Touted as a great shooter coming out of Auburn yet has shot below 37% from the 3-point line for 4 years straight now. It’s disappointing. And yes, he’s wide open most of the time.
I will never understand the fixation on .37. It's sort of how people downplay Sheppard's shooting because it was .394 instead of .4. Do you realize how statistically insignificant .363 and .37 is for a guy taking over 6 3pa a game? It's literally the difference of like two or three extra made 3s over the course of a year. Bari made major strides in 3 point shooting this year. Going from .354 on 4.9 3pa a game to .363 on 6.3 is massive. Over 82 games, that is almost 50 extra points. To put things in perspective, only 4 forwards under 25 years old averaged .36 3p% on at least six 3pa per game last season. And if you look at the list, the other three are really 6’7 small forwards rather than power forwards. A young 6’11 forward who can hit volume 3s at a good clip is very rare.
The Jabari hate on this board is just unfathomable to me. The guy puts in the work, does whatever is asked of him despite playing for an idiot coach, signs a great contract, and is only 23 years old with a frame that will enable him to play center in a few years. It’s indescribably stupid to be so down on easily a top 10 PF in the league.
*To you. You have opinions about what winning basketball is that influence your opinions. Apply all your same arguments to OKC Josh Giddey. *He is young with plenty of room to grow. *He is on a good reasonable contract. *He works hard. *He will be a 10-12 year starter. *He is highly ranked for his position. *He was around when the team got better. But for OKC the opportunity cost and results from trading him for Alex Caruso was worth it and helped them achieve their specific goals at the time.
This comparison makes no sense. The reason OKC traded Giddey is because he's best on-ball, meaning he was taking the ball out of Shai's hand. Bari is similar to Caruso in that he's a complementary player who would fit in anywhere. If anything, you've proven our point about the value of Bari.
It’s more perception over production. Were Jabari producing his current numbers after being drafted #32, most people would be singing his praises at the top of their lungs. And while his current salary is completely in line with his production, we were hopeful for (if not promised) more. The Jabari we have right now, for where he was drafted, is seen as a missed opportunity. Yes, he could still improve and be a real difference maker, but most people expected to get someone they would feel great about handing a max contract to, not feeling good about getting him re-signed for fair market value. In other words, I don’t think what you are seeing here is overwhelmingly hate, it’s just disappointment.
Yeah, pretending I’m making a direct play style comparison when I’m clearly not is an easy way to auto argue a point that you disagree with.
No, you're making an argument that removes all context. If anything, OKC's trade of Giddey would be more akin to the arguments that we should trade Sengun in that Giddey is a talented player who is somewhat difficult to build around. Bari is the definition of a guy that every team needs in the vein of Caruso, so I don't really see the point in trading him unless it's for a true star.
I hated Jabari even before the draft. As you alluded to, it was more about opportunity cost, expectation, etc. But at this point in his career, looking at the player he is and is pretty likely going to be going forward, at the amount he's paid, I'm just kind of meh on him. Don't love him, but not particularly desperate to move him either.
Typically, the value of a 6'11" guy hitting threes is that he also does other 6'11" things. Unfortunately for Jabari, he doesn't play big on either side of the ball.
I do understand this feeling, but the "pick 32" point seems hyperbolic. In a redraft, Bari still goes around top 5. Only three players are definitely above him, and no team would have taken JDub at 3.
This right here. The hate is disproportionate to his actual production. So many people did not evaluate Jabari the right way, thinking he was the next big thing. He is a good starter in the NBA, but he will never be what so many on this site projected him to be. This is why there are so many doomers on this site, they latched their cart to Jalen and Jabari, and instead the best player turned out to be Sengun, whom they have wanted traded for 5 years for a younger version of Capela. Hopefully Amen will pan out because we could use him as our second star and I don't think doomers can take another top 5 pick not reaching their potential.
While it's understandable that a #3 pick would bring a certain level of expectations. But if we were doing a redraft for Jabari's class, only three players would certainly be picked ahead of him -- Paulo, Chet, and Jalen Williams. All of them make way more money than him. Paulo has been criticized for his inefficiency and inability to be a championship level franchise guy. Chet and JWill are both injury prone. Chet's value has also been questioned after the last WCF. If we picked any of those guys instead of Jabari and handed out those contracts, people would be calling for Stone's head (not that they aren't already, LOL).
I don't know what this means. He averaged 7.3 rebounds last year, which is decent. His defensive metrics are good. Are you wanting him to bulk up so he can play more small ball center?
I disagree. Reasons and playstyle are different but rookie Josh Giddey was the dude other teams would put their weakest defender on to hide and also the weak defender OKC had to hide. It’s a rare feat. I think there are similarities with Jabari however not as extreme,. You don’t just leave him open like you do with rookie Giddey but you do put your weakest on him and have them just stand next to him. Hes labeled a good defender but he can’t guard opponents best players 1v1. Jabari is the only playoff starter role player I can think of that doesn’t either dribble and create with the ball Or Guard other teams top scorers
The difference between .363 and .37 is indeed insignificant. However the difference between .363 and .42 IS significant. Many of the other high volume 3P catch and shoot players shoot significantly better than Jabari. Also, Jabari doesn’t do anything else on offense. The catch and shoot three is what he does, and he doesn’t do it very well. He’s not awful, he has good games at times. But, if he is going to take that many shots we need him to do better. At this point he’s pretty average. But, he is young and I think he could improve. I hope it is this season he breaks out and has a great year.
I don't expect him to develop Kyrie's handle, but I'd love to see him dribble slightly better. I panic every time he puts the ball on the floor (and I think he does too).
