I did not feel the same about Green, because as i have explained many, many times, he possessed elite, 99th percentile NBA athleticism in terms of first step, leaping ability, etc and showed that in his first few games, even if his shot wasn't falling. He was still exploding past Anthony Davis etc. Smith has shown a distressing lack of raw athletic ability, doesn't jump, high, fast or quickly to the point where its extremely concerning and making the bust alarm go off way earlier than Green. Hopefully his shot comes around because otherwise that's all there is.
He needs a smart point guard to give him the ball, we need a coach to actually call plays for him. Why? Last year, Cleveland went out and signed Ricky Rubio to help with the young guards and made Evan Mobley transition to the NBA easier with his passing. I know a lot of people was crying because they thought Mobley was better than Jalen Green , but he is not. Also, I say Jabari is a better talent than Mobley. Mobley is a elite shot blocker but Jabari is a elite defender guarding 1 thru 5 and a good shot blocker. Mobley is not a really good shooter and does not have good handles, he is very good rebounder and ultra athletic. Jabari is a elite shooter at his size, he can be unstoppable shooting 3 pointers, post ups and mid rangers. He is legit we must be patience
Well, I think the team can improve from 1-5, but the reason I focus on him rather than others and ask for him to be aggressive is at times he passes up looks and if his shot isn't falling can get passive, he's only 19 years old and 20+ games in his rookie career so I'm confident he'll learn and improve with time. But when the PG or anyone passed him the ball or coaches ran plays I would notice it. In his last couple of games, he showed a fire that he can build on, and I was glad to see it. Keep the mentality and behaviors that are working, that's being aggressive. Attacking the rim to constantly draw fouls with his shooting touch takes his game to another level imo.
Smith hasn’t shown a whole lot in the way of explosion. I do think there has been sightings of him moving well defensively and showing well in regards to anticipation and rebounding. There are times where he elevates quickly. He definitely lacks the second bounce. Mostly, I am agreeing with you though. I see a cerebral player who is caught up in our mess and being a rook. He is young enough to improve though. I went back the other day and watched some of his auburn highlights. This kind of reassured me I think at some point the shot is going to fall.
That last made shot looks very much like what he did frequently in college as his bread and butter move. Sideway one or two-dribble pull up. He should do more of that. Few defenders can block that shot without help.
If Mobley doesn't have handles then I can only imagine how you feel about Jabari's handles. Everything else you said about Jabari was best case scenario. He's not an elite defender, he could be one day. He's not an elite shooter, he's one of the worst shooters in the league statistically. You seem to dismiss Mobley's traits and potential and exaggerate Jabari's potential skills. Serious question, would anyone on this board actually reject a Mobley for Jabari trade proposal? Now would Cleveland offer up that deal? let's be real now..
If we are honest Smith has not shown any elite traits (not even more on D than the typical specialists found in the 2nd rounds / FA). We are just all holding onto hope that he plays better with a proper PG/system and his shots start to fall (despite having no history of being a good shooter in the NBA) because we used the 3rd pick on him. The only thing he is supposedly already elite at is turning out to be below average at NBA level and that's no good when he does nothing else effectively. People clown Russ and current Klay for their poor shooting but how do you even shoot 30% on mostly open spot-ups? Re: Lonzo comparisons - Lonzo was a good floor general and defender regardless of whether his shot was falling or not. Smith literally does nothing right now. Honestly looks like we drafted the worst lottery pick.
Despite all the negativity on Jabari I'm strangely ok with the pick. At the end of the day 6'10 stretch bigs who are decent defenders dont grow on trees and at age 19 he is one of the younger guys in this draft class. Paolo is the one who got away, but Jabari is ok as a consolation prize imo. Everybody is losing their minds on his dribbling, but that isnt what Jabari needed its toughness and grit. If Jabari had enough toughness to take on contact he will drive to the rim and everything will work itself out. And I'm starting ti see him pick up on that slowly. His rebounds for example have been increasing as of late at least he doesnt have as many 30 min 2 reb games anymore. Dude just needs to understand you have to give max effort when you are in the big leagues.
Mobley’s last game 21 18 5 1 2 Shooting 57% for the year And he was primarily billed as a defensive player
I said who had Jabari MORE pro-ready than Paolo? Anyone in the top 5 is thought to be more pre-ready than the rest of the draft class, the further down teams draft complete prospects. Lets look at each of these sites... https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...g-most-pro-ready-prospects-in-2022-nba-draft/ This is 5 different guys picking 5 different players, the first one they list is Paolo. https://247sports.com/LongFormArtic...NBA-Rookie-of-the-Year-189222348/#189222348_1 They have Paolo and Bari tied. https://www.fantasypros.com/2022/06/2022-fantasy-basketball-rookie-rankings-redraft-dynasty/ They do say Bari is the most pro-ready but then follow it up by saying Banchero is the best player in the draft. https://theathletic.com/3312706/2022/05/17/nba-mock-draft-2022/ Pay wall https://sports.yahoo.com/final-2022...f-thursdays-draft-130018345.html?guccounter=1 This says nothing about anyone being the most NBA ready. https://www.lockedonpodcast.com/htt...2022/535-b075ba6f-d7ef-4846-9ee6-73423116a70a Idk man I get 404 not found for this. https://www.si.com/nba/2022/06/23/n...het-holmgren-paolo-banchero-final-projections This one says he's the best PROSPECT. That's not the best NBA-ready player, that's exactly a player you expect to get better with development. I honestly think you have it mixed up since one of the sites says nothing about Bari being the most NBA ready and said he was the best prospect. Chet and Jabari were definitely seen more as prospects than Paolo. Yes it was? Jabari was always thought to not be a complete player offensively because of his frame and his handles??? Dude, no one here thought Jabari was going to come here and improve how much we won. No one seriously thought this. I'm sure it could be said if he played better we'd have 3 or so more wins but no one thought he was moving the needle this year. Nope, because most GMs are not going to overreact like fans do to small sample sizes against inferior talent. Let's be real here, your take on Jabari is a MASSIVE overreaction.
Except he wasn't a consensus #1 pick??? He didn't even go #1... And yeah, guys do get drafted as projects #1 and top 3 all the time. Hell, That's what Yao Ming was.
It's a question of NBA players and talent. Dwight can drive to the rim like he's Jordan in Taiwan but could never do it in the NBA. The talent level in the NBA is extremely high, expecting a guy that has never had that as his strong suit to just up and do it in the NBA suddenly is super unreasonable, the fact that he's able to do it once a game or so is a good sign. It actually reminds me of Jalen's struggle last year with driving, would always get bumped off the ball, stripped, yes it is a will and toughness thing, he has to bulk up and has to adjust to NBA defense. That's why I'm 1000% against him going to the Gleague. He'd just put up fluff stats and build fake confidence. He's not some 2nd round 46th pick. He either adjusts to the NBA or doesn't. He's going to have to learn to rise to the level of play up here or...well, not.
The guy is in a shooting slump so of course his value is trending downwards. Yes, both guys has limited handles and that’s one of my points. Last year he had Rubio to help him to get the ball, Jabari does not. I believe Mobley is a great player but I believe Jabari is better overall. His defense would be better if Silas play him correctly on the Pick n roll plays. Look how he block shots in the paint, cover guards and rebounding. Honestly, Mobley does not have a offense game(just watch him play), he just have lobs, and scoring shots on rebounding. He cannot and never could shoot a 3 pointer in high school, college or in the NBA, he does not have a mid range shot. Let me tell you the difference between the two players: Jabari is and always been a two way player and Mobley’s talent was defense, who is a elite shot blocker and can cover 1-5. He was always a draft prospect that was talented on the defense side of the ball, he is just a guy on offense. Mobley never could shoot and had limited handles, Jabari has been a great shooter in high school and college, and when he adjusts to the NBA scene as Jalen Smith he will be our 3rd Star.
I believe he was 96th percentile in college in terms of jumpers off the dribble. He was also 91st percentile in catch and shoot. Ok - so he is currently close to the bottom percentile in the NBA in both those categories..... either those have to come around eventually (law of averages) or we're expecting something completely different from him (which might be insanity?)
Not bad considering he’s likely playing with a bottom 5 starting PG. If he was getting passes from CP3 he’d look better.
I think it's a coping mechanism but let the guys cope here. Mobley is a different player type, he could go either way, perimeter or down low inside paint. He chose to play more on the block. Bari was advertised primarily as dynamic player mostly between the perimeter, the paint and the elbow area. I agree that Mobley's Offense wasn't hyped the way Bari's was.
The red flags with Jabari were right there in our face the entire time. The lack of shot creation, struggling to create space on his shot, settling for contested fadeaway 2s, couldn’t handle the ball, the low 2P%, no athletic burst, not a good slasher, and so on. This screamed bust from the jump. I’m not out on Jabari yet. But this is a classic case of falling too in love with what a player could be, rather than what they currently are. There needs to be a balance between the two when evaluating prospects.
But it's not ordered and one guy says Jabari is the most pro ready as well? Yes, when you said everyone had Paolo more NBA ready and Jabari as a prospect not contributing right away. Okay, but your point was literally about the "pro ready" you now somehow dismiss for this source? Do you only do word search or what do you understand by "can plug him in right away" and "but there is so much to like about what Smith brings to the table right away with his elite shooting and defensive versatility."? But we just saw that several sites literally had Jabari more NBA/pro ready and one had them tied? Are you just making stuff up now? Uh yea, a ton here and on media did? Says the guy who tries to make the entire thing revisionist history and blatantly makes up false narratives now about what was said (even when I link sites that explicitly say Jabari is the most NBA ready, and some being split).
The vast majority had him #1 and people were absolutely shocked when woj 30min before the draft said Orlando would go with Paolo. Again, you are literally making stuff up and creating a fake history in this thread.
Jabari has shown flashes. Problem is they've been about as long lasting and frequent as the secret frames spliced into Fight Club.
