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[2022 NBA Draft/1-3] Jabari Smith Jr., F, Auburn

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by J.R., Jun 23, 2022.

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saleem Member

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ShiniKashi said: ↑

what does this mean
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Sounds strange.

#341 saleem, Jun 24, 2022

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houston19519 Member

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thedude077 said: ↑

I trust the guy who is focusing on making the team better, not on the guy who just wants awards, and improve his stats... I'm buying myself a Jabari Smith Jr jersey. He's a keeper.
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Either way for this team to take off BOTH Green and Smith need to be the difference makers. Since the draft process of Green last year I’ve heard nothing but great things about his work ethic and wanting to win. Not sure why the Green slander is needed on such a great draft we just had.

#342 houston19519, Jun 24, 2022

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TriumVirate Member

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saleem said: ↑

Sounds strange.
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Just a young kid posting edgy things. I remember those days

#343 TriumVirate, Jun 24, 2022

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ShiniKashi Member

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#344 ShiniKashi, Jun 24, 2022

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flamingdts Member

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I don't know if Jabari has the highest ceiling, but he certainly has a very high floor.

#345 flamingdts, Jun 24, 2022

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zeeshan2 Member

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His ability to guard positions 1 through 5 has become one of the many reasons he’s leapt up draft boards. He gets excited when talking with his coaches about defensive assignments for an upcoming game. He’s often switched on to guards, showing the quickness to contain smaller players and the strength to hold his own against bigger ones. He blocks shots, changes shots. He embraces physicality inside.

“I just want to be the best,” Jabari says. “I don’t wanna be better necessarily than anybody, or nothing like that, because I don’t know if that’s what God has planned for me, but I just want to maximize me.”

His ability to score from anywhere on the court is what sets him apart from his peers. He releases the ball so high it’s nearly impossible to block. “He’s the best jump shooter at his size in college basketball,” Pearl says. One of the first times some members of the coaching staff saw Jabari work out, around 6:30 one morning at Sandy Creek High, they watched the sophomore drill 25 consecutive midrange jumpers.

Holy ****, assistant coach Steven Pearl, Bruce’s son, thought. What high-schooler shoots midrange—let alone makes them at that clip? “You could just see that he was special from day one,” Steven says.

“Every time he shoots it,” Steven says, “I think it’s going in.”

With massive talent come massive expectations. Some scouts have likened parts of his game to Kevin Durant. “The stroke’s the same every time it comes off his hand,” Bruce says.

Smith Sr. remembers Giannis’s progression from skinny teenager, barely able to hold his own on the block, to dominant MVP, bulldozing his way into the paint and blocking shots while relentlessly playing defense. “Body frame, size, but guarding the 1. You seeing that out of Giannis now,” Smith Sr. says. “I’m trying to put that in Jabari as a rookie.”

Smith Sr. instilled in Jabari that he couldn’t just play basketball, he had to be able to talk basketball. The game was to be studied. Dissected. Understood on a deeper level. “He’s enamored with scouting reports,” says Ira Bowman, Auburn assistant coach and a former NBA player himself. “You don’t have to continually go over things with him. He gets it.”

Jabari, now averaging 15.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, has added about 20 pounds since he arrived last summer. The weight room has been a focus, as Bruce Pearl says he would ask Jabari what he weighed five times a week in the summer and early fall. “He’s got a frame that’s going to be able to put on another 30 pounds throughout his career,” Pearl says.

He was “a perfectionist,” Harper says. Harper remembers times when Jabari would miss free throws in the game, then text him later, still dwelling on the bricks.

His coaches continued to push him. One game, playing for the Celtics in the Adidas Summer Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, Jabari kept missing shots. As a result, he started passing up open looks. Harper called a timeout. “If you pass the ball,” Harper said to him, “you won’t play again.”

Jabari just gave his coach a look. He then scored 12 or 14 straight points, Harper recalls, leading his team to the title.

The coaches are impressed by how receptive he is. How he handles tough love, especially on defense. Maybe he failed to rotate to the right spot. Maybe he didn’t step up to take the charge. When Pearl chews him out, Jabari doesn’t say a word. He just nods, and says, “I got you, Coach. I got you,” and fixes it on the next play. He’ll then continue working on his weaknesses.

“He holds himself to a very high standard,” says teammate Walker Kessler.

Jabari is constantly learning what it means to be a leader. He knows he has to lead by example and consistently set the tone. “You want to be a leader but sometimes you might not be feeling it and you don’t want that to trickle down to your team,” he says. “You just have to always have a different mindset and know that the team is going to feed off of you.”
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https://www.theringer.com/2022/2/4/22916297/jabari-smith-jr-auburn-nba-draft

#346 zeeshan2, Jun 24, 2022

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cheke64 Member

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ShiniKashi said: ↑

what does this mean
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it better not be Kwame Brown's cousin

#347 cheke64, Jun 24, 2022

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saleem Member

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TriumVirate said: ↑

Just a young kid posting edgy things. I remember those days
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Ok cool.

#348 saleem, Jun 24, 2022
spankz141 Member

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As other posters have mentioned...really like the LMA comparison.

Really like that fact he can shoot over people...if he can learn to drive and handle the ball...Rockets may have a potential superstar.

#349 spankz141, Jun 24, 2022
KingSamJack Member

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spankz141 said: ↑

As other posters have mentioned...really like the LMA comparison.

Really like that fact he can shoot over people...if he can learn to drive and handle the ball...Rockets may have a potential superstar.
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Driving and handling also happens to be the hardest things to add to your game....

#350 KingSamJack, Jun 24, 2022

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i3artow i3aller Member

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Reeko said: ↑

all my Jabari Tribe members, assemble
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#351 i3artow i3aller, Jun 24, 2022

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#352 mario_v, Jun 24, 2022

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houston19519 said: ↑

Either way for this team to take off BOTH Green and Smith need to be the difference makers. Since the draft process of Green last year I’ve heard nothing but great things about his work ethic and wanting to win. Not sure why the Green slander is needed on such a great draft we just had.
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Yeah a kid wants to be rookie of the year must mean he doesnt want to win lol what a dumb take. Like you said everything we've heard and seen says Green has a next level work ethic and want be great/win. Dude is just being a grumpy old man that a kid wanted an award

#353 BonziWellsGOAT, Jun 24, 2022

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RocketDream Member

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Incredible how things fell for Houston. IMO, Smith was easily the best player in this draft--great size, athleticism, shooting ability and defensive ability. All he has to do to have high superstar potential is tighten up his handle.

Smith and Green are going to be an incredible duo, IMO.

#354 RocketDream, Jun 24, 2022

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rammo Member

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After a big night on the beers I woke up a bit hazy just in time for the draft. When Chet went 2 I assumed I was still passed out and this was all a wonderful dream…

Getting Jabari at 3 is an absolute heist. He’s a star. Absolute foaming at the mouth in anticipation of watching him on the floor with the likes of Green and Sengun. What a time to be alive Rockets fans!

#355 rammo, Jun 24, 2022

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marinara Member

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saleem said: ↑

Sounds strange.
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I’m assuming it would mean imagine trying to help people who don’t want to work for it

#356 marinara, Jun 24, 2022

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xaos Member

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All great points

#357 xaos, Jun 24, 2022

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#358 zeeshan2, Jun 24, 2022

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spankz141 Member

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KingSamJack said: ↑

Driving and handling also happens to be the hardest things to add to your game....
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Agreed...But I don't think Jabri needs crazy handles...if can develop something similar to KD's ability to handle...it should be good enough since he can easily shoot over just about anyone (and no, I'm not saying Jabri will be the next KD).

#359 spankz141, Jun 24, 2022
yixiixiy Member

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#5 is underrated and excellent point as we talk about and only about “Vibes”.

xaos said: ↑

All great points
Click to expand...

#360 yixiixiy, Jun 24, 2022

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