Jabari is only 22 years old. He has still room for improvement. On a decent long term contract. What's not to like?
Players have good games, and they have bad games. That’s the nature of playing an 82-game season. It’s especially true for 22 year olds. You’ll have less stress if you don’t overreact to the highs and lows.
I've always said that 2nd or 3rd tier stars whose game is ball-dominant are the most dangerous kind of player to have. They are not good enough to carry a team but can't be anything other than first option. Players like Trae Young, Ja Morant, and LeMelo Ball are like that. A high end role player might be a better choice.
Even a Durant or LBJ could not carry a team full of scrubs in these few years. Times have changed, the bench crew just finds ways to blow games open and dudes enjoy playing stifling Defense again. You are right that potent young stars on the bench and on good contracts are the way to go but this 'Carrying a whole team narrative' got to vanish as well. They are actors in a leading role in an ensemble, that is all.
Jabari usually starts the season poorly. He was putrid in the first two months last season. I think he will really start to shine around december. He's getting more shots this year, and earlier in the game. If he hits his first 2 shots, then it's a long night for the opposing team. Jabari just needs to stay healthy. That means less drives please. His every drive against the Raptors gave me a scare because it looked like an ankle sprain waiting to happen.
It was interesting to see him actually look good on several fairly high-difficulty drives against the Raps, by the way Drive into short-middy, drive into pass for the assist, transition drive into a eurostep through traffic for a contested layup. Maybe there is some hope for him that area.
This is one of the worst post ever, everyone that has read this is a little more dumber for reading something as asinine is this. He is one of the keys to our winning streak with his height defense blocking and three point shooting.
At this point, it’s pretty clear that Amen, Sengun, Durant, and Bari are our four most important players. Okogie, Eason, and Adams are all playing great, but there is a gap between them and the four I listed. For example, I think we blow out the Mavs had Bari played.
Lineups with Sengun, Durant, Thompson, and Smith (110 minutes): +21.2 net rating/100 possessions Lineups with Sengun, Durant, Thompson, and NO Smith (36 minutes): -3.5 net rating/100 possessions This seems like a pretty big swing suggesting Jabari's value, although sample size is too small (and too dependent on Dallas game) to make conclusions yet.
It's nice to see Jabari finally playing like the player we hoped we drafted. Sometimes it just takes time.
Glue guy in the best possible definition of that term--and still improving. I really like his confidence these days. San Antonio will be a fun game to watch and I expect him to sell out on defense against Wemby.
I haven't been his biggest fan, but the 4 blocks game was IMHO the first real sign of him developing into a top tier role player. I hope he realizes that he can make a bigger impact working on hustle and high IQ plays than trying to play like Durant. And last night, both my wife and I felt like he deserved a special award for actually catching some of the truly awful outlet passes that came his way. I know the guy is 6'10 but he shouldn't have to stretch or jump at his limit to catch a pass - the other guys need to tighten it up.
