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[2022 NBA Draft/1-3] Jabari Smith Jr., F, Auburn

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by J.R., Jun 23, 2022.

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Do you like the selection of Jabari Smith?

Poll closed Jun 23, 2023.
  1. YES

    89.7%
  2. NO

    10.3%
  1. zeeshan2

    zeeshan2 Member

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  2. MrButtocks

    MrButtocks Contributing Member

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    I think you're letting last night's horrible loss against Memphis get to you. Using hindsight to judge moves in a vacuum isn't constructive. Someone can be perfectly happy with the draft even if a better player was picked later. For instance, Memphis shouldn't kick themselves because they drafted JJJ over SGA in 2018. SGA wasn't projected to be a potential HOF'er and Memphis got a foundational piece anyway. Also, Smith and Williams' careers have just started. I don't even think hindsight is the correct term for this.

    I wouldn't let any current narratives get to you this way. Literally everyone was clowning Sacramento after the 2018 draft for picking in Bagley over Luka or Trae. They picked a bust over MVP talent. Their culture sucked, their coaching sucked, their ownership was a joke. To make things worse, they traded away a top tier prospect in Haliburton for a non-defensive big man in Sabanis who had no success in Indiana. Even as recently as this season people were giving them crap. Well guess what, Sacramento is 44-29 while Dallas and Atlanta are both under .500.
     
  3. Icehouse

    Icehouse Contributing Member

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    The way Bari has been playing in March, I’d take him over every player in the last draft. Especially since I expect him to add weight to his frame.
     
    gfab-babyboi, cmlmel77, Arnel and 2 others like this.
  4. OremLK

    OremLK Member

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    Hard to say for sure. Banchero has been very, very good and rookies who post these kinds of numbers usually go on to become franchise players. Holmgren hasn't played a game, so he's just a big ??? right now. But I will say it's easy to see now why Jabari was in the conversation for #1.
     
  5. MystikArkitect

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    You can stop (and abuse) Banchero-types in the playoffs. You can't stop Jabari-types in the playoffs. That's why he was ranked so highly.
     
    ramotadab, Arnel and OremLK like this.
  6. MorningZippo

    MorningZippo Member

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    Lol wow, Reeko will easily bury you with sheer volume of posts even if you were right, but the idea that Williams- giddey is a better draft haul than Green - Smith is laughably stupid.
     
    ramotadab, cmlmel77, Arnel and 2 others like this.
  7. Spacemoth

    Spacemoth Contributing Member

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    The reason I and others had Jabari over Banchero was their ceiling raising abilities and potential roles on a championship contender. As a prospect everyone was calling Banchero a “Detroit Blake Griffin” at his ceiling, and I think that scenario is well on its way to happening. Jabari is more of a complementary player, but with his potential on defense and shooting, he’s so much more versatile and can add value to any type of alpha player.
     
    ramotadab, AroundTheWorld and xaos like this.
  8. peleincubus

    peleincubus Member

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    I am getting touchy?? All I did was point out that what you said is extremely mundane.

    I'll put it to you like this in regard to what you are actually saying. But... guess what I am happy with Jabari and Green and prefer them over anyone that was drafted after them (that could eventually change) I would presume of Green was on the Cavs and was being more efficient but with less counting stats and Mobley was on the Rockets and was not quite as good because he would be playing with only 19-21 year olds I would still be happy with Mobley and would rather him be on the team than Green.

    Because they are both young and are Rockets I am optimistic about the future.

    Back to what I was actually referencing in my post (not that I was upset because you are soooo right) It's almost like you don't have to post mundane observations... like you don't even try to make good posts.... get it??
     
  9. PeppermintCandy

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    I wanted the Rockets to go with Smith at the draft, and I still have faith that it will turn out to be the right pick.

    That said, I have to admit Banchero looks more NBA ready than I'd expected, and the year of rest may actually end up benefiting Holmgren's development.

    But it'll be interesting to see how things look in around Year 3.
     
  10. CHAMPBOY

    CHAMPBOY Member

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    Bancheros is not a shooter, if you stay in front of him and make him shoot outside and limit the layups he will be limited. His major asset is his size, 6’10 and 250 lbs is hard to move but a liabilities when it comes to defense.
     
  11. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    It's definitely less mundane to say the Rockets picked optimally and that Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes Franz Wagner, Jalen Williams, etc will all be left in the burning contrails of the Rockets rebuild.

    Or at least, it is now.

    But, anyway yeah i agree, the Rockets suck and are honestly boring to talk about because they have sucked for years at this point, in the same way and just acknowledging it over and over again sucks.

    But you know, owning your perceived foils on the intrnet by looking up a box score and posting about it?

    That's the true ambrosia
     
  12. carl_herrera

    carl_herrera Member

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    I think we all may be anchoring too much on pre-draft projections of what type of player Jabari can be - “elite role player with a nice shot, can’t create for himself, and great defense” type stuff.

    This happens a lot. KAT was supposed to a defensive ace. Devin Booker was supposed to be an offensive role player. Shai was supposed to be a defense first facilitator.

    I think based on that anchoring we’re higher on Jabari’s defense than we should be, and lower on his offensive star potential than we should be.

    If I had never seen or heard of Jabari, and saw his last month, I’d project him as a future go-to offensive weapon, with ho-hum defense. He has elite natural shooting touch and physical profile you can’t teach, and his ball handling and finishing craft are growing by leaps and bounds in just a few months.

    So I’m off the Jabari high-level role player train, and I’m on the Jabari offensive star train.
     
  13. OremLK

    OremLK Member

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    Fair take. I still wonder about his ballhandling, but that can be improved. He does show flashes of LMA, Dirk type of ability to shoot over defenders. Can he do it consistently enough to be a top scoring option in the NBA? Remains to be seen.

    With the defense, I think it's too early to say whether he will actually end up being elite. Guys this young almost always struggle on that end. It's clear that he's not ready to be an elite defender yet, but I still do see a lot of promise in that part of his game.
     
    ramotadab likes this.
  14. Yinka Dare

    Yinka Dare Member

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    I've been saying for the longest time that when he gets the chance to put the ball on the floor, he's so much better.
     
  15. chenjy9

    chenjy9 Numbers Don't Lie
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    When he rises up and shoots with confidence, there are like maybe 3-4 players in the league that are able to reliably challenge the shot.
     
    ramotadab likes this.
  16. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Lmao at the Alpha tag.

    It is really not that easy to find an Alpha.

    It's much easier to find a Jabari than finding a Hakeem, Lebron, Jordan or Giannis.

    For all you know you get Kevin Durant who is a Beta version of an Alpha who is too sensitive to lead you somewhere and he splits one day to greener pastures.
     
  17. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    It is very easy to stop shooters like Jabari, hound him, make him work until his knees get tired. - Believe me he feels his legs once his mileage reaches the limit, he is 19 after all.

    Force him to dribble dribble dribble.

    Let him shoot his way out of a playoff series, no way he is hot 4 out of 7.

    If he is hot, then it's still a valid plan.

    Sure, he is too tall to guard but he is no Larry Bird, that accurate.
     
    #6417 daywalker02, Mar 26, 2023
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2023
  18. MystikArkitect

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    Exactly. Just Westbrook him. Sag off of Jabari and see how that goes.

    Thing with Bari is that he doesn't need to develop much of a drive game like Paolo. Get him the ball at 10-15 and it's a free throw. Except its worth 2 points. But this coaching staff would rather watch KPj dribble into traffic.
     
    ramotadab likes this.
  19. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Contributing Member

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    Guys like Banchero and Green especially at their age don't have poor shooting numbers because they are like Westbrook in that they can't shoot. They just have poor shot selection and for their age are given a burden of high percentage of self creation of their overall shot profile. If they had Jabari's shot profile of mostly assisted buckets, their shooting efficiency would be much higher. In fact both Banchero and and Green are still more efficient scorers with significantly more difficult shot profile than Jabari.


    Jabari given his 25% unassisted fgm rate(Banchero is 50%, Green 60%) is significantly more dependent on team offensive scheming and quality of pg play. Defenders have already sagged off Jabari for over half the season. He gets his fair share of open catch and shoot looks. They are doing it a lot less now than the first half of the season so that's progress.
     
  20. NewAge

    NewAge Member

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    This is all backwards. Basketball is a team sport, players don’t depend on the team, the team depends on the players.

    The Stone/Silas regime has made this team dependent on Green’s creation, and it has resulted in the worst Rockets team in history. The regime has deliberately not called on Smith, and Silas has said so in plain language.
     

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