Jabari Smith Jr. is the Rockets' franchise player

I’ve been a big proponent of being patient with our young guys, but it is too early to proclaim victory for Jabari, just like it was too early for that stupid Jalen apology thread. We need more consistency out of both of these players. I think Jabari’s improvement from year 1 to year 2 make me more optimistic in him delivering a consistently good product than Jalen, but Jalen still has potential working for him. His leash got longer with the extension and his ceiling is higher.

 

I've been watching this guy lately, trying to figure out what's working or not working for him. My latest thought: Does he shoot better when he starts out the game trying to be more aggressive/assertive in other ways? (driving, creating, bodying, rebounding) i.e., the better shooting is more a consequence than a cause of doing other things well? It looked that way in the Indy game. Would be curious to hear what y'all think or have noticed.

 

There seems to be a switch in his head. That switch is on sometimes and off sometimes, and the difference is like two completely different players.

A lot of people write him off as too clumsy or not athletic or low IQ etc. I think his challenge is not physical ability or skills but how to keep that switch on all the time.

 

yea he definitely seems like one of those players who gets his head in the game the more he is involved on offense, and less focus/effort if he feels like he is being neglected.

not a knock on jalen per se, but his iso ball tendencies need to be minimized (he is not even efficient at it in the first place). i don't think it's a coincidence that with more focus of the offense to run through alpi in the past handful of games, jabari is starting to slowly get back into form.

 

I wish I could microwave Reed Sheppard into a 3rd year pro because he's exactly what the starting unit needs. Moreso than Fred who chucks almost as much as Jalen.

 

He’s definitely not dumb. In fact, he plays much more like an overthinker. You can see him second-guessing himself.

What he lacks is a will to dominate. I wish I could transplant half of Cam’s willpower to Jabari, and half of Jabari’s brains to Cam.

 

So maybe he needs to turn OFF that switch in his head to be a dominant player.

 

I hope you're re-considering your beta tag on him.

Shooters need shots. The board has a tradition of ******** on cold shooters sitting in the corner and discounting the importance of the team's confidence in the shooter. Ryno was the prime example - an objectively excellent shooter going cold. If you let Kyle Korver keep getting cold and constantly wave him off, his shot will get less efficient eventually. If it happens to a Kyle Korver, it will certainly happen to a Jabari Smith. Shooters feed on their own and their teammates confidence. You have to treat them like they'll make the next one. He or his teammates can't sigh when he misses a couple.

I think another underrated factor is competition. Brooks, Tari and Amen are making it very clear that if Jabari doesn't step up, he will lose his starting spot. I wouldn't be surprised if Udoka indicated to him that he's close to losing his spot. We're no longer in early phase 2. The best players will be starting by the end of this season regardless of age or draft position.

Finally, he seems to play better when we play fast.

 

In the early part of the Indiana game, Smith's aggressive moves and drives came against Johnny Furphy, a 6-9 rookie forward. Smith even shoved Furphy out of the way to get a rebound, something players used to do against him a ton in his rookie year.

Smith now takes advantage when he gets the obvious mismatches in size and experience, which is smart basketball.

 

I think Jabari’s performance is mostly predicated by confidence. Getting him an early slam should be a priority for Ime. When Jabari plays confidently, he is a very good player and very complimentary to our other starters. Jabari has been consistently aggressive on defense and rebounding all year, but he needs to see the ball go in to get his offensive mojo. By the way, he is 21 years old and lack of confidence is pretty common at that age. Patience is key with these young guys and advocates for overreacting to bad stretches by any of our youngsters is ill-conceived fandom and why you are not seeing Ime react to it.

 

Many good points, thanks. I'm laughing about the waved-off point because I was in a game last night with a guy who decided long ago that he doesn't trust my shot and won't throw me the ball. Yes, the distrust is demoralizing and self-fulfilling. There's another guy who throws me the ball regardless, as a challenge, and I generally shoot my best for him.

With Jabari, I'm getting the impression that pressure is corrosive to him, including the pressure of starting off the game with spot-up 3s. It looks to me, especially from the last couple of games, like he shoots much easier if he starts with the short stuff, the finishes and 10-footers. This goes to your point about playing fast. And Udoka seems to get it, judging by some plays they ran for him to start off the game.

 

seems forcing Jabari to have the diet of 8-10 shots and praying he's efficient is really a fools errand. give him Dillon Brooks's 5 chucks extra a game.

only thing i'm concerned about is Jabari playing too well to make it hard to re-sign. he was kinda playing himself into a crazy team friendly deal..

 

Right, we've all experienced that. Our job is to not let it affect us, but with something so intangible (confidence) it can get tricky. There's some magic to being a shooter.

I think he's fine with pressure. I really don't think it's in-game pressure bugging him. It's the idea of being a role player in the NBA that is crushing him mentally if I had to guess. Very hard to achieve consistent motivation when you're always wishing to be something or somewhere else.

Unfortunately for Bari his path to stardom - if there is one - comes through acceptance of being a role player first. That doesn't mean just going through the motions. That means believing: "I love my role, I love starting in this exact role, I love what I can do, I love the shots I'm getting". Once that's humming, he can work on his game in the bat cave and take a swing at surprising people.

I think Einstein said if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it's always going to feel stupid. Jabari feels stupid right now for no reason other than he's judging himself as though he's Jayson Tatum.

 

I’m not sure what kind of gotcha you think this is but he is playing exactly like the “elite role player” ceiling that I said about him. Every shot he takes is created by the actual stars on this team, I’m very happy that he’s starting to make them!

 

You are not going to be able to find a single other fan r****ded enough to think Jabari is some star in the making, so you are going to have to drive that train by your lonesome