Right? If he keeps improving, in 2 years he'll probably be a 38% shooter on decent volume with a passable mid range game and at 6'11 very good at defending big forwards, relatively switchable, good rebounder. That's a keeper. Him, Tari and Reed can pretty much compliment anyone.
The problem is the guy you're describing in that post is not Jabari, it's Tari Eason. Tari has insanely good impact metrics that match up with what fans see on the court, regardless of whether or not his shot is falling. Jabari does not. To use some old Rockets analogy, fans look at Jabari and thinks he's Trevor Ariza on defense and spurts of Chandler Parsons on offense. If he can actually be a Parsons-type offensive player, that would indeed be a no-doubt max player in today's environment. But in reality he's now playing like Ariza on offense and Parsons on defense. Which is an ok player, but one that you usually see contenders fight around every offseason at MLE salary range.
Have you watched the last 6-7 games or are just relying on your pre-conceived ideas about him. He is 21 years old. Was the fifth best rebounding PF in his second year and shot 36% from 3. He is turning it on big time. In case, you haven't noticed the Rockets are spreading the scoring around and playing awesome defense of which he is a big part. Ridiculous comment.
I think if Tari was a starter his issues would be way more pronounced than they currently are. He's perfect doing the things he's doing now and nothing he's shown this year leads me to believe that's changing any time soon.
This may be one of the silliest posts I’ve ever read on this forum. The last ten games, Bari’s put up 50 / 48 / 88 splits. Conversely, Eason has put up 42 / 25 / 85 splits over the same span. Smith also has a 104 defensive rating, the same as Tari Eason. They have virtually identical + / - stats. Bari has a better TS% on the season, despite having a rough start. Not to mention Bari plays way more minutes — there’s a strong likelihood Eason does do as well playing 30+ mpg. I’ll say it: This board underrates Bari and, potentially, overrates Eason.
I've watched enough NBA games to care about 6-7 game sample size for anything. Also, defense is not something that is affected by the variance of shooting luck. And Jabari has never displayed the level of defense that Rockets fans think of him as.
I don't know why you still harp on small sample sizes after how many times you've berated other member for not believing in small-sample-superstar Jalen Green, only for Jalen Green to show he can't even put together even 2 straight games of high quality offense and is relegated to being a more of a role player these days. If you want to believe that every young player's X-game sample size = his definite set-in-stone future, that's your prerogative as a fan. But no need to say every other opinion is silly when clearly you have been proven wrong in the past with this view.
Ten games is not a small sample size. But I’ll take it further. Eason has a lot of flaws people on this board ignore. His TS% has been consistently way below what it should be for a spark bench forward. 52.5 two years ago, 52.8 last season, and it’s dipped to 56 this season due to his awful offensive play lately. Bari is a way more consistent offensive player. Defensively, as I said, they have the exact same defensive rating this season. And while yes, Eason is better at certain things on defense, he’s also far more limited — he primarily guards 3s. He’s not a versatile defender like Bari, which is why Eason pairs well with Amen (a far less limited defender). And, again, I’ve seen this story over and over in the NBA — a bench guy averaging 22 - 23 mpg makes a major impact in those minutes, so fans start demanding he starts. And when he does, he’s far less effective.
Tari is a very likeable dude. I haven't seen anyone hating on him. I am a huge fan and hope he will retire a Rockets. But yeah, he is sometimes overrated here. Tari is a chaotic player, on both ends. Creating chaos on defense is good. Creating chaos on offense is not so good. He's a fantastic offensive rebounder and his scrappiness is good when the play is broken. And he can knock down open shots. But he has no organizing talent. He has pretty good handles but every time he tries to create something off the dribble, it's a turnover waiting to happen. I don't know how many fast breaks he bungled either by not making the pass or missing the layup. I will say this. He is impactful mainly by his hustle (defense and crashing the board). He can be a good starter on a good team. But he is not better than Jabari. The two guys are very different, both bring positive impact. If they play the same position, I'd start Jabari and bring Tari off the bench. The good thing is that Tari can also play the wing and Bari can play center. So they aren't 100% overlapping.
Yeah, I don’t want this to come off as people thinking I dislike Eason. I love Eason. I just, personally, think he’s perfect in his current sixth man role, whereas Bari is a high level starter who can fit along side virtually any core of players.
Tari isn’t a switchable defender? What the hell? Dude just shut down SGA literally last game. He is an elite switcher. Top 10 in the NBA.
There's definitely a lot of backup QB syndrome with fans and Tari v Bari. That's not to say Tari hasn't been better, he has, just for some reason fans join the 2. There's no reason to have to pick between them right now. Jabari has played well recently.
SGA was primarily guarded by Brooks and Amen. I only recall Eason on him a couple times. “Switchable” is probably the wrong word. I should have stuck with versatile. It’s not like Eason is going to be defending 2 - 5. However, I will say calling Eason — who averages 23 mpg — a “top 10 switchable defender” truly highlights what I’m saying. At the moment, he’s overrated by many fans.
He is playing 23 mpg because he is coming off a major injury. See what Draymond and FVV say about his impact… They are pretty qualified, eh? Can we group them in with the “fans”? He is certainly in the conversation for top 10 most versatile switchers in the NBA. Anyone that does not put him in that conversation doesn’t know what they are talking about, imo.
I heard what Draymond said. “His hustle and energy changed the tempo of the game.” Yeah, that’s the role of a sixth man. No player averaging so few minutes can be in the “top 10” any list, except maybe top 10 backups. I’ll believe he can maintain his impact as a starter when I see him do it consistently against starters for 30+ minutes.
9th in Total Deflections 8th in Loose Balls Recovered 5th in Steals 35th in Blocks Tari Eason has a league-leading 4.3% steal rate AND a 4.4% block rate. No one since 1973-74 has ever been 4+ in both categories... Show me 10 better switchable defenders in the NBA. Ridiculous.
Locking up SGA once =/= locking him up all game. As I said, Amen and Brooks primarily guarded SGA. Yes, Eason has an elite trait: hands. He is amazing at creating steals. However, that has a lot to do with the fact that he's often paired with Amen and Brooks who are keying in on the opposing team's best player, allowing Eason to roam a bit and create chaos. In that vein, people talk a lot about elite #2 scorers -- I think Eason is an elite #2 defender. He's best paired with a #1 lockdown defender assigned to the opposing team's #1. I seriously doubt Eason would excel if tasked with guarding #1s 30+ minutes per game. I could be wrong, but I have my severe doubts. Again, I don't think it's fair to rank Eason above any starter who is averaging 30+ minutes a game or close to that. Conversely, I'll say Amen is definitely one of the best defenders in the league because I've seen him do it as a starter and for 30+ minutes many times. And anyways, this all distracts from the point that Eason has major offensive flaws. The last five games, he's shot like 35% from the field and 15% from 3. He was 0-12 over the course of two games. If Bari had a stretch that that, this board would absolutely melt down. Hell, they kinda did over Bari averaging 45 / 28 over the first five games before significantly improving his efficiency. I really don't understand why this board gives Eason a pass for his often terrible efficiency, especially since he's older than the rest of our prospects.
Welp, we will just have to disagree on the level of impact that Tari Eason has as a switchable defender in this league. For me, he is one of the elite. In terms of efficiency, the problem with Jabari thus far in his career is that he disappears from the court entirely. So If those shots are not falling, he is often invisible. Tari Eason is never, ever invisible. Jabari Career: 43-34-81 in 5488 minutes. Tari Career: 46-34-74 in 2726 minutes. Jabari had a 6 game stretch this year shooting 34% from the field and 13% from three, so... maybe we should rephrase your post.
