40% from 3????????? Are you on crack cocaine or not watched the last two years of Rockets basketball!!!
I think I have come around on Jalen, it is all mental, if he lost his athleticism, he could still be a bench scorer but he has to become humble and willing to come off the bench. Right now he is too arrogant but rightfully he is talented, not the right mindset for later.
Not many but Tmac did indeed peak at 22-23. And Kobe was really good at 23 and when he was 29 he got a little better, so his peak just lasted.
Year 3 is critical. I like the kid, but if he is to be a high-impact/star player, this is the year to show it. After yr3 we’re entering "hopes for a later bloomer" territory…
Your premise was "Tari only shoots better because he never plays" which is demonstrably false. One more time: Jabari Smith Jr 22-23 games played - 79 - 3p% - 30.7% Tari Eason 22-23 games played - 82 - 3p% - 34.3% Are you trying to look this foolish?
He shot 36.3% which was below the league average of 36.6%. EDIT: I just noticed that you replied to me the other day and cited the same 38% there too. So I would just suggest that when you're discussing something objective like shooting percentages, it helps to actually look at them.
We are talking reality here and deep down every person on this board knows Bari ain’t hitting 40% threes. This is year 3 and if he averages 13-14 points again he will be considered a bust. We all thought he was a lock for the first pick, so the expectations are a bit higher (as they should be) on him than for the average player. Blanchero and Chad have lived up to their slots, in year 3 there’s nothing wrong with wanting to see a 16+ points per game Smith….13 just ain’t hacking it.
I expected little from PB. I was wrong. I expect Bari to be(come) a superstar role player. How much does that translate to on a contract, 4/75?
The implication of him being an off ball player is he is no longer high volume in that scenario and also that his efficiency increases if he is finishing possessions off ball rather than creating on ball. That's literally the thought experiment I'm suggesting but to really spell it out... Rip Hamilton and James Harden are both SGs but HOW they got their points was very different. I'm not saying Jalen Green will ever be Rip Hamilton but the idea is to move him more that direction instead of encouraging the Harden iso game that we asked Jalen to do since his rookie year. That's why I was encouraged by what appeared to be a deliberate attempt in the preseason game to use Jalen systematically as an off ball finisher now that Adams is actually able to set screens that give players advantages rolling to the rim. That wasn't just Green finding a spot in the defensive scramble and hitting a kick out, that appeared to be a new wrinkle to our offense and particularly where and how we use Jalen to apply pressure to defenses. It was encouraging because "rhythm shooter Jalen" then hit 3 more right after that (mostly easy step in 3s) before again assuming the role of isolation scorer and seeing more mixed results.
How many plays have you ever seen trying to get Bari shots? At best he gets a couple of low block ISOs a game and generally doesn't do much with those(unless he has a mismatch) and has to kick them out. I agree we would like to see more from him but the offense in the last two years has utilized Bari as a 4th or 5th option at best. 13 points is about all we can expect from a guy who gets maybe 2 or 3 deliberate touches a game and otherwise is just trying to find space to finish plays when the ball finds him. We are still trying to make sense of what the offense is in Houston so I don't think this is totally egregious - last year was about putting the ball in Sengun's hands more than Jalens(only to have Jalen go supernova when Sengun went down). One game in, this year already feels like we are trying to incorporate better advantages from high screens to get mismatches. I would like to see us play more with down screens to get Bari a chance at hitting 3s off the screens or at least give him that height mismatch so he can take that midrange jumper but the priority as an org is to understand what our bread and butter offense is first before we can start to find ways to make our 4th and 5th options more effective.
I'd be really surprised to see Jabari get to 40% but I think it's possible. I don't think it's a requirement for him to be good, though, 40% and 38% aren't all that different. There are a lot of other areas I'd rather see him improve than a 2-3 percentage point bump on his 3s.
For Jalen to be a star, he has to be a ball-dominant high volume scorer. If he can't reach that level, I agree that he has to greatly reduce his touches. I am not sure if he is willing or capable to play that role. Jalen is not a terrible shooter. Just not great. I doubt that he will ever be a useful spot up role player. His strength is creating with his twitchy speed. We may try to use him more int he Amen mold, namely, cutting to the dunker spot. That would require certain degree of recognition. I've been hoping both Jalen and Jabari to do more of that. Apparently they don't have that feel of when to cut. (Ironically, KJ Martin, as limited as he was, had that kind of instinct.) I keep telling myself (and other people) that we should forget about his #2 draft position. We should be satisfied if he can become a useful player. The same can be said about Jabari. But for Jalen, I am worried that his only path to usefulness is to be a star scorer.
It really makes no sense to continue this argument if you don't understand that one guy shooting 500 more shots would affect his shooting % and I'm not the one to go for you clearly moving the goalpost since you brought up career stats and now only want to talk about rookie stats. I don't think I'm the one trying to look foolish here lol.
I just saw this man shoot a fadeaway against Shai and get embarrassingly stuffed. damn near 7 feet tall and fading against a 6'5 guy and being so unathletic that his size can't make up for it even on a jumpshot.
