a backcourt/wing duo of Jalen Green and Cam Whitmore is intriquing, and could do lethal damage when featured as the main offense a few runs on actual games wouldn't hurt i guess
Honestly, he's a terrible decision maker but an awesome scorer, you can easily work around that by putting him in positions where he doesn't have to think much and just shoot. He just needs to understand when to shoot and when not to shoot and pass it back. Getting him to actively make assists is not necessary at the moment because it would just further confuse him and make him hesitant
I am not one bit worried, yeah, he will have some below average games or bad games but that happens..... CFers just scream after every game. It looks terrible because he is a 19 year old who has been the focal point of the Offense, and that is not the case no more like with previous teams.
I’m happy, or rather relieved with the way Jabari has developed this year. He forgot how to shoot or play defense his rookie year, which is frightening since those were his primary strengths. At least now we know he isn’t a bust and in fact he may be the most improved player of the team, even ahead of Sengun. So I’m certainly not blaming him. I’m also not blaming Stone for where he picked Jabari. The only player that’s better who was drafted below was Jalen Williams, and I’m not going to fault Stone for not reaching there. It’s just unfortunate that it was a 2 man draft up top and Paolo/Chet are such a different tier. To tank for a #3 pick and to come out with a high end starter/role player is a bit disappointing, even if it is no fault of the player or the GM drafting him. Just an unfortunate luck of the draw where we couldn’t get #1 or #2. In three drafts where you have the #2, #3, and #4 picks - the entire point of tanking - to come out with: a bust, a high end role player, and a box of chocolates that we have no idea how it will turn out - is beyond disappointing. Almost matched by how fulfilling it was to pick up a franchise player, high end role player, and potential allstar with the #16, #17 and #20 pick. So all in all I think we are fine.
It’s called a projection, chief. Being “premature” is the point of the game. You want to wait until after it happens, what’s the point in talking about it? Jokic is a superstar. Wiggins sucks. No sht, Sherlock.
You don't post as if you're discussing projections, but rather facts. But assuming you were giving your projection, you'll be happy to know that I also think your projection is crap. Bari's ceiling is just as high as Paolo and Chet's, if not higher.
That’s cool if you want to be delusional but no one who knows anything about basketball would agree with you on that one, but you can think whatever you want it’s a free country. Paolo is playing at an allstar level already this year, and will be the engine of a franchise in the future, much like Sengun. Chet may be better than even that. He may not be an offensive fulcrum, but his efficiency as a play finisher and floor stretcher combined with his elite defense is generational - think Jabari, but like 3 tiers better at every part of the game. That team went from 40 wins to the best team in the West by just adding him. Meanwhile Jabari is not elite at anything. He is certainly not an offensive creator, and was never expected to be. He’s made a tremendous leap in shooting, going from god awful to decent (with a shot diet consisting completely of wide open looks created by others). His defense is passable, which is another leap from last year when he was completely lost. The trajectory looks good considering how far he’s come, but with his limited athleticism and skill set, his ceiling is also low. Before the draft I said Jabari’s ceiling completely depends on his defense, if he could reach DPOY level then he can be a star even with limited creation on offense. After watching him for 100+ games in the NBA, if you still think that’s a remote possibility then I have several bridges to sell you. If you can’t see this, then I can see why you take offense to Jabari being called a HIGH END starter/roleplayer which is a compliment, every team needs those and he will be well compensate his entire career for it. But I don’t think even many reasonable Rockets fans see star potential in him, hell, we have seen more star quality in 15 games of Cam Whitmore.
Bari's ceiling is higher, it's just that Paolo has been given the green light. Last year, he averaged 20 ppg on terrible efficiency. This season, he is averaging a couple more points on slightly less awful efficiency. Sorry, no player averaging only 22 points on a terrible .54 TS% should be considered playing at an "all star" level. Yes, Bari has doesn't have the PPG and assists counting stats as Paolo, which makes sense given Paolo's usage rate nearly DOUBLES that of Bari's (17.5 v. 29.7). Give Bari a 30% usage rate and he'd clear Paolo in counting stats. Not to mention Bari clears Paolo in other categories -- he's a much better defender, rebounder, far more efficient, and is a better shooter. That's not to say Paolo is a bad player. He's awesome, and I've trumpeted him since the draft. There’s a good chance he has a better career than Bari. But if Jabari can put it all together AND if we start using him more, his ceiling -- especially as a two-way player -- is higher than Paolo's IMO.
You can’t judge efficiency without factoring in shot diet. Paolo runs the entire offense, only 42% of his shots are assisted on by others. Meanwhile Jabari sits in the corner and gets most of his shots spoon fed to him, wide open, by the engines of our team (Fvv/Sengun). 74% of Jabari’s shots are assisted on. It’s like comparing Jabari’s efficiency with Sengun’s and saying they are the same level. And yes, Jabari’s usage is much lower than Paolo, because Udoka isn’t dumb enough to run our offense through him - that’s a recipe of the worst offense in the NBA. You don’t want to find out what his ts% is going to be at 30% usage, trust me.
I can absolutely judge dogcrap efficiency when it's dogcrap. A .54 TS% in the modern NBA is dogcrap. A .54 TS% puts him at like 240th out of 300ish players. It's awful, and there's no excuse for it from an allegedly "All Star player."
Such a basic and simplistic view on basketball without any nuance. You know who else has a career 54% ts? Fred van vleet - and he has completely changed the trajectory of this franchise. Ts% is not the be all end all, especially when you are not factoring what role they play and comparing them to ROLE PLAYERS. It’s like saying Kobe has a lower ts than Deandre Jordan - so what?
