Jabari played the way people thought Wemby would play, imagine ESPN right now if Wemby would have hit a game winning three....
Last night we saw both the good and the bad of Jabari. He was complete trash in the first half and his shot was on fire in the second half.....but he still ended the game with a negative plus/minus mostly due to how bad he was in the first half plus the defensive lapses he kept making all game long. The hope is that he can do something about the inconsistency and grow into a quality role player but he's gotta keep working at it.
with him being a rhythm type of guy I would expect his first half to go like that since he hasn’t played in 3 months.
Jabari is still really young don't think people realize you can't just put weight on over night at his frame. It will take 3-4 years of slow progression each off season if you want to do it correctly.
FVV and Amen running the offense instead of KPJ is going to be make a huge difference in shot quality for Jabari.
It looks as if he’s more effective as a jumbo wing or SF as opposed to a C/PF His length defensively on the perimeter is disruptive
I don't think it was that, I think it's that after a disappointing rookie season he had a lot of pressure to come out and try to change the narrative about him. I think the nerves got to him in the first half, but he got over them in the second half after seeing a few shots go down.
I view the position thing as extremely fluid. Tari, Brooks, Bari, and probably Cam, KPJ, and Amen will all get minutes at SF. Sengun, Bari, Tari, and maybe Brooks will see minutes at PF. Sengun and Bari will get minutes at Center.
Jabari is more limited than many folks realized when we drafted him, but he’s got the desire to be great and the worker mentality/competitive spirit you can’t teach. If he builds his upper body strength and masters the mid-range, he’ll get a lot better. That upper-body strength will help him finish at the rim, which he’s terrible at right now. Longer-term you hope he can extend that shooting range. The defense has a long way to go, but I expect him to get a lot better this year under the tutelage of Ime. I have to keep reminding myself, he was just a baby last year thrown into the deep end of the pool. It takes bigs longer. I think he’s gonna end up being a high end complimentary player, but I’m confident he’s gonna end up being a really good player. It’s just gonna take some time.
I have the view he looks better with better players around him. All star role player who can be elite defensively.
I will have to agree. I thought it would be a long night when he missed his first two FTs and looked invisible on offense. But he turned in 14-17 at the line with flashes of steady D...and the game-winner. Keep working, young man. We believe in you.
I still think Rashad Lewis with elite D. But to be honest I cant remember Lewis apart from on offence because of Dwight .
That second half was special. This Jabari could be the guy who finishes close games. He was getting buckets, drawing fouls, and being clutch as hell on both ends of the court. Not gonna pretend like that first half didn't have me a bit worried but that second half was redemption, hopefully his second season will be in the same vein.
