It is sometimes hard to tell If the difficulty in utilizing him is his own fault. But I generally agree, especially with Alperen out. Would be nice to get him in some more comfy spaces. He needs to go to the Duncan Robinson school of off-ball movement.
Now there's a player who's career I thought would've unfolded differently. If he was drafted by anyone besides the Kings, maybe it would have
As long as you ignore actually winning games, sure.... But off the top of my head, he wasn't a more impactful rookie than: - Bill Russell, who led his team to a title - Wilt, who won MVP with a 38/27 avg (blocks and steals weren't tracked then) - Bird, who finished 4th in MVP voting and led his team to 32 more wins and the conf finals - Oscar Robertson, who finished 5th in MVP voting and avg 31/10/10 (rounding up) and led his team to 14 more wins - Cap, who avg 28/14/4, finished 3rd in MVP voting and led his team to 29 more wins
His game isn't complete....but, this is what I know he does well...he can rebound like hell, play defense very well (ask people who really know basketball) and he can score as well (usually around 45% shooting on 10-12 shots a game..regardless of lineup. That's what he gets (tonight 5/11) as a rule. Unfortunately, he has to INSERT himself a large amount of the time to be "involved" in the offense. Kick outs to him are almost nonexistent. I think he had like 3 shots at half. (0-3...but not sure)... He ended with 11...so, he made 5 of his next 8 if my math is correct. As Calvin Murphy has pointed out several times...when he doesn't get touches, he goes and gets the ball rebounding. He is a pretty damn good FT shooter as well. He is still developing and needs work on off ball movement. But, IMO he could help us more than he is right now if he were more involved in the offensive game plan. Oh, did I mention that he plays very high minutes almost every game...40 minutes, 41 minutes...tonight was only 33, but that's not normal for him. People see what they want to see. I look at WHOLE seasons on a player...at one time or another EVERY player has been taken to task and had their value questioned. I am glad we have a STILL DEVELOPING young core to build around. They are going to get better and so is the team. PATIENCE....what's that song ? Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone.
I'm not so sure about these parts. It seems to me that his lack of explosion at the rim and lack of creativity in any situation that isn't a mid-post turnaround, or a pull-up three, is a detriment to him getting more shots. Sure, we can pretend that If we scale Jabari up to 20 shots a game, he would be dominating. But my guess is that Fred and Udoka have tried to scale him up, in practice and otherwise. Those guys aren't dummies and they want to win. They want as many efficient shots as possible. Right now, Jabari would wilt If you tried to feed him 20-25 shots. You could say the same for Aaron Holiday. His 10-12 shots are by design because of what he has shown he can handle. Maybe with an off-season of work, he can add more to his game, but right now he is fairly rudimentary. Super easy player to scout. Does not make his teammates better with the ball in his hands. Has very few counters, and very little creativity. This is not meant to be a knock on Jabari, but I think there are legitimate reasons why he has to stay in his lane on offense right now. Getting him up to go from 11 efficient FGA, to 14 or 15 FGA next year, would be HUGE for this offense.
When Jock played in the Australian NBL before making the NBA, he said his team was going to go through the season undefeated (they didn't lol). But that's what he thrives on, he needs that cocky confidence to get the most out of him.
I acknowledge your opinion. But, what you say is what you think...not what. you know. In the highest scoring games he's had....how many shots did he take ? More than 11, that's for sure. And the guys we have jacking up 16 shots + plus are barely hitting 30% ...Jalen 5 of 16 overall, 3 of 9. FVV 7 of 16 and 2 of 6. So, we have 2 players who have taken 32 shots and hit 12..... that's 37 % from ALL SHOTS. . So, to give him more shots may not be the downside you portray here. For this season, Bari is hitting 44.8% of his overall shots and 35.8 from 3. This is better than BOTH FVV and Jalen on overall % (Jalen 41.1 and 31.4 from 3) and better than FVV overall..41.2 % and slightly less than his 38.2 from 3. I mean shots are shots. Funny, he is shooting better overall than Dillon...43.5%...just don't see why he can't get more shots. And, he hits better from non 3. He can create a shot. It's not his forte but he can.
No Coincidence that both Udoker and the Celtics are rolling at this moment. Wished they would play against each other in the Finals this year already.
I am not saying that giving Jabari more shots is a negative. I am saying that the type of shots that he is currently able to shoot is limited. Therefore, the effort it takes to “get Jabari shots” can come at the expense of other aspects of the offense. It isn’t as simple as, “Hey this guys has a higher FG%! Let’s get him 20 shots!” Aaron Holiday, for instance, is shooting 45-41-89 splits right now. 11.6 FGA Per36. There are damn good reasons why he does not shoot more.
First...FWIW...Jabari had 18 shots in ONE game....otherwise tops is 15 in I believe 4 games , 14 in 3 or 4. In all those 5 games, he scored more than 18 pts. The 18 shots was the 41 pt. Atlanta game. So, we are definitely not talking about him taking 20 shots a game..that a huge exaggeration.He can shoot the 3, he can pull up inside the paint, he can score off PNR. True, his handles aren't what they need to be. But, when you have Jalen or FVV draw the defense inside, you can kick the ball out...not just to Bari either. He CAN shoot the 3...he shoots it better than Jalen. I didn't say let's get him more shots...did NOT say 20...said he shoots 10-12 a game...he could get 3-4 more a game and not come at the expense of other aspects of the offense IMO. That doesn't have to be true. But, I don't think we are going to agree that giving Bari 3-4 more shots a game is going to be harmful to our offense. Holiday is an off the bench guy that normally doesn't factor into the offense to any noticeable degree.
I would have been okay with winning 30 games this season. Less progress than I would have hoped for, but still some nonetheless. Being on pace for 38 wins is most certainly progress. We've had our ups and downs this season, but are well positioned for the future. I like watching Amen and Cam play, I think we nailed those picks. Adding Tari and Adams next season is going to be a treat.
