Early highlights from the US National Team vs Select Lebron takes Jabari to the rim. Overall, I think the Select Team is a little stunned.
Jabari having problems bringing the ball up the court in this clip, but then he's got Ant guarding him and I don't really want him bringing the ball up the court under pressure, anyway. lol. :
We need to stop making mountains out of small clips. Whatever Jabari will become is not going to be determined by analyzing these practices. It's the off-season. I get it. We have to talk about something.
Yeah, Smith doesn't look good in those highlights. It would have been good to see him make one of those consecutive 3-point attempts. But then again, that whole Select Team looks like a group of varsity athletes playing together after a few practices. And they going up against the modern version of the Dream Team.
I'm also positive that the people releasing clips will not show us the great highlights of the Select Team scoring on Team USA. That would be bad for PR. It's asking a lot of that group to come out and try to look presentable against a team of all-world players out of the gate. But tomorrow is a new day. I hope they all stay injury-free and Team USA finds some footing for the Olympics. There are some good teams out there, groups with considerable playing experience and talent.
Jabari is a bit of a robot. Which is good for defensive assignments and open jump shots, but bad for instinctually protecting the rim and creating openings for teammates/himself. It’s not so much his body as it his brain. There isn’t much in the bag. He needs to be an elite shooter to be more than a 6-11 Shane Battier/Joe Smith. I am mostly curious on Udoka’s thoughts on Jabari, because Udoka picked on Jabari for physicality all damn year. We need to see some progress from our young guys, or uncle Steven Adams is going to shove them into the lockers. (Does it look like Jabari has yearnings to be a SF? I was expecting him to be freaking jacked and huge by his 3rd year when he was drafted... Instead, we are seeing a lot of yoga...)
Interesting. I know there’s not a lot of defense played at these things but perhaps the biggest benefit Jabari will get from this is guarding some of the best players in the world and just understanding how they think. Maybe defensively is where he’ll benefit the most since I doubt he will get a lot of shots on this team. Always good to be around elite players. Really glad he got invited to this, it’s excellent summer training. Jabari needs to get back to basics. A good, steady improvement in 3PT shooting, strength and defense is a big step towards an extremely successful career. He’s not as far as he thinks and doesn’t need to get fancy with it. Become the 3PT shooter and defender you deserve to be and then start adding to your game after that.
Jabari has improved his handle a lot since his rookie year. He wants to have that game in which he can finish off the drive. There are times when he just looks a step slower than he should be, offensively and defensively. This experience should be great for him, seeing how the best in the world carry themselves and develop their craft.
I will be disappointed if Jabari hasn’t put on another 10 lbs of muscle. He needs to become a bully to meet his ceiling. He will always be valuable as a long and good perimeter defender, but he has to get more aggressive and have the body to impose his will. He does not have the quickness to be a great SF. He can be a great PF with the right mindset and requisite body.
Good news, guys. After Jabari missed those two open threes it looked like his career was over. However, after viewing the following footage, I now think he's back on an allstar path. Here he is dunking on Joel Embiid.
