Jabari? UPDATE: Jabari!

[Goldstar88]

Well, I’m impressed with Jabari. Just need him to play at least Mediocre D and he will be solid off the bench.

[LilRip]

Really happy with the pick up. He reminds me of Melo-lite. Nobody you want as your best player but a good scoring option off the bench. I think he’s due for a game looking like one beast of a scorer, especially in the playoffs.

[Ogaju]

Always good to have more players that you can play and get you a bucket or at least be a threat to get you a bucket so you don't have to play 4-5.

And that is the key..he is a threat to score so defenses cannot cheat off him which gives the Jays more room to operate.

[Celtics2021]

Pleasantly surprised, but nothing I saw makes me think he’s taking Grant’s minutes.  Good interior offense, so with TimeLord out he got some quality minutes, but it’s going to be tough to pair him with either Rob Williams or Thompson.  He actually complements Grant’s game well, and probably Kornet too.

[No Nickname]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

[hpantazo]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

That's pretty harsh for a guy who just joined the team today and has never practiced with us, has had zero time to learn our defensive schemes. I would expect anyone to look lost on defense under those circumstances.

[PAOBoston]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

My take is he will be coming off the bench. He’s never going to be good defensively but you have to figure that the Cs team defense can at least help him a little bit. He’s going to get some minutes because he’ll be able to get some buckets for them when starters sit. As long as he can score as a tertiary option, he’s useful. The Cs a few weeks ago literally just had Fast PP as the only guy who could score off the bench (a rookie pg so not a great option). Now they have Fournier and Parker coming off the bench, two guys who can at least give you points (both averaging 14 ppg in their careers).

[ozgod]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

That's pretty harsh for a guy who just joined the team today and has never practiced with us, has had zero time to learn our defensive schemes. I would expect anyone to look lost on defense under those circumstances.

As I posted in the game thread, all things considered he was pretty solid. Certainly not the Jabari of old (dominating usage and interior presence) but not the Jabari of recent times (lazy, out of shape) either. His usual weaknesses were exploited defending on the perimeter and in the P&R where he gave up some shots, he turned the ball over early due to nerves probably, but he also showed some nice moves in the post offensively and he showed some mongrel in working to get offensive boards and putbacks. I think as he gets more familiar with where he's supposed to be in the defensive scheme and when to switch and when to close out he will be better. He has lost a bit of lateral movement due to his ACL surgeries but if Brad can get him to buy in to playing defense and can put him in situations that minimize his weaknesses and play to his strengths he will be a good addition.

Definitely a huge upgrade over the player he replaced Mo Wagner, who was worse than useless. He didn't have a high bar to meet but he exceeded it pretty easily. We just need to manage our expectations of what he can bring to the team (something fans are usually terrible at  )

[RJ87]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

That's pretty harsh for a guy who just joined the team today and has never practiced with us, has had zero time to learn our defensive schemes. I would expect anyone to look lost on defense under those circumstances.

Its not harsh at all. Jabari's defense has been a knock on him since before he was even drafted. Jabari himself said he doesn't get paid to play defense. He didn't show anything tonight that would alleviate concerns on that end of the floor. But he had some nice moments on the glass.

Its always interesting to see who posters - especially the old timers - adopt as binkies.

[hpantazo]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

That's pretty harsh for a guy who just joined the team today and has never practiced with us, has had zero time to learn our defensive schemes. I would expect anyone to look lost on defense under those circumstances.

Its not harsh at all. Jabari's defense has been a knock on him since before he was even drafted. Jabari himself said he doesn't get paid to play defense. He didn't show anything tonight that would alleviate concerns on that end of the floor. But he had some nice moments on the glass.

Its always interesting to see who posters - especially the old timers - adopt as binkies.

I know his rep, but I give any guy a chance to practice with the team and play a few weeks before judging them in terms of how lost they look on either end of the floor. He's not going to turn into a solid defender or anything, but I'd expect him to at least know where to be and to try to be in the right spots a few weeks from now.


If he still looks lost next month, then he deserves the criticism and should lose playing time. But a guys first game on a new team with zero practices, yes, that's a bit harsh

[PAOBoston]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

That's pretty harsh for a guy who just joined the team today and has never practiced with us, has had zero time to learn our defensive schemes. I would expect anyone to look lost on defense under those circumstances.

Its not harsh at all. Jabari's defense has been a knock on him since before he was even drafted. Jabari himself said he doesn't get paid to play defense. He didn't show anything tonight that would alleviate concerns on that end of the floor. But he had some nice moments on the glass.

Its always interesting to see who posters - especially the old timers - adopt as binkies.

I know his rep, but I give any guy a chance to practice with the team and play a few weeks before judging them in terms of how lost they look on either end of the floor. He's not going to turn into a solid defender or anything, but I'd expect him to at least know where to be and to try to be in the right spots a few weeks from now.


If he still looks lost next month, then he deserves the criticism and should lose playing time. But a guys first game on a new team with zero practices, yes, that's a bit harsh

Even in a month, he won’t be a good defender. He’ll always be a negative there. I view him with the same lens I viewed Enes Kanter: a player with significant defensive limitations but serves a purpose offensively and you hope to hide his defensive deficiencies to the point he can be an impactful player in his minutes on the court with his offensive punch. He’s not going to get big minutes so the Cs just need to ensure in the minutes he does player, he can be put in a position to impact the scoreboard positively.

[Roy H.]

We don’t win this game without Jabari.

True.  But his help defense was absolutely horrendous.

At least three times he literally either stood and watched or even moved away from helping when a teammate was beaten.

His defensive awareness (or maybe it’s just caring) was worse than an eighth grader.

That being said, the post move he made out of the timeout was like Beethoven composing music. Just breathtaking.

That's pretty harsh for a guy who just joined the team today and has never practiced with us, has had zero time to learn our defensive schemes. I would expect anyone to look lost on defense under those circumstances.

Its not harsh at all. Jabari's defense has been a knock on him since before he was even drafted. Jabari himself said he doesn't get paid to play defense. He didn't show anything tonight that would alleviate concerns on that end of the floor. But he had some nice moments on the glass.

Its always interesting to see who posters - especially the old timers - adopt as binkies.

I know his rep, but I give any guy a chance to practice with the team and play a few weeks before judging them in terms of how lost they look on either end of the floor. He's not going to turn into a solid defender or anything, but I'd expect him to at least know where to be and to try to be in the right spots a few weeks from now.


If he still looks lost next month, then he deserves the criticism and should lose playing time. But a guys first game on a new team with zero practices, yes, that's a bit harsh

Even in a month, he won’t be a good defender. He’ll always be a negative there. I view him with the same lens I viewed Enes Kanter: a player with significant defensive limitations but serves a purpose offensively and you hope to hide his defensive deficiencies to the point he can be an impactful player in his minutes on the court with his offensive punch. He’s not going to get big minutes so the Cs just need to ensure in the minutes he does player, he can be put in a position to impact the scoreboard positively.

Agreed.  Bench players usually have significant flaws.  Look at Grant tonight:  he was useless on offense, allowing Draymond to roam wherever he wanted to help.  It hurt the team.  But defensively, he was good, including making Curry work (not that it mattered).

Some nights, Parker is going to put up strong offensive numbers.  Those games, you ride him, and live with the defense.  On other nights, Brad can use other players.

Jabari fill a hole.  He will be useful for us.

[cman88]

Jabari is there for scoring. Theres a reason brad played him in crunchtime. with grant in green played center field and was able to disrupt our offense.

also im sure losing the huge lead against LA had something to do with signing Jabari. we cant only have Fournier/prichard as guys who are a threat to score off the bench.

[Surferdad]

Jabari is there for scoring. Theres a reason brad played him in crunchtime. with grant in green played center field and was able to disrupt our offense.

also im sure losing the huge lead against LA had something to do with signing Jabari. we cant only have Fournier/prichard as guys who are a threat to score off the bench.

The jabari signing will be viewed as worthwhile if he and Fournier can just help the 2nd unit from giving away a big lead.

[cman88]

Jabari is there for scoring. Theres a reason brad played him in crunchtime. with grant in green played center field and was able to disrupt our offense.

also im sure losing the huge lead against LA had something to do with signing Jabari. we cant only have Fournier/prichard as guys who are a threat to score off the bench.

The jabari signing will be viewed as worthwhile if he and Fournier can just help the 2nd unit from giving away a big lead.

pretty much. Also, in the playoffs you need guys who might be able to go off for a 20 point game. You cant always rely on your stars. If one has an off-night you need someone to pick up the slack.

I think Parker has that ability and we know Fournier does. Our problem alot this season has been that we lack bench scoring. Semi/Grant williams dont exactly put fear into other teams. Its basically Prichard who is a rookie and thats it...