Almost reminds me of how rookie Yao would rise up strong just to drop the ball through the hoop instead of yamming it in.
A player with his character and attitude is not going to fail and they are almost always going to outpace their peers' development for years. His defense is improving rapidly. His 3pt shot is stabilizing. Once those things are locked in, improvements in other areas will start appearing. Essentially a Klay Thompson on the outside, Durant-like on the inside of the arc, better defense than any of those two inside or outside, plus a good shotblocker and rebounder. Keep sleeping on him, you will regret it.
those are all not per game, so playing time and number of games played plays a role. That being said he is a lot better at blocking shots than I thought and his rebounding is better than I feared as well. We all know he needs to put on strength but I don’t think that will be a problem. if his recent shooting percentages keep up, he is about the player I expected and hoped for. He was always projected as a complimentary player - we are already seeing lanes open up because opponents don’t help off of him, and we seem him hit his threes and be a good defender. Now he needs to develope a step back or fadeaway and be more comfortable driving to the basket.
After Banchero and maybe with the injury of Chet the draft class has not lived up to the hype. It could still end up being a decent or good one.
Jabari is hitting 41% from 3pt range and 87.5% on FT's his last 8 games. 6 of 10 3pters on the road back to back with Denver. I think he's adjusted to NBA range now. Defense keeps improving. Chemistry with Jalen and Sengun improving too. These kids are improving really fast.
A 7 foot Klay Thompson is a good metric to try and achieve. The guy just by his nature almost always plays the scheme and within the system which speaks to how he was coached early in his life vs his teammates who had more of an AAU upbringing. You see it also in KJ who like Jabari had an oldschool NBA father that worked with him growing up and I think it’s not accident in what we see on the court now in their 1st and 2nd years. That being said, I do think Jabari has some serious work that needs to be done in offseasons to try and develop more fluidity in his NBA athleticism if he wants to be more of a star player. He’s a little bit stiff is what I’m saying, but it’s 2022 and there’s some seriously good trainers out there who have done more with less. But unless he has injury issues (knocks wood) this guy is going to be an NBA starter the rest of his career. He has what every competitive team believes they need as the key to unlocking their star playmakers game.
from the tweet Jabari Smith in November (in 29.4 mpg): 11.5 points (.374/.351/.833) I don't find Jalen Williams numbers super impressive either. I think it woudl be OK if the west had no rookie of the month.
Jabari isn't rookie of the month. Jalen and Mathurin are Jalen had a number of good games this past month. He deserved it
He has definitely turned the 1st corner. Unfortunately he is still being ignored much of the time. Regardless, he is hitting his shots and still moving the ball while hustling on D. He realizes the negative, but isn't letting it consume him. Gonna be good.
Bari needs minimum 15 shots a game. Jalen 18-20. Sengun needs a touch on offense every time down the floor. Everyone else can kick rocks.
