Keegan also had an efficient 23 & 11 as a fourth option, all while playing the role of Swiss army knife defender that everyone got fooled into thinking Jabari was going to be. It's just one game, obviously. But this is year 3 of full-time starting for all of these guys, except Chet. It's okay to expect some damn consistency -- and I don't mean consistently bad.
Full time starting an 18 year old has gone badly in like 99% of instances in NBA history. Just because they started him doesn't mean he actually had the ability to do it well. They wanted to lose. They played a bunch of kids because they believed that would maximize our losses. Really this should be just his second season starting. He's doing great when you see the full context. Even if he's a year late that's no big deal in a player's career. Everyone's development stalled in the Silas years, you're probably just realizing it now. Sengun, Jabari, Tari and Green improved for the first few months they played starter minutes. Did not improve again till Udoka had 3-4 months with them. Three of our picks essentially got waived/dumped. Three of them were 18 when they got drafted, younger than many prospects in the subsequent draft. It doesn't usually just pop at this age. Maybe this season but most likely next. Just delete his rookie season from your memory and it will all make sense. You're talking about just a one year delay, big deal.
Chet with 25/14/5/4 blks If he makes the jump this year, there isn't anyone that is going to stop the Thunder. Whats annoying about Bari is that it's his awareness that's the issue. He just kinda disappears which Chet never does. Banchero - 33/11/3 Ivey - 17/5/4 Murray - 23/11/2
The issue with Bari here is that I was about to use the excuse of too many mouths to feed for Bari to have any semblance of usage to generate the volume these guys are getting but then I remember that Murray is on a very deep team of many different offensive options and even on the Pistons, there are many mouths to feed in terms of player development of high draft picks. Even Chet theoretically would have issues with usage on a team as deep as the Thunder but his offensive game is so fluid and alien like with his combo of length and agility that he demands the usage. Quite frankly I don't know how Bari was ever considered a number one overall pick level talent by some draft experts.
Keegan was a role player who looked worse than Bari when he was Jabari's current age. Let's not forget that little part. And Keegan never had to play on an AAU team. That Iowa team ran a pretty offense with tons of spacing when he finally broke out after 3 years in the system. Jabari hasn't played 3 years in ANY system in career. I think Keegan is a good player for sure, but writing Jabari off when he's shooting the ball pretty well just feels weird. Jabari is a decent defender too, and all this talk about how mentally weak he is... I remember him at the Finals sounding REALLY hard on himself when he asked Tatum essentially how he could improve to meet expectations. Add to that some of the clutch shots he's hit as a kid on this team, and I think everyone is jumping the gun a bit. What's the obsession with being fast to write off young players in NBA discourse? Is there some special prize for people who immediately know someone is a bust? With how much people flip flop every other game, I don't care who called what. I don't take anyone's analysis that seriously, especially when we're talking about the potential of someone who could still be in college.
From my recollection, the vast majority of draft experts had him #1. I remember the shock when Paolo went first. So strange in retrospect.
Ya and to be clear my point isn't that Bari won't be a good NBA player with a long productive career. I just don't see how he ever was considered a number 1 overall level talent. He never had any standout traits. He had solid traits. Traits definitely deserving of being drafted in the first round absolutely. But number one overall?
I don't buy the whole not enough shots for Bari theory. The reason why he has low attempts is because he's not confident enough nor talented enough to take shots outside of his comfort zone. He's a spot up shooter and someone who is comfortable grabbing the board and shooting a pull up(which I hate). Other than that, where else can he shoot? He's not a lob threat, he fades away against point guards in the post because he's weak and uncomfortable. He's not a menace on the boards to get put backs like Sengun, Tari or Steven Adams. We're not the 2017 Warriors, shots are there, it's up to him to either make that effort or get better. I just think dude is comfortable. His role is set, no one plays his role that can challenge him. He's in the lineup because of convenience and to open up the lane for Jalen and Sengun.
I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt but I haven't seen anything improve on his game since rookie year. He came in supposedly being a deadly shooter. I honestly trust Amen to hit an open 3 more than Jabari right now... that's really sad. Get him a sports psychologist and a high calorie diet. He's already slow so might as well bulk up so he can post-up Tre Mann on the block.
He is just not the best athlete, and he really doesn't fit in this 4 flat 1 out offense we run, other than sitting in the corner. If we ran a more structured system I think he would do better, here, he is probably limited to around 15ppg and 7 boards......good role player numbers. DD
Getting the third pick in the 2022 draft will haunt us for years to come, assuming we would have picked Paolo or Chet if we had the first or second pick.
I remember Jabari Smith being salty after being projected going #1 for 99% or the pre draft projections, to falling to #3. Theoretically Jabari was the perfect fit next to Sengue, a stretch 4 with potentially a 40% 3 point shot. I never anticipated he’d see shooting the ball as his Achilles heel. The man is adverse to taking open shots. It’s still early, but there is a certain aggression elite players have to make things happen. The lone positive is that no way Jabari is vying for a max level contract extension next year.
He just tries to does too much. Ime gives these players to much free rein on offense. Jabari won’t become the players he’s suppose to be with is. He’ll get traded or leave and the. Scone the best version of himself. If D’Antoni was our coach, or Hard was still here , or even Morey, Jabari’s role would be carved out because neither of them three would go for the stuff he’s trying to do
My hopes for him were high mainly because I trusted @Clutch's enthusiasm for him. I hope @Clutch turns out to be right in the longer run.
He's 6 months younger than Banchero, 10 months younger than Chet (who didn't even have a rookie season) - you're going to start giving him the USman Garuba @Mathloom kiss of death and he's going to be out of the league soon. Here's the deal - most of us don't care about Jabari Smith's career so much as they want the Rockets to - at least make the playoffs - once in this decade? If we were dealing with some athletic freak specimen who needed time to learn the game like Giannis (all star at age 22) ok maybe. But it's Jabari Smith, he's not.
