1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Jabari Smith Jr.

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by austinite, Apr 25, 2023.

  1. Plowman

    Plowman Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 1999
    Messages:
    13,100
    Likes Received:
    14,838
    Jabari & Amen are going to lead our defense for a long time.

    Also, Jabari should put up at least 22 & 11 while shooting 40 in the coming years.

    I'm confident these two guys aren't going anywhere and these things will happen.

    There's a lot of top end talent here....we're just young.
     
    AuburnRocket, Moe, Sonicbun8 and 3 others like this.
  2. peleincubus

    peleincubus Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2002
    Messages:
    26,717
    Likes Received:
    14,997
    Yes sir indeed!
     
    AuburnRocket and Plowman like this.
  3. glimmertwins

    glimmertwins Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    Messages:
    6,840
    Likes Received:
    5,521
    Let me spell it out for you a bit. I'm pushing back on your narrative on Jabari to make a case for some things I don't agree with your assessment about Jabari - I'm making a case for the individual trees that make up Jabari if you will. I think your assessments are overly critical and doesn't factor in his age(he's still younger than rookie Klay for reference) or the fact he spent a year with a franchise with their hands off the wheel letting Silas babysit and lacking adequate leadership for Jalen, Alpi, Tari, and Bari so they could make an attempt at drafting Wemby. Then I come back and say all that said, I agree that Jabari is a role player(the forest, champ) and I point back to Klay as an example of a role player who can be useful on a team and even an all star in the right context. I'm not saying Jabari is Klay, I'm saying Klay isn't an all star if he isn't playing with that Warriors team and that Warriors team isn't winning titles year after year. I'm making a case that a player in the right situation can be very valuable on a team as a role player and to elaborate, a big who can shoot 3s and switch to guards defensively is particularly valuable to a team that let's say wants to build around a player who struggles guarding on the perimeter and has limited range.

    Jabari doesn't have to be a legit top x player to be a useful player on this team - he is going to be good enough at enough things that he will be a valuable role player. At no point in anything that I said here did I ever imply that he was going to be elite - in fact I plainly stated he was going to be a role player. As you said in the places I highlighted above you were speaking to other posters in your response while trying to scold me. It's no wonder your point never landed because you weren't even really speaking to me....and then you dare to clap back at me for pointing out your negligence in reading my points, your negligence in responding to poster you were actually speaking to - and you even have the nerve to imply I'm the one being lazy here when you are inserting terms like "elite role player" into my post when I don't even know what an "elite role player" is - there are elite players and there are role players and I said what I said about Jabari.

    Look in the mirror - you are the problem here.
     
    Sonicbun8, Easy and MystikArkitect like this.
  4. peleincubus

    peleincubus Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2002
    Messages:
    26,717
    Likes Received:
    14,997
    You also didnt mention that posters that want to get all of these "better" and/or "great" players. How are you supposed to pay all of these hypothetical guys?

    "Jabari can't create a shot or for others" How many of these better and great players that need the ball in their hands do you need on a team? Again how are you supposed to pay them all? It seems quite short sighted in regards to team building. In my opinion Jabari and Tari are both winning players that fit with other players that have high usage. Again just my opinion.
     
    Little Bit, glimmertwins and Easy like this.
  5. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2009
    Messages:
    25,752
    Likes Received:
    17,667
    Stop pairing up Tari with Jabari. Why do people on here keep doing that? Tari is the real deal, Jabari is not
     
    AroundTheWorld and subtomic like this.
  6. Houston77

    Houston77 COOKIES AND CAKE, MY TEAM BAKED!
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2018
    Messages:
    7,659
    Likes Received:
    19,183
    What has Tari done to prove he’s “the real deal?” Was it all the games he missed last season? Or the terrible .52 TS% he’s averaged over his first two seasons? Perhaps his awful FT% last season?
     
    AuburnRocket and Sonicbun8 like this.
  7. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2002
    Messages:
    38,082
    Likes Received:
    29,504
    Jabari has a high floor. The height of his ceiling is debatable.

    The two strengths that he has, namely, defense and shooting (and solid rebounding), are needed by every team. And since he doesn't need the ball in his hands, he can fit in pretty much any system. If he is "just" a role player, he is the kind of role player every team wants and most championship teams have at least one in their core.
     
  8. JayGoogle

    JayGoogle Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2007
    Messages:
    52,177
    Likes Received:
    44,900
    Bro, I love Tari but he barely even plays.
     
  9. OremLK

    OremLK Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2010
    Messages:
    20,071
    Likes Received:
    17,684
    Don't know if I see Bari averaging 22 or whatever. I basically see him as MPJ with better defense and rebounding. He can probably be a high-end, quality starter in the league for a long time, but I don't see the athleticism or mindset of a star player.
     
    Y2JT and subtomic like this.
  10. jim1961

    jim1961 Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2010
    Messages:
    18,457
    Likes Received:
    14,665
    That should change this coming season. He was hurt a good part of last year.
     
  11. peleincubus

    peleincubus Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2002
    Messages:
    26,717
    Likes Received:
    14,997
    I said it in the post. I think they are both winning players that fit well with other ball dominant players. While also hopefully fitting into the salary structure of the new cba.

    I guess sue me.
     
    jim1961 and glimmertwins like this.
  12. mac_got_this

    mac_got_this Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2007
    Messages:
    11,238
    Likes Received:
    9,659
    MPJ offense is light years ahead of Jabari
     
    daywalker02 likes this.
  13. glimmertwins

    glimmertwins Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2006
    Messages:
    6,840
    Likes Received:
    5,521
    The context is that neither player needs the ball in their hands to be productive on the court and if the prevailing discussion on the board is "does the ball go through Jalen or Sengun?" the reality of team building is you need to surround whomever your ball dominant guy is with complementary players and Tari and Bari are both such players because they can be threats off ball and they add value defensively.

    Amen is likely in a similar role as well(especially with his defense) although the really bad shooting makes that a lot more debatable because right now his only off ball value is from the dunkers spot which is a less valuable skill unless he is able to hit the offensive glass exceptionally well(which he is surprisingly good at for a Guard)
     
  14. OremLK

    OremLK Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2010
    Messages:
    20,071
    Likes Received:
    17,684
    I'm talking future ceiling if he keeps improving
     
    Mathloom likes this.
  15. mac_got_this

    mac_got_this Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2007
    Messages:
    11,238
    Likes Received:
    9,659
    He will never reach that ceiling. Him and MPJ have two distinct different skill sets. Jabari will never have the coordination and ball handling skills that that MPJ naturally has. It’s just a bad comp, imo.
     
    daywalker02 and subtomic like this.
  16. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2006
    Messages:
    98,878
    Likes Received:
    48,799
    He has to break out this or next year otherwise he would be typecast as 3 and D role player and no plays run for him forever.

    Barring any trades to worse teams.

     
  17. fchowd0311

    fchowd0311 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    55,682
    Likes Received:
    43,473
    People forget that MPJ was drafted as a ball handling wing. He definitely narrowed his role when he joined the NBA especially due to Jokic but MPJ has far more wing/guard skills than Jabari.

    I think Jabari will be a better defender than MPJ is now but probably not as good of an offensive player. Unless he gets much better at the rim. That's honestly his main weakness scoring wise given his length and decent mobility. I'm pretty confident Jabari will be at the very least a decent mid range shooter and a good three point shooter for his career but that might not be enough to reach a MPJ level offensive player. If he becomes an ELITE three point shooter like top 5-10 shooter in the league then ya.
     
  18. Houston77

    Houston77 COOKIES AND CAKE, MY TEAM BAKED!
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2018
    Messages:
    7,659
    Likes Received:
    19,183
    Meh, I think people are overrating MPJ’s offensive game, and I’m a MPJ fan. At 25, MPJ averaged 16.7 points on .6 TS%. At 20 Bari averaged 13.7 points on a .57 TS%. People think it’s a stretch to think Bari will average 17+ points on slightly better efficiency in 5 years? MPJ didn’t even play at 20 yrs old, and averaged 9 points at 21. Again, I think people forget just how young Bari is at the moment.
     
  19. xtruroyaltyx

    xtruroyaltyx Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2011
    Messages:
    12,460
    Likes Received:
    15,888


    Jabari is focused and about to have a breakout year.
     
    Mathloom and clutchdabear like this.
  20. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 1999
    Messages:
    128,543
    Likes Received:
    38,771
    Jabari is a slightly better Robert Horry, IMHO......

    And that ain't bad !

    DD
     
    mac_got_this likes this.

Share This Page