Agree with you that FVV getting so many touches and dribbles on offense limits other players such as Green and maybe Smith. I’ve said this last year. The inconsistency and imbalance happens when they focus on either Sengun FVV 2 man game or let Green have the ball more to be primary playmaker. It’s like the game script constantly changes with no consistency. For the last several games it has been similar to what we saw last season with heavy dose of FVV Sengun 2 man game. This game they fed Smith in the post, cutting, and beyond the arc giving him rhythm and opportunity. On Cam, he was never ready to be part of the rotation much like Reed this year. Again he shot poorly since FEB or MAR going back last year thru SL and this season. He fooled y’all with the first couple weeks of dunks and threes.
Interesting to see Jabari be assertive in place of JG. Can you imagine how good this team would be If somehow Jabari’s elite jump shot showed up consistently? My goodness.
You are right, we all have slumps like this. I just think that there will be more to come, even if Bari’s current one is over. And as a professional 3rd pick overall nba player, I hope that he’s next slump period will be shorter. That’s all Last season I really liked the fact that Bari was pretty steady - you knew that he will give you the regular 12 pts 8 reb stat line, with solid defense. I guess I was a little frustrated that until last night he couldn’t even provide last season’s solid humble performances. I really hope that the slump is over for now.
I swear, with our benevolent overlord @Clutch as my witness, if Bari develops into a 20/10 all defense guy, @CXbby will never hear the end of it.
People need to relax when it comes to 20 year olds. Especially one with Jabari's specific traits. Can't get too high on em and can't get too low. But it wouldn't be the GARM if they didn't want someone benched after a rough spell. Even Jalen Green is now averaging career lows....again....and I don't want him benched. Cam does need to be in RGV (and I'm starting to get there with Reed). He just doesn't process the game correctly yet.
If that actually happened you wouldn’t find a happier person than me, but even suggesting it after 1 good game and 12 stinkers is the peak stupidity by delusional homers.
For one, I don't think Bari has had 12 "stinkers." He's been a part of some of the most stout defensive rotations in the NBA. Second, there's nothing irreplaceable about his performance last night. It's not like he got his points by going 9/9 on 3s. He scored through a handful of 3s, dribble pull-ups, glass clean-ups, and cuts. Bosh ate good for over a decade doing that.
Why have hope for Jabari? Isn't it more fun to hate on a 20 year old so you can feel smarter than anyone who cares to ask for patience? Why wait and see if he'll develop? 20 year olds NEVER improve or gain confidence. We should trade every young player before they have a chance to develop and only keep the guys who give us instant gratification. Surely the doomers here are basketball savants and the rest of us just have no standards. I'm happy Jabari played well last night, but I feel sad for the guys who won't show up today or will come and move the goal posts because being "right" about a kid being a bust gives them a bigger dopamine hit than their team playing well.
Some great post-game analysis about Smith's game from Murphy and Hollins, especially Calvin. He talks about how he didn't think Smith did anything that different from usual, but Smith was aggressive from the get-go, and how that aggressiveness opened up the offense for everyone else. Also, how on offense everyone didn't waste time getting into position and were focused on executing their plays. BTW just a warning this isn't an official link, so the title is off (it's Houston broadcast crew's post game and not Brian Windhorst or ESPN) and the second half of the video morphs into a weird doll-painting Thai YouTube influencer's show. But what can you do.
I haven't lost faith in Jabari at all. He might have been off to a rough start, but his shooting percentages were much better last year than his rookie year, and I don't doubt he will continue to get better. It would be different if he wasn't any better at shooting last year than his rookie year. I think he will only improve again this year, especially if he gets more aggressive and builds up his confidence and adds weight. It's not like we signed him to a multi-year deal when he hasn't improved his shooting.
I guess the context I was using it in was "who is scoring and how are they scoring". Oxford defines scouting as "the act of gathering information about enemy forces." It's not like the Hakeem era where you know that Hakeem was going to give you 35 and everybody else under 13. Or Hakeem and Clyde will give you 60 and everybody else is 10. Sengun had a monster game last night only scoring 16. Sometimes Jalen gives you 12, sometimes 30. Sometimes Jabari gives you 4, sometimes 20. Sometimes FVV gives you 25, sometimes 8. Of course this is the case with all teams, but the variance and volatility seems to be greater with this current team than teams past. I'll concede your point though, difficult to assess is still an assessment, although I do feel we are splitting hairs.
Sounds like he scored on all three levels, which is not common. Give me a guy who goes 5/8 from deep while being able to also score in a multitude of ways over a strictly knock-down shooter. 5/8 is nothing to scoff at either. Bosh? Imagine Bosh on this team. I am sure anyone would be very content if Bari plays like Bosh on offense. Maybe not a good comparison to diminish what Bari showed tonight. However, I do have serious doubts Bari will be able to do anything similar to tonight on a consistant basis, at least not this season.
