50 years olds and 12 year olds love Jabari. The old dudes don’t think you need that many fast coordinated athletes that can do everything to win rings. The kids just pretend he is one.
I think people need to realize that this team is still developing players. Yes, Jabari would be a lot more efficient if he just played D, got boards, and only shot open shots. 1000% But Jabari, Reed, Amen, Tari, Sengun, these players are still VERY young, they are still a young team. So we still need them to challenge themselves, to get out of their comfort zone, and for Bari that means working on his handle. It means for Amen that he has to take 3 point shots although its bad for the offense, they are telling him to shoot that shot because the hope is he becomes a better shooter and goes to another level. The hope with Jabari is he becomes a better ball handler and go to another level. For both Amen and Jabari it's unlikely, lets be honest. It's far more likely Amen's shot is always broken and its far more likely Jabari never has a cross over...but even without them they are good players.
Absolutely. You don't tell a couple of top 4 lottery picks to stop trying to improve aspects of their game while they're still on their rookie contracts. (Jabari has signed an extension but it hasn't kicked in.) That would just be silly. We actually have a recent example of Jabari's archetype making big strides in his mid-20s, by the way. From age 20-24, Lauri Markkanen averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds on 44% / 36% shooting. (Sound familiar?) Since then, he has averaged 24 points and 8 rebounds on 47% / 38% shooting. As you said, it's unlikely Jabari makes that kind of leap. For every example like Lauri or Deni Avdija that does suddenly figure it out, there are several examples like DeAndre Hunter who just kind of are what they are by age 23 or so. But as long as there's a reasonable chance, even if it's only like 1 in 5 or whatever, you keep on developing your players and letting them try things on the court.
Agree, but the Rockets also have a great team and need to balance development with preparing for the playoffs. In addition, developing some players means others get less time.
Well said. I don’t agree with the unlikely part, but this is the jest of what the Rockets are trying to accomplish. If Amen and/or Jabari don’t make the next step then we are still waiting for the guy to put us over the top. I don’t agree with those that say we have to go for it all now, because of the Durant trade and the limited time frame he will be here. We are much more likely to win a championship if Amen specifically takes the step to superstardom than we are with a 37 year old Durant.
