Jabari needs to do more pick n pop. Especially when Sengun is in the game because he’s going to clog the paint.
Ridiculous take. "Our rookie that went straight into the starting lineup isn't averaging 20/10 yet.....he's a bust!!!!!" Come on!! Give the kid a chance to learn and familliarize. He's had some decent games. Against the Mavs he took quality shots that just didn't fall (open 10-15fters, short turnarounds). I'm happy with most of the shot selection. His defense has been mostly solid. He's a rookie who's 15 games in to his career. Take a breath and enjoy watching these kids get better. It's happening. Or would you rather mortgage our future for a bunch of big names like the Nets and Lakers have done?
Jabari be missing a lot of easy close shots around the basket Sometimes I think he just doesn’t want to give KPJ the assist
I don't know if he's gonna pan out, but doing anything other than playing him heavy minutes is a mistake. Lets just hope he turns it around, because poor clutch is getting excited when he gets a rebound. Give us something else to be happy about.
Jabari actually knows and understands organized basketball and was taught fundamentals. If you watch him, he is disgusted a lot at some of the REALLY poor decisions that his teammates are making. There were at least 5-6 baskets that KPJ left on the floor where the defense would have collapsed on him leading to an easy flush by the side cutter or open 3's and KPJ completely misread it and pulled up right before the free throw line. You could tell in Smith's body language, he shook his head at least once and screamed over to Porter and once at the bench. At this point, Smith's handle isn't consistently good enough to score efficiently without having a passer to get him the ball in the right spots - and he isn't getting that from anyone on the Rockets other than Sengun sometimes, and Garuba and Green sometimes as well.... the rest, are just bad.
@SamFisher about to have an aneurism reading this post. Probably crying in a corner typing furiously about Bari's open shots.
Do you watch the games? Jabari is rebounding and defending quite well, his shot is just not falling yet.
Jabari's shot totals from game to game: 17 - 14 - 15 - 10 - 10 - 13 - 8 - 8 - 10 - 4 - 11 - 10 - 6 - 10 His touches have gone way down since those first 3 games. I was actually happy yesterday with his post up shot, his pull up mid, and that heat check 3 (lol) at the end. I would much rather see Jabari doing that and getting used to shooting at the NBA level then....the alternative. This reminds me of last year when Green was being parked in the corner around this time with Christian Wood/KPJ/Tate being the primary initiators. It wasn't until halfway through the season that the coaching staff finally made it a point to involve him the offense. He needs more sets run for him.
I agree with the G League comment. That's foolish. I like the "sink or (learn to) swim" approach they took with Jalen last year. He benched Green during some 4th quarter and people were irate. I remember a reporter asking him why Jalen wasn't in at the end and he said he had already talked with Green about it, and Green was cool with it. He said just because they weren't playing well doesn't mean you yank him for the game, and it doesn't mean you keep him in the game. He was trying to find a balance to where he could learn in-game and on the bench. I guess I kind of like that approach. I'm guessing there'll be times Jabari gets benched and people will be screaming "why isn't he in?!", and there'll be times where people will be screaming "bench him! send him to the G-League!" I'm sure they've already talked to him about what may or may not happen and why. Hell, maybe even Jalen's talked to him about it.
I cry now when I see Jabari try a layup after he is fed with an open lane to the basket https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CF...section=game#:~:text=https://go.nba.com/9qi95 "the guards are ignoring him!" PHP: SHOT TYPE FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% EFG% BLKA FGM %AST FGM %UASTAlley Oop 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0Tip Shot 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0Bank Shot 1 3 33.3 0 0 0.0 33.3 0 0.0 100Dunk 1 1 100 0 0 0.0 100 0 100 0.0Fadeaway 1 7 14.3 0 0 0.0 14.3 0 0.0 100Finger Roll 3 5 60.0 0 0 0.0 60.0 0 66.7 33.3Hook Shot 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0Jump Shot 32 108 29.6 24 79 30.4 40.7 2 87.5 12.5Layup 12 30 40.0 0 0 0.0 40.0 4 58.3 41.7
As long as he keeps taking good shots, open 3’s and post ups against smaller defenders, it’s fine because the shots are going to start falling. He’s a demonstrated good shooter from his Auburn days. All the knee jerk takes about Smith being a bad shooter will look foolish soon enough.
I hope you're right - he needs to keep taking the open shots he is getting regardless (and minimize the dribble into more difficult shots) Also the layups and tipins, just has to keep doing it, can't be a Simmons
He’ll be fine, remember Jalen looked pretty mediocre the first half of last season too. Jabari is already getting comfortable on D and the boards, the shot will fall eventually.
Silas saw Jalen as a playmaker and Jabari off a pick and pop and said we will never do this again for the rest of the game. Makes too much sense. also its crazy Jalen has enough sense to make passes to Bari and Sengun, but it's so hard for KPJ.
