Unfair to put microscope on one game but the missed free throws to me IS a manifestation of something he lacks - irrational confidence. Some players just have it and it's so ridiculous how much they believe in themselves, but they are better players as a result of it. In other words, they don't know they don't know they're not superstars but they're great because they think they are. Jabari, if he had that crazy confidence, like Anthony Edwards, would be a better player, but at the end of the day, he is who he is. He's still gonna be a very good player, has lots of potential to get better every year.
You can add strength and explosiveness without adding weight but I really question the trainer assigned to Jabari. I wonder what his core stability regimen looks like. He folds up at initial contact which is a sign of poor core stability. I think the strength and conditioning staff has failed him severely. He has so much potential but his lack physical strength and explosiveness has slowed his progress. There is no reason for him not to add 4 to 6" to his max vertical this off season.
This reminds me of Wayne Hall who just trained and trained McGrady but his conditioning and body got worse and worse.
He has 45 dunks in 72 games. Like buddy... you're almost 7 feet tall. Even Jalen Green has more. Yea he's a stretch 4-5 but that's no excuse.
This team was under .500 until recently, then back under .500. Accept what roles, loser roles? They weren't good as a KPJ led team, they weren't good as an Alpi led team, now they are slightly more competitive as a defensive, up tempo the team. I wouldn't be surprised if Ime and Stone traded Alpi and Jalen this off season, or maybe Jabari. I would be disappointed because I like all of them but I personally don't think they are what he's looking for. I could be wrong but let's see how the off season plays out. Until then there's no pecking order on a team that has not made it to the play in rounds. Our pecking order is just for our own biased opinions lol. Just Remember Francis and Mobley for McGrady. At least they Made the playoffs.
No joke - he is averaging 14/8/1/1.5/1 with an efg% of 54% as a 20 year old. He has already improved quite a bit from last year.
Jabari is 4th or 5th on the scoring pecking order, but he is a far better shooter than last year. Jabari's lower body isn't meant for the 4/5 full time. He genetically just doesn't have a strong lower body and he has a poor center of gravity. As an athlete he is more of the smooth type of athlete. The high level scouts compared him to a slightly more athletic Rashard Lewis, and that is largely what the Rockets have gotten - he is actually above that track right now because he is 20 years old.
Rashard Lewis was a much better dunker and ball handler than people give him credit for......he was a slightly unathletic Tmac....
I played basketball with Rashard Lewis during the off season for the first 4-5 years of his career. He could always shoot, but I assure you that he couldn't always handle the ball really well. He certainly improved in that area as he matured.
Closer to 40-30-80 than 50-40-90 (Just kidding)....He is very young. I think it is fair to say though that he is more likely going to be a solid 3-D big more than some version of a play maker...and that's fine.
This is how I feel about you and several other posters who get some kind of rush from trashing young people learning their craft. But I guess we're both stuck. Suck it up, butter cup
the fact that this game was meaningless is even more troubling actually. how will he be at the FT line at the end of games that really count in the playoffs? the old saying 'once a choker, always a choker' comes to mind.... i've yet to see any nba player overcome or defeat these words by the end of their career
You realize Clutch City was born from Choke City, right? Do you remember LeBron's vanishing act in 2011? Do you remember how Dirk was perceived prior to finally dragging that team to a championship? You're trying to draw conclusions from a sample size of two. There have been many players that have missed clutch free throws and we don't remember it because in the macro it's just noise. This wasn't Nick Anderson-level stuff or even John Starks. Just a couple free throws that didn't go in. My god, people.
choke city was a term applied to many years of failure for houston sports teams. the team that actually broke the mold was not comprised of choker players. kenny smith was an extremely reliable clutch FT maker since high school, cassell, elie, max, horry etc -- all would have made at least 1 FT last night
Since when is a solid 3-D big with the 3rd pick fine? That’s a role player. A solid role player. Did I miss the part where a top 5 pick wasnt supposed to be a star? He can be a good role player and still be considered a disappointing pick. If you were told Jabari would be a solid role player, you wouldn’t draft him with the 3rd pick. Luckily for us, the lotto picks after him haven’t really panned out, other than Keegan and Jalen Williams who I rather have.
