Yeah, this is basically it. Jabari as a starter - 11-7-1, 41%/34% +3.9 Jabari as a reserve - 13-8-1 49%/37% +14.8
No, just wanted to out the pattern. He seems to always starts out bad and then gets better after a number of games. It would be interesting to see how he would have done last season if injury didn't interrupt his good shooting.
Probably the same - the guy's a role player, he's paid slightly above market for his value as a role player moneywise now, but whatever. Nothing more to really debate or discuss. if he magically learns to dribble and pass and somehow adds fast-twitch athleticism at age 23 great, now the Rockets have a bargain; otherwise he's just here being generally OK.
You've always been negative about him. Heck, I can't think of anyone on our team you have been positive about for that matter. There are different kinds of role players. If the guy shoots 40% from 3, plays defense at the other end and grab rebounds, he'll be a pretty good role player. I don't care if he can dribble or not.
I asked him a while back which one of our young players he liked. Crickets. Not even Amen, because he can’t shoot. LOL.
Good watch! 1) "Honestly". Jabari says this at least 643 times during the interview. Honestly. 2) His and Trey's views on the Summer League coincide with mine. lol. 3) Jabari's views on Giannis. Relentless, doesn't take plays off, just plays hard every play. Always interesting to hear NBA players talk about other NBA players with awe/admiration. 4) John Lucas getting love from both of them was nice to hear. 5) Jabari's dad didn't focus on "dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble" when he was teaching Jabari, but did focus on the fundamentals. Hmm. 6) Jabari wasn't athletic growing up - he didn't dunk until he was in the 9th grade and he was 6'5" or so by then. Trey didn't dunk until he was a senior. 7) Jabari saying people that want players to play in the All Star game, but "why?" He asks did they used to play hard in the All Star Game and Trey said Kobe got his nose broken in one and people say after Kobe left that's when this current style of play started (I disagree, to an extent, but...). Jabari's still not convinced why anybody should try hard in the All Star Game. 8) Question asked to Jabari about what makes some of his teammates unique : "Amen is like the most athletic person on the planet" (to which Trey Murphy nods) "Tari Eason is like a madman - he plays hard every game" "Alpi is just like, so skilled". 9) A an offshoot of the previous question, Alter asks : "Is it objectively agreed-upon that Amen is the most athletic player in the league? It feels like everybody thinks that now." Jabari responds with "I think he is". Murphy's response is "he's either 1A or 1B". Jabari adds if you define athleticism as things like jumping ability, speed, and strength, he can't think of anybody better. Murphy says there might be one other one : "his twin". He said he's still mad at Ausar for dislocating his shoulder by kicking it. He's of the opinion anybody that can dislocate a shoulder by kicking it is athletic. lol. Jabari goes on to talk about Amen : he says the random stuff he sees from Amen in practice is unreal. One thing he mentions is his ability to randomly jump without loading up. He says it's something he's never seen before. Says one thing Amen can't do is the dunk contest. He has no tricks or anything. (Even Amen says he has no dunk package, so that's no shock, and his dunks are pretty tame for the most part in games). Jabari says Alpi's gotten better over the years. He's gotten more athletic and stronger. Says he'll get even better. Says people forget he's only 22. Trey Murphy seems shocked he's only 22 and says "He's only 22? Oh my goodness." (He actually just turned 23 about a week ago.) 10) Jabari says trying to be more physical, decisive with the ball, and more aggressive. He's in weight room lifting weights and getting bigger, so there's no reason he shouldn't be trying to run through people and attack. He said the biggest thing is trying to be more consistent.
DoD, this thorough summary is MUCH appreciated!!! I'm very glad to hear Jabari's kind and sincere words for Amen and Tari.
JSJ seems to be observant but maybe to chill. Talks about others not taking plays off… does he take plays off? Hopefully something or someone is able to change his demeanor because he is not naturally, a competitive person. He seems to have a complementary, people pleasing type attitude. It takes all kinds to build a team. He is not the leader. It’s okay. Hopefully he learns his role.
yea, this sounds about right. He seems like an idea 4th or 5th option on a great team. There's a sub section of Rocket fans that think he could be a first option if he had more touches lol. I don't even think Jabari wants to be a first option or second option.
I haven't seen anyone says he could be first option. People do say that he could be much more impactful if he got more shots.
I believe that Smith is going to make relatively significant improvements on offense over the next couple years. I don’t ever expect him to create for others, but I do think he is going to get to the point where he’s pretty effective and creating for himself. As an organization, we can help him a lot with this. We don’t need to give him the ball and space and let him create, but we need to put him in the right spots. for example there was at least a couple years where he was great at hitting the three in semi transition off of the dribble. Try to get him one or two of those a game. let him post up and take two or three turnaround jumpers. Every game. add that to 7 3point attempts and one or two dribble drives and you will be all set. We know that he’s a defensive offensive rebounder.
