When I was a teenager, I bought a Landry jersey, made my way down to the court entrance during shootaround, and he literally took my Sharpie, looked at me, handed it back and left without signing. Screw Jabari Smith. We need to trade him ASAP if he is going to act like that.
I agree he’s been underwhelming through 3 seasons and we need more from him, but he is shooting 38% from 3 and playing good defense. Carl Landry never approached that.
I think this is a reasonable comp, and a taller/better rebounding/better shotblocking Ariza is a great roleplayer. People just have some weird preconceptions about what a #3 pick is "supposed" to be and are allowing their disappointment to cloud their judgment. He's a 4th/5th starter on a contending team and his contract is comparable to what most of those guys get paid, if not actually cheaper in some cases. I mean, look at Bridges and Anunoby getting damn near the max for the Knicks.
agreed but I disagree about Landry’s jump shot. he was automatic from 15 feet. Scola too but out to 20-22 feet
Confused. So from your premise, the Rockets are overpaying for Jabari, right? Wouldn't that make him a "Rich Man's Landry"? Jabari has flexibility to play 2,3,4,or 5. Landry was a pure 4, and an undersized 4 at that. I loved Landry as the guy over performed in his role. In your comparison, your take is that Jabari is under performing in his role. I don't see the comp to Carl Landry in any capacity. If you don't like Jabari, that's fine. It's not a controversial take to say that as a #3 pick, Jabri has underwhelmed. But c'mon, BE BETTER.
Jabari is more important to this team than Banchero is to his. Anybody not seeing big time improvement from Jabari this year is blinded by their preconceptions. Draft order is irrelevant once the pick is made. Carl was good for a few years who cares where he was drafted. In virtually every draft you can find someone below the third pick that turns out to be better at some point in their career. You had to put the per minute basis, because Jabari starts and plays way more minutes. The three things the Rockets need him to do is rebound, play defense, and shoot 3’s. Carl Landry is a career 30% 3 pt shooter. Jabari has been one of the best rebounding PFs in the league the last 2 years. His defense is key to how the Rockets play defense.
I wonder what goes on in this guy's head between threads where everyone makes it abundantly clear he is hilariously bad at analyzing stats but he then repeats the exact same behavior regardless. Does he think all the other threads go the same way? Does he think we're faking it because we're jealous of what he's discovered? Is this all just really bad satire? Does he just like the attention? I wish I understood what this guy is thinking. It's truly difficult to be this wrong this consistently about such a large variety of players while intending to be a stats based guy.
ChatGPT says Jabari is.... Best case: Rashard Lewis offense + Jaren Jackson Jr. defense. Realistic: Michael Porter Jr.-style scoring with Al Horford’s defensive IQ. Worst case: Marvin Williams / Cam Johnson tier role player.
I'm sure @JCDenton is also upset that Stone is paying Jabari more in one season than the team paid All-Star and Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy over his entire career!
