Jabari’s doing fine. He can be a defensive juggernaut while being a good shooter. That will be enough to propel him to stardom. If he can be dominant defensively, he can be an alpha on this team. He should be a very capable pick n roll big.
Garbage post Post garbage Let's keep it going for another 8 pages. Jabari the bomb!! Bam!! Go Rockets!!
No Jabari doesn’t have a real post game. Again Jabari isn’t a one on one player. Yes he can shoot a one dribble pull up or dribble drive from the elbow pull up 2 but he isn’t a great one on one player especially since he can’t handle the ball in full court transition. But we all knew who he was coming into the draft. He simply was an elite shooter in college and elite defender. If that’s what the Rockets drafted him for was his ability to switch on D and guard 1-5 and his 3 point ability then its a very interesting move considering Murray and Ivey are superior scorers than him. If Ivey or Murray become stars which I firmly believe they will and Smith turns out to be just a solid role player giving you 15-19 pts 6 reb 1 stl than this draft would he talked about in great length. Smith isn’t a bust since he does great things other than score but he isn’t a star and that bonafide 2nd scorer. Who is our second scorer on this team that can get his own buckets after green? KPJ? A lot creating and scoring burden would remain with KPJ. And we know how well that’s been working for this team. The move makes Houston a better team but if you want a dominant scorer he isn’t it.
Has it always been this bad with instant gratification or is this something in the last generation or so? Jabari is 19 and is younger than Chet or Paolo. Just like Green he has a strong work ethic and will continue to get better. Like any NBA player especially bigs it takes years before they meet their potential. Even if all he becomes is a better defensive Rashard Lewis which is his floor then that’s still a top 3 player on a chip team. Look I wanted Banchero who is performing exactly as I anticipated and will likely be a generational talent. Lotto just didn’t fall that way. Move on.
Smith isn't a bust because he's only 2 games in to his first Summer League. No one is a bust at this point. Even considering that before playing with actual NBA players in an actual NBA game is just dumb.
I always advocated for murray who I thought was better than Banchero even because of his two way capability. I think he is a sleeper alomg with Ivey. I think the Rockets wanted a safe choice and got a solid 3-D guy. The second superstar behind green will have to come from a trade or another draft because smith isn’t it. Great 3-D guy but he aint it.
Point is I don’t believe he will be a dominant scorer. But what are fans realistically expecting from him is the question? 20-25 ppg 7-8 reb? Can we accept if he doesn’t hit that mark and gives you 15 and 6? Its hard to think management doesn’t know that he’s not a dominant scorer and expect him to be that kind of player considering his scoring capabilities. Im in the business of realistic expectations. Like I said he is a nice player but considering the guys left on the board was he the best play for us? Or was he just a solid and safe pick considering our shooting and defensive woes?
Alright folks, on FB, Twitter, and CFs this type of take is TOO DAMN HIGH See, your problem here is that you watched a summer league game and then made a conclusion from it. Not just a conclusion, but a career defining conclusion. Why are so many people doing this now? Is this a TikTok generation thing as usual where a 30 second video is all we need?
Who’s better between Jalen Green, Cade, Mobley and Barnes? Who’s the best player out of Banchero, Chet and Smith? I get that it’s only natural to speculate even if it’s this early and make comparisons but ultimately it doesn’t really matter at this stage IMO. I honestly expect Banchero to put up good numbers even if it’s based upon heavy volume to win ROTY. On the flip side I won’t be shocked if Jabari puts up numbers around 10ppg, 5rpg, 40% shooting his rookie year give or take a little bit. I’m sure plenty on this board will be disappointed with that but it doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day all 3 guys from this draft are 19 year old rookies. Meaning they are all projects. None of those guys are close to being a finished product. The important thing we want to see is steady improvement and development each year. Just cause Banchero is the best player year 1, 2 or even 3 doesn’t mean he’s going to have the best career/be the best player from the draft class. None of these guys are LeBron where it was obvious from day 1 that he was the best player. Judging, comparing and predicting is a natural thing I suppose even after just a few summer league pickup games but in order to have a more accurate assessment I’m gonna wait till at least year 4 when these guys are 23/24. Why? Here’s some examples of ROTY winners over their draft peers Ben Simmons over Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Bam Adebayo Malcom Brogdon over Brandon Ingram, Jaylen Brown, Jamaal Murray, Pascal Siakam, Dejounte Murray Wiggins over Embiid (injured), LaVine, Jokic Michael freaking Carter Williams over Giannis, Gobert, McCollum, Dipo Lillard over Anthony Davis Tyreke Evans over Harden, Curry, Derozan Vince Carter over Dirk Nowitzki
Great list just don't know why you included Lillard over Davis. Dame is better than Anthony Davis and still is today.
I think the problem is that you have a very short sighted view of what a "dominant scorer" can be. You seem to think that a player has to be ball dominant and has to create their own shot to be a "dominant scorer" and that's not the case. Smith is the kind of guy who will spread the offense out creating space for his ball handlers....and if they don't stay on him, he will burn them from outside. If they do stay on him, his guards and Sengun will feast. The thing about basketball is that it is a team game. Despite the way Josh Christopher plays, they aren't out there playing one on one. The Rockets have 3 ball dominant players in the starting lineup already, instead of drafting a 4th, they got a guy who will make the other 3 better and overall boost team offense while being an elite defender. It was the right choice.
Next thing think you know OP will be saying JS should go to the G-league to build his confidence. These hot takes from the "Jalen Green was a bust after 10 games" fan club getting real old.
KPJ is our best shot creator imo. I’m not worried about that at all. Jalen, KPJ, Sengun, EG, and Tate can create their own shot at different levels. Jabari is going to get so many wide open looks. It’s going to be so easy for him. Imo shot creation wasn’t the big issue, it was 3 point shooting and defense, and guess what Jabari does really well? Exactly!
Debatable IMO if I’m being generous. As great and clutch as Lillard is and I think very highly of him he’s an absolute zero on defense. Davis as injury prone as he is… he’s a legit 2 way player. Davis/Pelicans #6 seed also swept Lillard/Blazers #3 seed in 2018 while looking absolutely dominant. Davis also got that ring as well. I’d heavily wager that the majority if not all 30 GM’s would pick Davis over Lillard if given the choice between the 2 to build a franchise.
Im sure some people think he is just from Summer League and over react but others may have never been high on him such as myself and thought Rockets should have gone a different route. One thing that concerns me is that although its just summer league his offensive struggles is disconcerting to me considering the “greats” and whos who in this league have historically played well and offensively dominant during the summer league. Curry avg 19 pts. Lillard 26. Even Tyler Herro avg 17. Trae Young 17. And our own JG 20. If scoring effectively and the ease of scoring in summer league is any indication for success further down the line then maybe there should be some concern for Smith. The scorers of this league and guys expected to be dominant scorers have historically shown their scoring prowess in the summer league. Just something to note. But again the question is what’s our expectations. I think he is a heck of a player and solid 3-D guy. But we gotta be realistic in our expectations.
Yes it sure is interesting. It was a need for D and shooting and that smith was a safe pick for us. But Murray gives you this and more. I guess they just had smith higher on their board.
That's all fine, it's just that the post I quoted called him a poor man's Christian Wood. Does that poster know what Christian Wood looked like at draft time? And anyway thank goodness Jabari isn't going to be like Wood on either side of the ball. Cave man scouting by the fans.
