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Jabari Smith Jr. is the Rockets' franchise player

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Houston77, Jul 7, 2023.

  1. dmenacela

    dmenacela Member

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    Agree. Bari living up to Bosh standard is his floor but I don't see why he can emulate KD - go for the ceiling.

    Bari is showing much more this year so far - excited for him.
     
    GotGame15 likes this.
  2. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Member

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    Because KD at 19-21 was miles ahead of Jabari as a ball handler and had the "wiggle" of a guard that Jabari doesn't. Bosh is not a floor. Wtf? That dude was near a perennial All-Star. That's like saying Devin Booker is Green's floor.
     
  3. i3artow i3aller

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  4. Bobbythegreat

    Bobbythegreat Member
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    He has a habit of blaming the poor performance of overhyped players on others after he fails to argue that they are actually playing well.

    Like I said it'll be best for the team if those guys actually start playing well so he won't have to make so many excuses for them.
     
    eliefor3 likes this.
  5. Dankstronaut

    Dankstronaut Way, way out here.

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  6. DrNuegebauer

    DrNuegebauer Member

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    Are they even similar styles of player?

    Bosh was a 4/5
    Smith is a 4/3
     
  7. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    Jabari is more than just a 3 and D player. He's obviously not KD but his offense is more diverse than you give him credit for.
     
  8. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Member

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    I see Bari as a 4/5
     
  9. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Member

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    His offense can be as diverse as someone like Chris Bosh, an all-star. I think I'm rating his potential just fine.
     
  10. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    Jabari is also a 4/5. The difference is Jabari is already a far better defender of smaller players than Toronto Bosh ever was.

    Udoka said Jabari will see some time at C this year. Bosh didn't play C at Toronto. IIRC, he never played C at Miami until the Finals against OKC his 8th or 9th year.
     
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  11. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    I wasn't replying to a post of yours.
     
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  12. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

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    My only complaint is that he always seems to get scored on. I don't want to see Mccollum face you up and beat you to the basket. Also, close out on the shooters better and try jumping.
     
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  13. Kevooooo

    Kevooooo Member

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    Agreed. I thought last year he might just be a Tier 1 three and D guy. But the tail end of last season, summer league, and preseason showed he can can rise up over most anyone and has that same KD turn around from the elbow and baseline. He doesn’t have the handles KD already had — and maybe never develops those kind of handles — but he has that one dribble pull up and smart play that KD has and physically they’re pretty similar.

    not confident he’ll become a “franchise guy” but could be that second or third guy that just makes a team absolutely unfairly loaded. He could also very well be a Middleton type second guy. Of course I still HOPE he develops into a franchise guy.
     
  14. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    I'm probably one of the few here that watched him extensively at Auburn.

    Jabari is a clutch, mentally tough player who wants the ball and can deliver in crunch time situations. He'll likely never be an elite creator, but the Rockets can use PnRs to create mismatches in the post and on the perimeter he can capitalize on.

    As his late-blooming body continues to mature, more people will realize what we have in this guy.
     
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  15. dmenacela

    dmenacela Member

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    KD is a stud. He’s still better than Bosh.
     
  16. glimmertwins

    glimmertwins Member

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    Come on guys - he is clearly has a floor as a switchable defensive minded version of Rashard Lewis - his ceiling is probably a switchable defensive minded Khris Middleton. Both of those comps are very valuable players…but stop with the Durant comps - that’s not serious.
     
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  17. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Potential DUDES on the Rockets.

    1. Bari
    2. Whitmore
    3. Thompson

    DD
     
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  18. ThatBoyNick

    ThatBoyNick Member

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    It's crazy how much better the tattoos made him
     
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  19. Tuckmose

    Tuckmose Member

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    I'm watching his highlights from his rookie year and college, it's remarkable how much lower he plays nowadays. At 6' 10", he could get away with being a stiff against college talent. Didn't think I'd see such improvement on something like flexability in a year but color me shocked.
     
  20. JayGoogle

    JayGoogle Member

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    Even if he had creator skills though the ball isn't swinging to him. He has to make the most out of every opportunity and that is not easily mentally for a player.

    I think people often just forget the mental aspect of the game. Green on PG13s podcast talked about how at the start of his rookie season he started doubting if he was even good enough to play in the NBA. Why is that? WEll yeah, Silas had him standing around watching plays develop without him and every time he did get his moment he had to try extra hard to prove himself.

    You know how it is in garbage time where there is always that one guy out there you can tell is trying far too hard to prove he deserves minutes? That's how it is for a player not getting plays, especially if its a player thats drafted to score the ball some. I don't think Durant is exempt from that.

    I think 100% Zion looked bad yesterday because they ran nothing for him for whatever reason. Zion can create, Zion can drop 25 a night if he just stayed healthy, and Zion can look like a role player if the coach decides they aren't running plays for him.

    I'm not saying that Jabari would have looked exactly how he is right now if they just had run plays for him, he did work on his game a lot, but I bet his three point shot would have fell a lot more if they were specifically running plays to get him open threes. Instead, he was getting broken plays and scraps and told to make the most of it and he was a rookie already trying to adjust to the NBA level. No wonder all our rookies looked terrible. Their confidence gets so low that we had one, Green, thinking for half of his rookie season that he wasn't good enough to play in the NBA.

    Thankfully Silas is gone. He can't hurt us anymore.
     
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