to defend high overall picks, that's what makes me nauseous. They have been so bad, discouraging. We are not paid to be life long optimists, at least I am not.
In addition I think a good portion of draftees are just not physically or mentally ready for the league. The league obviously does not care. Might be their age, their thin frame, their entitled mindset, you name it.
Smith doesn't look right to me. I don't think he's ever recovered from that ankle sprain in practice. And whatever bug was ailing him, it took all his energy away. My thought is that he needs to shut it all down and get well. Then take two weeks and play over Thanksgiving with RGV. There are games coming up. None of that will do any good if he's not healthy. The weight of social pressure that he's putting on himself--being a high draft pick and gutting it out--is noble but not helpful. He needs to work on and take care of his body and his mind. We have other guys that need minutes too (Tari Eason, Tate, Martin!, and Gordon). Get well Jabari. We'll see you when you're ready.
Jabari didn't shoot the lights out. There are a lot of scrub guards in college who shoot well but can't hang with the league, see all the bench shooters in the G-League. The point is that Jabari isn't some all time great shooter among all players. For someone of his size, he is a top 5 percent shooter, but among the general draft pool including all the 6 feet guards, he is a median at best. The thinking was that he is so big, decently athletic for his size, has solid defensive instincts, so his floor is a role player unlike all the small guards who can't hang with the NBA speed and athleticism. Looks like Jabari can't hang right now, it's just a matter if he can acclimate and use his physical tools to turn his start around? Into a role player probably yes. Into a star? Maybe with diminishing chances after every crap game not showing much.
Truth is, He has a ton of work to do on his body, adjusting to the speed of the NBA & his mentality heading into games. He has to learn how to prepare and how to execute vs NBA level talent ( His triple threat game is horrendous and Silas isn’t going to help in this free lance offense). But the NBA is man’s game. No excuses, he’s got work to do but again he’s a youngin’
wingspan is standing reach for the most part that's why people who are the same height have different standing reach, I am not talking about extremes like 6'7 to 6'11 I am talking about the difference from being 6'10 to 7 feet I guy 6'10 with a long wingspan is the same as a 7 footer with average wingspan It's why Banchero was knocked a lot because he did not have a long wingspan.
This is where I think our coaching staff will fail him. He has the tools to be really good player and we're not going to put him in a spot to succeed. We're kind of just saying "okay lets just go out there and play".
He would benefit if they tell him to specifically work on xyz while playing in the G. If they send him down there without any direction and he just tries to score/shoot everything then it's going to be a waste of time.
Right now it's obvious even on the defensive end, he doesn't seem to know what to do for someone dubbed as ELITE defender. Folks were comparing him to Mobley but he is nowhere close to him. Being not able to pull a clear rebound with his size is concerning for me. I can accept him not making wide open shots but if he can't display a glimpse of defensive potential, I don't think it's acceptable. Let's give him time to adjust but so far very disappointing.
Im starting to think that Silas is trying so hard to 'perform', he's not gambling on drawing plays to a nervous rookie
I would say yes, even if it hurts his pride, a bit. Playing for a G-League team would allow the offense to run more towards him, as the Vipers don't really have a ball-dominant guard like KPJ or a volume scorer who needs the ball, like Green. It would allow JBJ to get more acclimated to the NBA game, too. And there's no pressure to come back to the Rockets' roster, unless we're trying to make a late-season push for the play-in, or something.
Right, he isn’t hitting open shots and he’s gotten enough of them. Until then I’m not sure how else we can expect him to grow into the “elite shooter” he was billed as. I was also expecting him to be a force on defense and though he has had some moments it’s no where near the level of recognition he received.
