Jabari Smith Jr. - Auburn

[Big J]

I don't think anyone who understands he is 19 years old and actually watched a Rocket game would be worried.

I don’t think anyone’s saying he’s going to be a bust. The argument in here seems to be between the people who claimed he was easily the best player in the draft vs the people who disagreed with that.

It’s a bit fruitless to argue either side at this point in my opinion. Banchero looks like the best player right now, but who knows who it’ll be in 5 years time. Anyone who claims they do know is full of it.

Man, I just said I had concerns about his ability to create and convert easy shots inside as opposed to being forced to take difficult jumpers(which he's quite good at), and I got swept away in this as some kind of huge Jabari hater

That’s because Clyde takes any criticism of his pet prospects personally.

[clyde21]

thread's turning into a cesspool now thx to the usual suspects.

[clyde21]

I don't think anyone who understands he is 19 years old and actually watched a Rocket game would be worried.

I don’t think anyone’s saying he’s going to be a bust. The argument in here seems to be between the people who claimed he was easily the best player in the draft vs the people who disagreed with that.

It’s a bit fruitless to argue either side at this point in my opinion. Banchero looks like the best player right now, but who knows who it’ll be in 5 years time. Anyone who claims they do know is full of it.

no one gives a **** that he wasn't ranked #1 on everyone's list, what people care about is those bad actors disappearing after good games and then bumping this thread after bad games because of a very obvious agenda.

funny how you guys didn't have a problem with that but have a problem with people 'defending' a 19-yr-old just going thru a standard development process.

[Big J]

The only reason that he's had a few good stat lines was because guys stopped guarding him at the 3 point line. He still hasn't shown any ability to take guys off the dribble or break down defenses and make plays like Paolo has done on a nightly basis.

[crows2]

I don't think anyone who understands he is 19 years old and actually watched a Rocket game would be worried.

I don’t think anyone’s saying he’s going to be a bust. The argument in here seems to be between the people who claimed he was easily the best player in the draft vs the people who disagreed with that.

It’s a bit fruitless to argue either side at this point in my opinion. Banchero looks like the best player right now, but who knows who it’ll be in 5 years time. Anyone who claims they do know is full of it.

no one gives a **** that he wasn't ranked #1 on everyone's list, what people care about is those bad actors disappearing after good games and then bumping this thread after bad games because of a very obvious agenda.

funny how you guys didn't have a problem with that but have a problem with people 'defending' a 19-yr-old just going thru a standard development process.

They're baiting you because you were so adamant that he was the best player in the draft. The fact is neither you, nor them, know whether that will end up being true. The continual bumping of the thread by either side whenever he has good/bad stretches is pointless.

[clyde21]

I don’t think anyone’s saying he’s going to be a bust. The argument in here seems to be between the people who claimed he was easily the best player in the draft vs the people who disagreed with that.

It’s a bit fruitless to argue either side at this point in my opinion. Banchero looks like the best player right now, but who knows who it’ll be in 5 years time. Anyone who claims they do know is full of it.

no one gives a **** that he wasn't ranked #1 on everyone's list, what people care about is those bad actors disappearing after good games and then bumping this thread after bad games because of a very obvious agenda.

funny how you guys didn't have a problem with that but have a problem with people 'defending' a 19-yr-old just going thru a standard development process.

They're baiting you because you were so adamant that he was the best player in the draft. The fact is neither you, nor them, know whether that will end up being true. The continual bumping of the thread by either side whenever he has good/bad stretches is pointless.

oh no!

[NO-KG-AI]

I don't think anyone who understands he is 19 years old and actually watched a Rocket game would be worried.

I don’t think anyone’s saying he’s going to be a bust. The argument in here seems to be between the people who claimed he was easily the best player in the draft vs the people who disagreed with that.

It’s a bit fruitless to argue either side at this point in my opinion. Banchero looks like the best player right now, but who knows who it’ll be in 5 years time. Anyone who claims they do know is full of it.

no one gives a **** that he wasn't ranked #1 on everyone's list, what people care about is those bad actors disappearing after good games and then bumping this thread after bad games because of a very obvious agenda.

funny how you guys didn't have a problem with that but have a problem with people 'defending' a 19-yr-old just going thru a standard development process.

Nah, the only thing I have a problem with AT ALL is people saying "Jabari has trouble getting to the rim, because he doesn't get there nor finish there well"

and you going "You guys can't prove he can't get to the rim or has trouble finishing inside... you don't watch Auburn games" and also things like "Just because he isn't going to the rim doesn't mean he can't or won't score inside" and pretending it was all hater talk.

And then shifting to "Oh, we all know he has trouble creating and finishing inside, yall just wanna be haters when he has bad games."

I wasn't picking any games to bump it after, but I could bump it after literally any game, because even in his good games, he's still not showing that part of his game, he's literally just hitting jumpshots well, which no one disputed. You bumped this thread when he had a dunk in the SUMMER LEAGUE to try and flex with "oh wow, thought he wasnt good at driving" or some nonsense and want to talk about people being selective of when to post or bad actors.

You can have this thread bro, it's a shame that such an exciting prospect can't be critiqued or discussed without feelings, and it's not even fans of his team getting hurt(There is a literal Rocket fan in here with the same concerns), it's someone that doesn't want their pre-draft scouting to look bad or something

[Big J]

Paolo just made this kid his b.

[EvanZ]

Paolo just made this kid his b.

Huh? Paolo was -3 and Jabari was +9.

You have some kind of weird fetish dude.


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[EvanZ]

Jabari is literally the only Rockets player that plays any d.


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[Big J]

Paolo just made this kid his b.

Huh? Paolo was -3 and Jabari was +9.

You have some kind of weird fetish dude.


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Lol @ using single game +/- as a measuring stick.

[EvanZ]

Paolo just made this kid his b.

Huh? Paolo was -3 and Jabari was +9.

You have some kind of weird fetish dude.


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Lol @ using single game +/- as a measuring stick.

What are you using? Points scored?

[DOT]

I'm not taking a side either way because I didn't watch said game, but single game +/- is objectively a terrible way of rating performance.

[EvanZ]

I'm not taking a side either way because I didn't watch said game, but single game +/- is objectively a terrible way of rating performance.

Normally yes, but in a game where his team lost by 6 and Jabari was +9, he probably wasn't made anyone's "b". I watched the first half and as I said Jabari is the only Rocket that even attempts to play defense.

[CptCrunch]

Resorting to using single game plus minus to defending bad takes at this point. Even worse deep analyzing single game plus minus while probably not realizing this is the whole point of RAPM class metrics.

But regardless if you looked at raw cumulate plus minus aka on and off splits, Jabari is -5.7 on O and -6.1 on D over the season. Paolo is -2.3 on O, +1.0 on D.

None of these matters unadjusted, I am just to point out the absurdity of using single game plus minus to boost up Jabari's semi mediocre play as this board's number 1 prospect.

Fact; the argument has always been between Jabari the first pick (and far better than Paolo camp) versus the Jabari the 3rd option role crowd.

Don't need to raise your hands if you were guilty, I kept the mental receipts.

[Duke4life831]

I watched the game, there is a significant gap between the two at the moment. I dont think even the most diehard Rocket fans are going to try and make the argument Jabari is on the same level as Paolo currently (including last night).

I totally get the argument of Jabari could have the higher ceiling once he tightens the handle and becomes more of an on ball threat. That would be the argument for Jabari and thats a fine argument to make because we are talking about rookies haha. But ya Paolo is the better player at the moment and was far more impactful last night than Jabari was. Which again is understandable because Paolo is asked to have a much bigger role currently.

[FrightCoward]

I watched the game, there is a significant gap between the two at the moment. I dont think even the most diehard Rocket fans are going to try and make the argument Jabari is on the same level as Paolo currently (including last night).

I totally get the argument of Jabari could have the higher ceiling once he tightens the handle and becomes more of an on ball threat. That would be the argument for Jabari and thats a fine argument to make because we are talking about rookies haha. But ya Paolo is the better player at the moment and was far more impactful last night than Jabari was. Which again is understandable because Paolo is asked to have a much bigger role currently.

I can’t see Jabari being better after seeing the two play this season, and it’s not like Paolo is a finished product, he has so much more room to grow from his end as well. What he’s elite at at such a young age is special, though. Dude is a foul merchant already and is only going to get to the line more as her learns more intricacies of the NBA game. Jabari’s handle is always going to be a weak part of his game, even if he tightens it up some. Historically that’s one of the hardest things to fix in a players game.

And this isn’t a diss on Jabari, I was vehemently pro Jabari going into the draft. The facts are just clear as day, though.

[Big J]

Broken handle isn’t something that can be fixed. He’s never going to have that KD high dribble swooping crossover, so he’ll always be reliant on guys on his team to set him up. His stans will always go to the excuse well of his guards being bad and not getting him looks. They’ve used it for him in college, summer league, and now the nba. Funny thing is that the usual suspects don't want none of this smoke now.

[clyde21]

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[EvanZ]

Broken handle isn’t something that can be fixed. He’s never going to have that KD high dribble swooping crossover, so he’ll always be reliant on guys on his team to set him up. His stans will always go to the excuse well of his guards being bad and not getting him looks. They’ve used it for him in college, summer league, and now the nba. Funny thing is that the usual suspects don't want none of this smoke now.

Quoting this now so you can't delete it later.