He has looked pretty similar to how he looked in college - he just misses more shots. It‘s been three games against three contenders. He has been very active on defense and he has missed too many open shots. If he made his shots at a rate that would be comparable to college, he would be averaging around 20 points per game. Don‘t expect him to create good shots for himself or others. He is not this player - hopefully he can improve in that regard, but don‘t expect it soon. Also don‘t expect him to turn into Dennis Rodman - he never was a great rebounder. Part of this is, because he is not playing very strong. But again, I am sure he can work on that. I wouldn‘t call him raw - but right now he is a shooter and a defender and not much else. For a 19 year old rookie, that is almost 7 feet tall and is said to be a gym rat, that is enough for me.
Looking at guys like AD & Giannis, y’all forget they were once looked just like Jabari as far as size. It’s so exciting to imagine how he’ll look in 3-5 years
I recognized him as an elite shooting prospect but I also had concerns, as outside shooting doesn't typically translate from college to NBA for legit big men. In the previous 10 drafts, there have only been 9 players 6'10" or taller with a sample size of at least 50 college three attempts and 50 NBA three attempts. On average, their outside shooting dropped by 4.5% from college to NBA -- 8 of the 9 players saw a decrease. Obviously we're dealing with small sample sizes simply because 6'10"+ three point shooters are so rare and/or don't often pan out or have big roles in the NBA, but from the data we do have there is a clear negative trend emerging. The closest individual comp to Jabari would probably be Lauri Markkanen, who actually shot a hair better from three in college with similar volume, role, competition level, number of games, etc. and is now just a 36.4% career shooter at the NBA level on fairly high volume. I clearly don't think Jabari will keep shooting this badly (he would be out of the league if he did...) but I also never thought he would maintain the 42% that he shot in college. My expectation has always been 37% or 38% on high volume, which is fine as long as he's also providing top tier defense.
It's hard to gauge Smith offensive capability bc we have kpj at pg. I think he's gonna be great on defense though
By mid season it will be too ridiculous for that to continue. Right now Jabari is adjusting his range to the NBA, it will not take long.
You said he's more raw than people want to admit. He's not more raw than I want to admit. He's not more raw than I thought he'll be. He's not too raw to end up even an MVP candidate. For me I KNOW: he is not more raw than I expected and I watched only his highest scoring NCAA game, he is going to have one of the best rookie games in NBA history, he's going to have one of the best rookie seasons of this class and he's going to be a MAX-worthy star on the open market. If you wanna get a medal for predicting the 9th youngest player was going to look raw, here you go. Here's the medal we all should have, but we'll give it to you: Spoiler: Winner! More important, you're showing concern about his future and I am not. You're setting conditions where I'm placing foregone conclusions. There is a difference there. Stop being careful and have some fun. Just make an outright prediction of where you actually think he'll end up this season and/or in the long run without conditions.
This is laughable. Let's see how Bari looks this time next year. Much less 8 years later. SMH PS. Let me know if Wood EVER shows any sign of D. THX
I feel like Jabari is going to be a slow and steady improver over the course of his career. he doesn't have amazing fluidity in his movement but if he just refines his craft he will eventually be a true elite 3+D guy, which at 6-10 is an extreme rarity. maybe falls somewhere in the 4-5x all-star category with a long career of 15+ years (if no major injuries). not worried about the misses, only worried about him getting discouraged and passing up looks which is needed for his development. TLDR: keep chuckin' jabari
The whole reason why he was considered so special is this small sample size. In the last 10 seasons you only found 9 other tall players with both 50 college threes and 50 NBA threes. Jabari shot 188 college threes. That is massive and I guess the number of players with that amount of three pointes will be very small. And he also wasn't a spot up shooter. He was assisted at only about 72% of his shots from three. He also hit a lot of them in transition and/or of the dribble. I don't think many people expect him to maintain 42%. But most people would expect him to be a very efficient shooter, especially because he will get a lot more open looks in the NBA. Before the season I said I expect him to be around 37.5% - but I do expect this number to increase the following seasons and hover around 40% before long.
at the end of the day the College 3 is still shorter than the NBA 3. Jabari needs to readjust his form like everyone else for range. We know he has the touch on his shots, the real question is if he can adjust his form to reproduce his results
At least he's shooting better than Sengun. Hope it keeps picking up because dragging two underwhelming shooters on the starting 5 is hard for any team to do that is not blessed with an NBA legend on the team. I like his activity on defense, but it hasnt been "lock down" like I had expected, but season is way to young to make any definitive statements - or is it??
Banchero is 19 as well, so what. I am not writing off Smith, but this age excuse thing needs to stop.
He looks overwhelmed, but so did Jalen at this time last year. I also think that him missing the last 3 preseason games might have impacted his readiness for the season. Overall, I'm not even a little worried about Jabari. He's missing shots but the misses look good, giving me hope for an improving percentage as he plays more.
Had Jabari averaging a point more than what he is averaging in the Silas offense . What I didn't have is him shooting 30% from the field. Once that gets straighten out it should be smooth sailing. He hasn't even been able to showcase his defense fully. Saw this stat where they had him dropping more instead of switching. The times he has switched out, he's gotten his hands on the ball. It's going to take some patience for a season or so. It's never an exact science.
