Also because Jabari cannot create his own shot well (which was his weakness coming into the league.) Until Jabari can create his own shot efficiently, he be relegated to being a spot up shooter, cutter, or his 1-2 post ups when he has a mismatch. Honestly what he is doing now is perfectly fine for the team. We need more play finishers around Sengun. He just needs to shoot more efficiently from 3s and play good defense.
Jabari is a shot maker meaning he can't create for others but he can create his own shot because he is 6'10 with some shooting touch, there's not a lot of people who can prevent him from shooting. The problem is like I said most of his shot creation are middies and that's just not gonna fly in the NBA. In College he can get away with those fade aways and mid range Js but in the NBA that crap don't fly. I think he needs to start learning some post moves and tighten his 3 pt so he can diversify his game. If you look at Tate Jabari should try to be a 6'10 version of Tate then he'd be very close to a star player IMO.
Jabari's TS% is about league average right now. He still needs to adjust to NBA closeouts and distance on 3PAs for his TS% to be above average. Lateral quickness is odd. He looked faster laterally in college. I wonder if he is still adjusting to NBA speed and his lateral quickness is suffering from thinking too much and not reacting.
Jabari was in like the 99th percentile in measured lateral quickness. It's his reads that are the problem. He's still learning. I'm hoping Ime is changing the playbook a bit to focus more on Jabari than Jalen. The kid needs more touches. Getting tired of him going to the bench in the 1st quarter with 1 shot attempt. Really want to see Amen get healthy so we can experiment with a Fred/Amen/Dillon/Jabari/Sengun lineup.
While Jabari's ceiling is not as high as I hoped it would be, I have more hope for him than I do with Jalen at this point. The peaks and valleys are not as great. If Jalen has a bad game, he's shooting 3/20, making +5 turnovers, and missing densive assignments everywhere. Jabari seems to know when he's off and adjust accordingly
I thought it was a pretty solid showing from Jabari on this road trip against some good opponents. Great defense. Still iffy on the shooting, but not bad. He's not a weapon like we hoped so far but he's not hurting us. Likely will improve.
He definitely has all-star talent- but he doesn't seem to have super-star talent. Plenty of guys play all-star games. Jabari had a quiet 17-9 and filled the box score last night. At 19 years of age. There is literally no other player under 20 in the NBA scoring more ppg. With a few more years it is easy to see him putting up 20-9 - which are all-star numbers. Not carry a team all-star numbers. But still...
I don't think that gets you to the all-star game like it would have in 2005 - there's simply too many highly skilled offensive creators in the league now to tip-in your way to the all star game anymore (unless you are DPOY level on the other side of the ball) and FWIW he's not 19 anymore, he'll be 21 in May and about a year out from the extension decision - time flies.
I remember Otis Thorpe once made the all star team. He had literally ONE PLAY, the pick and roll with kenny smith on the left elbow, OT dive to the hoop with one arm raised like the statue of liberty.
I don't think it's unreasonable to say at this point he has a floor as an above average starter - an ultra switchable elite spot up shooter seems reasonable for him. It may not be what we hoped given the pick, but that's a pretty good player you want on your team. The shooting problems of the past to me seem more indicative of either rushing his shot form/not setting his feet or poor ability to read a defense with the ball in his hands(and taking a lot of shots that way). For the former he seems to be improving with more reps. With the latter I haven't seen much improvement BUT what I have seen is more of a willingness to make a read right before he gets the ball and just moving decisively to make a play. Unburdened from trying to read what the defense is doing once he has the ball in his hands I think he is a lot more effective. JeSean Tate plays this way - if you are open, shoot it - if a defender is closing out too hard take it to the rim. Just making a decisive movement and 'going with it' is better than trying to process for guys with poor playmaking skills. You could say that has made a real difference in Dillon Brooks' play too. You can be an effective offensive player if you just focus on playing within yourself and all 3 of those guys seem to be making strides this year in that regard. The trick with Jabari and Jalen will be how much money will they make? Jalen and Jabari both I think have floors as at least slightly above average NBA starters but they might command more money on that first contract post rookie contract because there is still room/time for them to grow a bit more. Jalen in particular still projects as a 25+pt per game scorer and that makes him a potential all star in the future. Jabari could become an all defense team player(2nd or 3rd team) but obviously doesn't have the DPOY ceiling of a guy like Mobley. The one thing that still puzzles me about Jabari is he really does a great job rotating his hips and staying with defenders once 'set' but there are these head scratching plays where players who you wouldn't think are faster than Jabari manage to beat him off the dribble. It feels a bit like he still has to think about the defensive coverage at times and maybe loses a half step while processing whereas if he is in an ISO situation without having to think about coverage wrinkles, he is MUCH better. I'm just thinking out loud there - anyone else notice this?
I’m still very high on Jabari. Remember he is only 20 years old and still growing both in his game and in his body. You can clearly see the improvement he has made since last year. His ceiling is a lot higher than just a 3 and d role player,
I don't really care if he is a 3nD as long as he is elite at what he does. It's not about what you do but how well you do it.
Yeah, some hall of fame players are just really good at what they do and don't have multiple dimensions. Shaq just played bully ball lol, if you asked much else from him you wouldn't get it but his entire thing was just being bigger and stronger than everyone and of course having a soft touch. Wasn't that good defensively, ok playmaker, couldn't shoot AT ALL... I do think Jabari has a higher potential than most people realize. He just has to get used to hitting those mid range shots, if he gets those down regularly he could be a great player.
I think his ceiling is high just going to take a year longer than we thought. The player development was notably bad last season and he is/was so young. It will take some time to polish and round out his game but it will be worth it. He will become an elite defender at the 4/5 in time. Would benefit a lot from putting on muscle.
After looking terrible to start the season Jabari has really been coming around. If he keeps gradually improving, he'll at least be in MPJ territory before long.
His turn around game is consistently enough where if I see him pinning down a defender in the mid post area, I feel like you have to give it to him. That's where he will do the being of his self creation.
You mean, offensively. Defensively, he's already a better player. He's starting to become one of the reasons why the Rockets' defense is elite. Remember that defensive impact is as important as offensive. He's going to be an elite defender once he gets older, stronger and tougher. If you're elite at one side, and very good at the other side, you have a player with a very serious winning impact, probably all-star caliber.
