obviously it's a large claim but he shot 42% in college on major attempts with also being the #1 focus on defenses. He will be 4th option (maybe 5th if Gordon is starting) in the lineup and should have a ton of easier looks with reduced attempts which should raise his effiency. Lastly, his beautiful form and height give me a lot of confidence that he the great 3 point shooting will translate to the NBA.
he's so young & slim i'm just waiting to see how he handles the grind against grown men ie. like sengun, he could end up spending a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble or not have the stamina to play a lot of minutes the physicality of the league could weigh on his touch as well when shooting -- this may have affected jalen's shot his first few months too
Your example was Derozan who already had good handles as he had the ability to run on the break and dribble drove on people using his dribble to break people down. Again I want to clear up some misconceptions about development. And no Smith isn’t taking people off the dribble that’s never been his game. Can he improve his handles to be better at crossovers or dribble better in transition or implement a euro step sure. But you can’t expect a 180 and expect him to play off the dribble. And chet comparison means he would have to have great handles (thru legs, behind back, luring defenders in). Never been his game and unrealistic to expect him to do this. I don’t expect him to be anything but who he has been his entire career. Doesn’t mean I don’t think he can improve but it won’t be drastic and like i said your game is your identity. I never said he needs to be anything either especially point forward.
good point about the physicality but here is the list of 10-25 3pt % shooters last season : 10 Kyrie Irving Brooklyn Nets PG 41.7% 11 Josh Richardson San Antonio Spurs SG 41.6% 12 Tyrese Haliburton Indiana Pacers PG 41.4% 13 Eric Gordon Houston Rockets SG 41.2% 14 Bryn Forbes Denver Nuggets SG 41.2% 15 Karl-Anthony Towns Minnesota Timberwolves C 41.0% 16 Grayson Allen Milwaukee Bucks SG 40.7% 17 Grant Williams Boston Celtics PF 40.6% 18 Anfernee Simons Portland Trail Blazers SG 40.5% 19 Alec Burks New York Knicks SG 40.4% 20 Patty Mills Brooklyn Nets PG 40.3% 21 Dorian Finney-Smith Dallas Mavericks SF 40.1% 22 Georges Niang Philadelphia 76ers SF 40.0% 23 Monte Morris Denver Nuggets PG 39.7% 24 Mike Conley Utah Jazz PG 39.6% 25 Kevin Love Cleveland Cavaliers PF 39.5% you can't tell me this isn't some world beating list here. if Seth Curry and Bryn Forbes can handle the physicality of the league and get their shot off, then Jabari can too.
Did he really brick them? I saw many shots that rimmed in and out - are we watching the same games or is this the stat line talking? I totally agree that he lacks handles to create from the perimeter but I don't see how that is a bball IQ issue. It sounds like you expect Jabari to be a perimeter player(creates space for himself, draws fouls) and that isn't his game. He's going to be a system guy similar to Klay Thompson - throwing a ball out there with a bunch of guys who aren't high level players and have known each other for a week is probably not the best way to showcase what Jabari does well. The system is going to get him space either via screens or help defenders trying to cover Green/Scoot and at that point he becomes deadly as a shooter or a guy who can make one or two dribble moves off of closeouts. By the way Mobley had a similar poor shooting statistical Summer League last year and I would say generally this is not the environment where face up bigs are going to thrive - this is very much a run and gun format. You have a valid point about Jabari's lack of perimeter skills - but that's never been his game and I don't see how him playing his game and having lots of shots rim in and out makes him a low bball IQ player-especially when he is out there playing super high level defense and directing his teammates on where to be.
i meant as a big, jabari will have to bang inside for rebounds and on D (this can wear you down and affect shooting)
At least his defense is good. Last year Green is really lost on both offense and defense. Jabari will look better in regular season when players aren't trying to showcase themselves to make the team. If his defender still stay home on him in regular season then there is more space for Green to drive.
You didn't express your opinion, you stated he was clearly better which means that would be what most people think. Show me a mock draft where Murray went ahead of Jabari... just one... How is Jabari a better scorer? Did i say that? He's a better shooter, younger, and bigger... Most have him as the best defender in the draft but the advanced are similar. There's also the different conferences... Is Jabari a year from now better or worse than Murray? Murray has a year head start... was Murray last year as good as Jabari this year? He made a draft error if so to pass on the guarantee of millions...
depends on his shot selection and role. If he only takes catch and shoot 3's that are open, he can most likely hit close to 40%. If he's taken on more of a creator role, he will be clanking a lot of forced 3's
Chet gets stripped by smaller players when he tries to dribble too much. You just don't want tall players to dribble too much. It's very turnover prone. What you want is for them to be able to attack the basket with reliable handle when there is space. Jabari doesn't have that attack mode. I want to see him work on that. It would (1) draw more fouls and (2) open up his outside shot.
I won't profess to have the best memory but I did live in the San Antonio area when Kawhi first entered the league and watched several of his games and I don't remember that about young Kawhi - I remember a guy who (similar to what Jabari will need to learn) got the ball off of screens and made maybe one or two dribbles off of that action to make a play - otherwise he would just reset the action. He didn't start becoming an ISO player and showcasing his handles until year 5 and 6 with San Antonio. Going back and reading some old draft reports about Kawhi seem to confirm that his ball handling was considered average at best with most agreeing he was a fairly bad shot creator coming out of college...but he worked HARD and that's something Jabari has a rep for too. I'm not saying Jabari will ever be a dude who can take guys off the dribble - frankly that's not the skill we need from him given how good KPJ and Green are at that but I am saying I think Jabari will improve in this area to the point where he is capable when needed to make more than a one or two dribble move off a closeout which is currently where he is skill wise.
The only shot he bricked was the baseline fadeaway. He should've backed up against Jalen Williams before the shot, instead he had his back facing Jalen Williams and turned around for a fadeaway without first making contact with his defender
Yeah, that's always the hard part about ball handling taller players and why so many of them don't do well at this because their ball travel on a dribble is so much higher than a shorter player meaning there is more time for opposing players to disrupt the dribble or for help defenders to make successful 'digs'. You almost have to have disproportionately longer arms to keep the ball closer to the ground when dribbling - which is exactly what's happening with KD because he has much longer arms than an average player of his height.
I remember when Donte Green was a Summer League superstar and how that worked out. The question with Smith is will he develop a more complete offensive game?
Well we can agree to disagree about Derozan. It's all relative what you want to say about "good handles" I think he has more potential upside than most. He doesn't need to dribble between his legs or cross guys over to be a superstar player on the offensive end, again, just look at Klay. Not sure why you are saying he has to play off the dribble. He just needs to either catch and shoot or drive, and potentially pull up. basic things that don't require fancy ball handling skills at all. I don't get what the issue with him is really. Why people are saying he's not able to dribble the ball at all and all he will be is a Trevor Ariza or a shooter with D. That's what I am arguing against. He is certainly capable of pump faking and then driving in and passing it. There's no reason for him to iso against a defender off the dribble - none at all. Tim Duncan never had to do that and he's an all-time great.
Wouldn't that have happened in college? He also has KPJ and Jalen driving to collapse defenses and get him open looks.
