[I.D.I.O.T.] Jabari Smith Jr is the Real Head Honcho™

@peleincubus

 

Sorry, but this is an awful post. These are +/- numbers and have absolutely nothing to do with individual defensive performance.

 

This is because ORLANDO changed the offense for Paolo. Currently Silas wants Bari to be Ariza.. Bari is not Ariza. No wonder he struggles. Silas does nothing in service of any play other than KPJ.

 

Tatum by no means when he was drafted was considered "generational". For goodness sakes people thought Josh Jackson was the higher prospect. Tatum also didn't pop out his first couple years. He was efficient but it was on low volume with a competent team with a steady high level vet presence around him.

These Rocket young guys in that Celtics system 5 years ago is a significantly better environment for development.

 

personality wise, Bari more like a leader (a voice in the locker room) in comparison w Jalen, but the problem is before being crowned as the TRUE 'head honcho', Bari need to:
- hit those open 3s and make some clutch shots;
- put the ball on the floor ;
- pick up post games;

 

Come on, Rockets plays the worst defence in the league. All below avg defenders will become the worst defender by playing in rockets jersey

 

This would be more relevant if you could change an offense to build around Bari. You definitely can't right now.

You ABSOLUTELY can build an offense that caters to his strengths a little more. For sure, our coaching is horrible.

But in all fairness to our coaching, no data to back this up though i'm sure its out there, NOBODY on the team gets better looks that theoretically suit his game, than Bari. He misses a TON of wide open or mostly open looks. Which might not be EXACTLY his game... but, lol... his strenght was SUPPOSED to be shooting.

 

I didn't say Tatum looked generational as a rookie.

But indeed, Tatum was HIGHLY efficient.

Again, Bari's strength was supposed to be as a shooter. He is getting tons of wide open looks. Since literally day 1 of summer league all indications have been he would struggle with NBA range and athletes.

I'm by no means OFF the Bari train. I like his improving defense, and he seems to have solid bball iq, as opposed to the backcourt.

But I call a spade a spade, sorry.

 

19yr old kid vs grown men.. he looked a lot better vs players his age

He needs to get stronger, that will help him finish at rim and his post up game

I wish he hit more open 3s but he’s very good from the corners and for some reason is never in the corner… don’t know if that’s by design or because KMJ is a great baseline cutter / EG is also very good from corner

 

I said neither Banchero or Ivey should be crowned generational. It is silly to write off Jabari as being less of a prospect than either so early in their nba careers. I swear 19 year old Jabari is way more mature than the idiots on this board that write off these youngsters who can’t even buy a drink yet and who play for the worst head coach in nba history

 

Tatum definitely had really polished scoring skills outside of just being a shooter his rookie year. He also was a lot more fluid.

But if rookie and sophomore Tatum was hypothetically placed on this team and asked to do something like Jalen's role of having the vast majority of his shots self created, his efficiency would plummet. Tatum was eased in and most of his attempts were within a system where he was dimed by a teammate with a lot of easy looks in his shot profile.

That Celtics team just had a lot better vet presence and significantly better coaching staff.

Jabari is in a bad situation. He gets some open looks but not enough to be get a consistent rhythm going.

 

Paolo Banchero was always advertised as a centerpiece player while Jabari Smith was destined to be a supplementary player when evaluating their strengths. It is what it is. One guy can involve everyone around him while dictating the flow of the game and the other guy needs his guards to find him for shots. Flipside he was advertised as one of the better defenders in the draft, but he's more like an unlocked door on defense vs the "Locksmith" a good portion of the time. Jabari missing wide open jumpers is depressing for the "best shooter in the draft". Paolo and Jabari practically share 3pt fg% on similar volume!!

Excusing each others strengths and weaknesses away as a systemic issue is misleading because all Orlando did was use Paolo as the fulcrum instead of Cole or Fultz - it opened up everyones game. Jabari just cant do that, but still as young as the Magic are they arent enjoying consistent wins either curious similarity huh? All the concerns that some guys had with Jabari pre draft are shockingly even more apparent at the pro level. I do think his dribble game to the basket is better than I anticipated, but at his best Jabari will be a high level 3&D player which isnt "bad", but it wasnt worth the #3 pick in the draft - hindsight tells me Stone should have mortgaged the future for Paolo and it would have been worth it

"Bari is not Ariza" yet his strengths are exactly that in a bigger package if and when he can put it all together. What would you do differently with him? Jabari is getting the 3rd most shots on the team and 3rd most minutes - he's getting his looks a good portion of them WIDE OPEN. With all that said Im not overly concerned because there is no rush to look for wins now. Let him shoot it a ton, get his experience and hope that something clicks for him in the near future. If pointing the finger at Silas and KPJ makes you feel better than cool, but its not encapsulating the reality of the situation with Jabari.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm...m=0&player_id1=banchpa01&player_id2=smithja05

 

@Hemingway @fchowd0311

I agree with all your points/caveats.

As i said, i'm not out on Bari.

But also as i said, i call a spade a spade. He's been what he's been. Open shots he's struggled. guarded shots he's struggled. Driving he's struggle. He's been a solid rebounder and fine on defense.

Maybe year 2 is a leap. Certainly a MUCH improved system could help.

We'll see...

 

wishing jabari was better on offense... but he clearly doesnt get the right plays called for him very often. if he wants sengun pulled... what? does he want to play C?

calm down. let's get Wemby and re-sign harden. rockets basketball will be so fun!

 

Jabari defense isn’t a unlocked door… alot of times our guards put him in a position to look bad…

I just wish he stopped slapping at ball, but I guess if he keeps it up eventually the refs won’t call it and it will turn into a positive based on reputation

 

I'm not saying Build an entire offense around Bari, Im saying build an offense that caters to Bari's strengths. Currently Silas is def not doing that. Orlando saw Paolo's (shiii and Franz) strengths and changed the offense instantly. Silas didn't change the offense for #2 pick Jalen and didnt change anything for #3 pick Bari, or superior player #16 pick Sengun.

We all think these talented players are trash because Silas refuses to change the offense for anyone except castoff KPJ.. Silas benched Sengun for Bruno to help KPJ for goodness sake. Silas wont run a play for Jalen or Bari ever.

Bari strength is shooting not corner spot up shooting. There are no plays to showcase Bari's shooting ability. There were 4 games when Silas ran ONE play at the start of the game to get Bari a shot when he was running off a screen and it was magnificent. We don't do that at all anymore.

 

I wish he would do the same to the head honcho after a defensive lapse.

 

I just took your same link and sorted it for forwards and guards instead.

Guards:



Forwards:



Defensive Rating of the starters:



Net Rating of the starters:



Takeaways:

• Your data does NOT prove that Sengun is one of the worst defensive centers in the league. It does show (which is no surprise) that the Rockets as a team are one of the worst defensive teams in the league.
• Of the starters, Sengun doesn't even have the worst defensive rating. That honor belongs to KPJ.
• Other than Eric Gordon who by some distance has the best defensive rating of the starters, the defensive ratings of the four young guys are almost equally bad, and that includes "defensive specialist" Jabari Smith, who has the nerve to demand one of his fellow players be taken out.
• Gordon and Sengun clearly have the best net rating of the starters.
• Sengun has by far the best net rating of the four young starters. His superior offensive contribution outweighs the tiny difference compared to Green and Jabari in terms of defensive rating.
• Jabari Smith has the worst net rating.

This shows in black and white that our entire young group of starters - and not just Sengun, which is what you suggest - is at the bottom of the league in defensive rating. It's in black and white. Even if you think this stat is flawed, or that Silas is a shitty coach (which I do), the numbers are the numbers.

 

This is the most interesting part. This has happened with others, other plays as well.Try something that seems to work, and then quit doing it.