I think his rebounding got a lot better. He was pretty timid in the beginning of the season, now he's out there fighting for every defensive board
Hey guys, I've been so busy with work/school as of late I've caught maybe 4 games this season (including last night). How's Jabari been progressing since opening day? I know he was struggling and I don't want to just look at box scores of late because they never tell the full story.
Over his past ten games, Smith has averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds in 31 minutes on 42.2% shooting from deep with solid defense. That's pretty impressive considering his is not a focal point of the offense at this time. He is basically as advertised from his time at Auburn.
4. Jabari Smith, Jr., Houston Rockets Season stats: 11.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 0.8 apg Since last Ladder: 15.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 0.7 apg Last Ladder: 4 Draft pick: No. 3 overall Shooting accuracy, Smith’s most glaring flaw so far, has perked up; he has hit 43.8% overall and 47.8% from the arc in the four games leading up to Houston’s game at Denver Wednesday. The rumblings of trade interest from rival NBA teams hoping to buy low on the 19-year-old are another good reason not to lose faith in his potential. Since Nov. 9, he has put up 13.3 ppg and 8.9 rpg in nine appearances. Lol....trade interest? That's news to me.
so far paolo > true shooting, assists, steals, ppg jabari > 3 point shooting, FT shooting, rebounds, blocks, defense down the road i would presume jabari will have a higher true shooting % than paolo along with better defense. while paolo will always have much much higher assists numbers and can ISO obviously. now who do the rockets add to the mix this year and how does that effect what you really would need from a player like jabari to eventually win a championship?
Let‘s be honest here - Paolo is the clear cut front runner for rookie of the year and it seems like that wont change. The way he has played so far, he would have won ROTY last season as well. He looks special. But that shouldn‘t take anything away from Smith. If we had a redraft today, I would have him at the #2 spot right behind Paolo. Yeah, Mathurin and Ivey had better seasons so far, but I still like Jabari more. Close to a 7 footer that is a lights out shooter, great defender that can switch on anybody and underrated shot blocker - those guys help any team win and are hard to find.
The worst thing about Jabari is he was projected to be 1st, but went 3rd. Now people want him to be a #1 pick talent. I think Bari will have #1 pick type impact, but it will be with his intangibles next to someone. Even when Bari is not scoring (or getting shots) he is doing stuff to affect the game with his rebounding, defense and ******* tenacity. I feel like Paolo (so far) is giving empty points. Paolo will have a beastly game and you look up and you wonder how his team is losing when he has 20 in the first half.
Smith is having a string of consistent good bb games. He isn't asked to b the primary scorer and is filling up the stat sheets. There's not much more u can ask from a rookie
He's playing better for sure.. Looks like a legit impactful starter and future difference maker.. But why attempt to diminish what Paola is doing ? He's a future face of the league IMO.. I'm happy with Bari being a ,soon to be , 2nd best player on a championship level team.. Hell even 3rd wheel would be special ... Great draft pick!
Well, unfortunately Jabari has played so poorly thus far, you pretty much have to tear everyone down in order to pretend there's a reason to push him. IMO his time will come, and he's shown flashes, but there's almost no chance Jabari even gets in the ROY conversation at all so people are talking shots at the hands down ROY favorite.
Jabari has been a massive net negative player for 90% of the season. Accusing Paolo of being an empty stats guy whilst talking up Jabari as a winning player is blind homer talk. Especially when Houston are pretty much one of the worst teams in the league as well.
Real talk bruh.. Makes no sense to me why people **** on others, that they know they'd want on their team. Like when people were ******** on Giannis during the Harden years.. smh
Houston started winning more when Jabari started playing well. Paolo's been playing well and Orlando still losing. That's the difference between the two players and it's more of contrasting ideologies (and why Jabari was the better pick long term). Heliocentric offense only guys are losing players. High motor defensive oriented 3 and D guys with unblockable shots are winning players. Funny how Trae and Luka are basically in the same boat right now. Topped out at getting their doors blown off the in the conference finals while Ayton is the only one of them to have been to an NBA Finals (and is currently the 1 seed in the West).
