I think the Thunder are slightly different though. Their recent tanking was very season specific, when key players were suddenly "injured" for a 25 game stretch to end the year. But it has all been built on their tanking over a decade ago. They went "bang bang bang" on Durant, Westbrook and Harden in successive drafts (and let's remember they won 20 and 23 games in the rookie seasons of Durant and Westbrook - even pairing hall of famers as young guys doesn't translate to wins straight away!). What they have been able to do in terms of accumulate picks and assets has been a result of the success in KDs 3rd season and onwards. Yes, selecting a 3rd HoF game in Harden didn't hurt either - but they managed to cash in on assets when they needed to, and now have an enormous war-chest of picks, a genuine star in SGA, and plenty of young talent. They are a decade ahead of where we are. The Paul/ Westbrook trade is still hanging over us. It took our assets, and left us looking like a deflated balloon. Not to mention all the wasted assets we blew making sure we dodged the luxury tax (in years we had a contending team!). For me, Stone still gets a pass, he has done a decent job accumulating talent and future assets. But he needs to make some moves this off-season that translate into on-court wins. It is time to see if what we have can be competitive on the court.
Phoenix never ran plays for Shawn Marion either. Heatles didn't run many plays for Ray Allen. Harden Rockets was mostly read and react. YaoMac Rockets was just ... YaoMac taking turns. What I am surprised by is it seems the organization has just accepted Jabari's ceiling is a 3/D guy in the mold of Ariza. They should at least see if he could be something more.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/jabari-smith-shot-chart looking at his shot chart, he has several areas where he shoots pretty damn good Would a good coach not try and run plays for him to get a bunch of shots in his sweet spots? He’s shooting 40% on above the break threes. He has just 47 of his 286 three point attempts from there. He’s taken 92 threes from an area where he shoots 21% Why is that? Because nothing is run for him. He is not coached. He just takes a bunch of random shots throughout the game until he ends up 4-11 from the field for 10 points.
I'm don't think Green will be a franchise player, because I believe that a shooting guard needs to be a scorer and playmaker to be a true franchise player in 2023. I don't think Green will be that type of playmaker. I do think Green will average over 25 points a game in his prime though, and I do think he will be an all star like Booker and Beal and others. I wouldn't be shocked if he even has a season or two over 27 points a game. I am not low on Green being an awesome scorer. As far as my choice, I had it down to Green, Mobley and Barnes. I believe I said Mobley because he didn't have to be as impactful a scorer to be a really good scorer, that Green had a smaller margin for error. I still don't know which one will have the better career to be clear. What I can say is that Mobley is easier to put in a line up, and that there aren't a lot of fit issues with him on most teams. If the Rockets end up getting a tall and strong point guard that can pass and defend both the 1 and 2 well, then Green may well be the better player - that is just a lot to ask. The issue with Green defensively is that he has a slight build and isn't terribly tall or long. So someone like Booker having an extra 25 pounds on him at the same age is a real concern when teams are going to try to get Green on someone like Luka or Harden. Even LaVine, who Green is more talented than, has a slight build but has a massive wingspan. I'm not down on Green..... all these people that want to trade him are foolish. If I am down on anyone it is the GM who has done a poor job of putting pieces together that remotely fit.
What exactly are they supposed to look for? He can't dribble, can't finish at the rim, and isn't athletic. He'd look even worse than he already does if they tried having him do anymore than that.
Jabari has taken 185 threes from 2 spots where he shoots a combined 25% Jabari has taken just 74 threes from 2 spots where he shoots a combined 42% How is that not on the coaching?
Jabari Smith hasn't shot as well as the Rockets hoped. Some of that is that he has not been put in a great position to succeed and some of that is that he hasn't shot well. He had a bit of an odd shot in college, but it went in. Smith is still 19 years old and I expect him to end up being a good shooter. He may not be a 42-44% shooter from 3 like some were saying, but he can shoot 37-40% once he adapts. Defensively he has been very good. However, he doesn't have great scoring instincts and lacks handles. He isn't likely to ever be a high volume scorer like some hoped.... he is likely to be someone that is efficient in his prime, a very good defender and a good rebounder and shot blocker.
we can start by letting him shoot at areas he's strongest at. Like pj Tucker was best a shooting corners 3, guess what we did back then? Design plays and allow him to sit there so we can feed him the ball. Smith is just running around and taking shots all over the place.
Oddly enough he has been finishing fine inside, he is at over 70% there. He has struggled everywhere else, and it gets worse the further he gets from the basket. I think some of it is confidence, even in college when he shoot 3's and was making them, he had hesitation and he also wasn't exactly fast and smooth. In the NBA, if you are going to take a lot of 3's, you better have the ability to put the ball on the floor or you better have a quick and smooth shot. I think he will shoot better, he obviously has good touch - but he needs to work on it and get more confident. He will defend, he will rebound and he will likely shoot 3's.... that gets you a really good player, but he will not be a major scoring threat unless he learns to put the ball on the floor and score - and I don't see that ever happening.... he doesn't have the instincts or confidence for that.
The scariest part is what I mentioned in the other thread... Whose calling the plays? They do have plays and action that's run, whose deciding when and what play to run? Usually, you'll have the PG bring it up and signify what they want to do or sometimes you'll see the coach get up and call it or the PG will look over to the coach... It looks like watching them they just decide what to do on their own whim which seems like a very very bad idea when you have a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds on the floor. It would be like asking a bunch of 11 year olds with no cooking experience to cook you a meal and leaving them in the kitchen to do so. You'd have to expect a disaster.
They aren't running a lot of set plays, and that is fine - most of the league is doing that. The problem is that the Rockets lack anyone qualified to run the offense, and the pieces they do have do not fit well together, they are not well coached and the coaching staff doesn't put them in position to maximize their strengths. When you have Harden, Doncic, Young, Jokic, Haliburton, James, Morant, Holiday, Lillard or Draymond Green running the offense, you don't need many plays called.......... the problem is that the Rockets are near the bottom of the league in having players that can efficiently run an offense.
Jabari’s shooting was bad in the Summer League and regular season, however in his rookie year he was unstoppable. I watched every game he played and something happen to him in two games last year. We played against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament and he shot terrible. He was 5 for 16 and scored only 17 points. However, I seen something I never seen before he was either scared, timid or nervous during the game. The next game he played against Jacksonville St in the Big Dance and we was back playing confident as always. He was 6 for 13, he had 14 rebounds and he was back arrogant. The next opponent was Miami who was a tougher opponent and he again looked hesitant, timid and he went 3 for 16! Playing in the SEC and playing in hostile environments such as Arkansas University, Alabama University, Tennessee and Kentucky he was never shaken. When Auburn was behind, they gave the ball to him. Everybody knew he was getting the ball and the opponents could not stop him….people were yelling and cursing at him and HE LOVED IT. The guy looks confuse and timid now, he is not the Auburn’s Jabari. I know he is not the 1st option with the Rockets and I’m shock Silas do not run plays for him but they need to VALUE him. Rockets are terrible in developing players…Rocket’s players are only developing themselves. Coach Lucas is not enough they need a real shooting coach like they have in San Antonio and Toronto. Jabari cannot be a BUST for us. He needs to calm down and regain his confidence.
Is anyone shocked? He parked Jalen in the corner the first half of last year. Perhaps he thinks that his how the top draft picks learn. Yeah Jabari has been a brickfest, but damn you have to give the kid some easy plays to help build confidence. If he isn't running plays for him during games then he definitely isn't doing a damn thing to help him in practice besides, "Hey kid stand in the corner and watch" Geez just have have him shoot 500 3s during practice.
I mean...Jabari was drafted to be a 3 point sniper, and he's getting tons of looks for open 3's. I'm not saying they should stop throwing him the ball, but he's not capitalizing on the opportunities he was drafted to capitalize on. I don't think it's wise for them to draw up a bunch of plays for him to shoot mid range jumpers on, that's going to be inefficient in the long run. Totally agreed. One of the reasons why Jalen's lack of development is concerning, he's not looking like that future offensive hub.
I don't blame this one on Silas. You run plays to make him open, but he can't even make open shots. We also have better cutters in Tate and Martin. If you watched the last game, the 76ers left Bari opened all game and he just couldn't buy a basket. He's sitting at .301 3P%, which is worse than Nix at .308. He'll be left wide open until he started to find his touch, that's no need to run plays for him at this moment.
