Patience is a virtue, for all you guys losing hair over these couple of games lol I will agree, I was disappointed in the first game like many of you with his lack of handles etc. but second game showed great poise on defense and all around willingness to make right plays to win the game. Defense wins championships, am I right? I know a lot of you guys wanted Paolo and see how he’s doing well right now but Jabari is our guy now and a MF Houston Rocket. Let’s support this young man and encourage him to be the best he can be. He has so many years ahead of him and what he needs most right now is our support. He probably already knows he has much to work on so let’s ride with him and make him feel like family. Josh Christoper..that’s another story.. JK
he's camping by the perimeter too much and falling in love with the 3's.... got any post up or mid range moves??
He's probably trying to run the offense as described. Irks me a bit that when he picks for someone he always rolls towards the basket instead of the sometimes more open 3-point line, but I think that's what the coaches want. He showed some flashes of handle but definitely needs to work on that over the next couple of years. I'm confident he'll get much, much better in all aspects of his game because you don't give effort like that in games and then sit around contentedly. He'll work.
The good (really, the GREAT): As someone who thought Jabari's defense last game against Orlando was merely okay, I was thoroughly impressed by his effort in the defensive end against the Thunder. I think it's still possible he might struggle a bit in the beginning of the regular season with foul trouble as he adjusts to the pace, but I think I can see the enormous potential as a defender that others have mentioned. He also has a good frame and will bulk up still, probably at little to no loss of agility. The bad: His shooting. A lot of his shots were in and out, but we saw a few bricks (and one air ball). He has a nice looking high release point, but a bit of a low arc (and maybe his release could be faster). But the thing that's most concerning is that he takes a lot of midranges. Those are bad shots, and a point of concern I had with another prospect (Paolo). The ugly: His handle. It's honestly just as bad as advertised, and probably one of the worst handles in a top 3 non-center prospect in the last couple of decades. At the end of the first half, he tried taking on an OKC player (Jalen Williams, maybe) in the perimeter, and quickly fumbled the ball by himself after a couple of dribbles. In the 3rd quarter, he was trying to take the ball for a layup and fumbled it again, missing the layup badly. In the 4th, he shot over (and scored against) Jalen Williams after dribbling for a few seconds before having to pick up his dribble and settle for a tough fadeaway. When he tried this again shortly after, he was blocked... It's possible he doesn't really *need* this skill, but it'd unlock so much for him. For instance, Banchero shot 6/15, but his TS% was so much higher cuz he can get to the line. Jabari can't right now. The problem is that this particular skill seems really hard to develop. He'll surely improve, but his baseline is so low, that it leaves me genuinely worried. I think he also showed some nice offensive (and, obviously, defensive) IQ. He's playing a bit out of position now, but he genuinely might be able to play a lot of #5 depending on how big he gets (and how much his handles improve). I thought he had an okay game overall, with his great defensive game offsetting an otherwise lackluster (and probably really just mostly unlucky) shooting night. He's raw, but still very young, and has a great mentality. Maybe he won't be very good this year, who knows, but I think he has tools to have a successful career in the association.
He needs to catch it closer to the basket and either do a fadeaway or just rise up and shoot. No one is going to be able to block it. We also haven’t seen very much with him as the roll man but he seems capable. Will be very interesting how he’s used with the rest of the starters.
And the fact that he's 19 years old. Some posters here are acting like he's a finished product and dont take into effect the horrendous guard play in the Summer League. Which is to be expected.
He will look much better with better guard play. He's 19 so his body will improve as he gets older. I dont think his handles are as bad as you think but that's the weakest part of his game. If he can improve this over the next 2-3 yrs then he can become a star/superstar level player, if not he will become another Horry. Right now it's hard to tell what he will become because he's mainly playing with some selfish/scrub guard play.
When could Ariza ever block shots like Smith can. Plus I believe Smith will be a much more consistent shooter than Ariza. No more 0-27 from 3.
Paolo would have been the #1 or 2nd pick he is like a taller Cade. They averaged the same assist and Banchero numbers were better across the board.
We dont know about defensively yet Ball handler? Ariza one of the worst ballhandlers I've seen in a long time. Smith is as good of a ballhandler right now as Ariza was and as a 19 yr old he's got the time/ability to improve this aspect of his game. If Smith can do this he will be a star/superstar level player. BTW, Who do you consider to have been the better defender, Horry or Ariza? I think Horry was better because of his ability to guard either forward position and he was a superior weakside shotblocker. Ariza was a better individual defender guarding the SG/SF positions so there's a fair case to be made for him as the better defender as well.
