At this current stage Tari is looking like he is better and will be better than Jabari Smith Jr. I'm not wasting time looking up stats and advanced stats to post to prove my point, because it's pretty obvious that Tari is playing better than Jabari right now. I hear some people compare Tari to Kawhi. With that said, who do you think will have the better overall NBA career?
Tari is an elite athlete (relative to his peers of course) so his stuff is going to show up more readily.
If they are treated with Patient, both can at least be good quality starters. If they both absolutely max out their potential, I think Tari has more to offer, but I think Jabari is more likely to reach his ceiling because his skill set is so defined.
There are some forums I know, where new members need some criteria to meet before posting topics, or even posts. just saying. What if Sengun is traded tomorrow. and no, you can't compare two rookies after 10 games.
I love them both on this squad. Look, Smith came into the league projected to be a sniper who can defend all positions. If he were to start off his career hitting 38%+ from three no one would be worried. There's a lot of positive signals indicating he'll be able to transfer his shooting stroke from college to the NBA. Smith needs to get over his early-rookie slump. It's not like he needs to tear down his shot mechanics and start from scratch. It's not like he has horrible shooting synergy. The guy has beautiful form and a great stroke. It would be nice to see some designed plays set for him. As a shooter, it does make a difference knowing the ball is coming to you vs getting open at random times. Our team has a habit of not having a swinging and live ball. Even that would work wonders for his rhythm.
Just curious so I can improve or follow proper etiquette. Is it something I should do first before posting?
Yeah I think some people think I posted this insinuating I think Jabari is a bust, which I don't. I think he will be a solid Rashard Lewis type player with better defensive instincts and skills. Which is a good solid player we will need. But as you stated with his shot not falling it's making him seem almost like a non factor a lot of these games. My concern is you see Tari, KJ, Garuba come in and still find a way to be impactful even though they are not having plays featured for them. It's just concerning that Jabari is not showing the same kind of hustle and impact as Tari when I viewed them as almost like a 2 for 1 draft where we lucked up and got 2 of the same type player we needed.
No NO, I didn't mean anything about you specifically. Interesting topic to discuss. During first meeting interviews in August or September, I looked at Tari and said wow, he is so in shape at that age. Wide shoulders, zero fat, seemed like ready to contribute, which he did. I am no Mod of course. It is that there are like 4 KPJ extension topics at once today, and there like 8 Sengun the greatest topics. We the newbees have invaded these forums, while the oldies are waiting for the tanking to end. Clutch seems like a great guy and we should not make his job harder. and Futron, since you seem very new, come watch the recap podcast which is about to start at: https://www.playback.tv/rocketswatch
Thanks I agree! If you notice, I try to find a different angle to make a post about or maybe it stems from a comment or side conversation in another thread. I am going to be more cognitive about posting from a more positive POV and not be negative. (I made a post calling Jalen & Jabari ratchet and clank for missing shots) Thanks for the insight and I'll try to avoid creating a redundant thread
This Rashard Lewis guy was a 2 time all-star. Over a 5 year stretch (starting and ending years were all-star selections) he averaged 20ppg. Career 39% 3 point shooter. Started out as a 19 year old, and scored 2.4ppg and hit 16% from 3. If we are saying Jabari's worst case is Rashard Lewis with defence, then you'd have to be pretty happy with that as a pick 3. I know we all want a franchise altering superstar - and I'm sure we all WANTED Jabari to be that guy, but right now it doesn't LOOK like that will be the case. But again, he's young. If he ends up being Rashard Lewis with defence, that is a sensational return from the 3 pick. Especially considering todays game is more perimeter oriented than it was in Rashard's day... As far as the original question, Tari or Jabari. I could care less who is better - I hope they are both really really really good and stay Rockets for a long time.
Are these threads for the betterment of the TEAM? We already have a Sengun is the best player on the team thread, now this! Lol This is CRAZY! Were just 10, 11 games in and we're asking is Tari better than Jabari. I think a more poyant thread would have been, "How do our roster compare to Orl, Thunder and Sac?" To each his own but I just prefer team over individual.
I absolutely agree with your post. The game last night showed how important ball movement is to have the players shoot in rhythm. Smith hardly gets a pass even when he is virtually unguarded and his shots are mostly somewhat forced. I would argue that if the Rockets improves their ball and player movement then Smith would have a significant impact.
The problem is Jabari hasn’t shown a glimpse of his advertised ELITE skills. I think nobody expects a perfect game from a rookie but if you are selected as a 3rd pick, then gotta show something positive.
