Not too long ago, third-year Rockets big man Jabari Smith Jr. looked in danger of losing his starting spot. Now the right adjustment looks like getting him more shots instead. Smith’s gruesome start to the season made for an ugly comparison with the sensational return of two-way bench terror Tari Eason. But Smith’s confidence in his shot looks higher than ever, and his spot as a long-term Rockets starter looks secure.
Rockets’ Faith In Starter’s Shot Rewarded
Benching Smith never looked like the right call, even if it seemed like the obvious one. Head coach Ime Udoka actually went the exact opposite route. He started running more plays for Smith instead. The go-to play for Smith is a pin down into a midrange jumper off the catch. They don’t get run off often and their appearance may be entirely coincidental. Nonetheless, Smith has rewarded Udoka’s confidence in him by showing confidence in himself.
Smith doesn’t seem to have the on-court processing speed to be a trusted decision-maker for a successful NBA team. Clearly, that limits his ceiling. After all, you typically want to be able to trust your best players to make good decisions. There are exceptions. Anthony Davis isn’t necessarily someone you want making a tonne of decisions for instance, yet he’s been a top-ten player in the NBA this season.
Smith has significant physical gifts. He does not have Davis-level physical gifts. No unibrow for one thing. No “Kobe Bryant has a GOAT case” type reach for another. But he is showing flashes of living up to his draft day marketing as a six-foot-ten sniper tower.
A Shot At Being More Than Just A Starter For Rockets?
Smith was a huge contributor to the Rockets’ NBA Cup victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He may have only taken four threes, but the way he took them was extremely encouraging for Rockets fans. There was absolutely zero hesitation and no respect at all for the last-minute contests.
Smith knows all too well the ineffectiveness of that type of contest with the number of threes guards have made on him while doing something similar. But that’s a problem for big men the whole league over. Their instinct is to sag just that little bit too far back so they can prevent the drive. To the viewer, it looks like flawless perimeter defense, to the league’s most skilled perimeter shooters, it looks like lunch money.
But most bigs can’t take that lunch money right back at the opposite three-point line. Maybe Smith can. There’s a big difference between being a three-and-D role-player and an actual shooter. Smith has looked largely like the former in his NBA career so far. That’s still a tremendously valuable skill set for someone at six-foot-ten. But if he’s a sniper that defenses actively have to worry about, it opens up the court for Houston’s interior players, Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, and Amen Thompson. It’s the difference between being the fifth starter and a core piece.
Not Just One Game Either
Smith shot well in Houston’s next game against the depleted Philadelphia 76ers too, the second of back-to-back overtime wins. Again, there were only two attempts, but again, he shot without hesitation. Smith played just 25 minutes because of foul trouble, but Udoka has to be thrilled with how he’s letting the ball fly. Such is the Rockets’ depth, that Smith’s absence just opened the way for Thompson to run roughshod over the game on the defensive end.
Smith has been shooting better since even before these games too. He’s already up to 36% on the year, roughly in line with his percentage last season. The Rockets need every bit of shooting they can get as they still rank toward the bottom of the league in three-point shooting.
Udoka knows it too, even willing to finally run a Reed Sheppard handoff with Sengun against the Sixers. Unfortunately, the attempt clanked, and Sheppard was rough overall. Hopefully, Udoka will give the rookie another chance. In the meantime, though, Smith will do his best to resolve Houston’s shooting woes on his own. If he keeps shooting as well as he has been, then Udoka might even write up a sequel to Smith’s pindown play.
The Last Word
Smith’s hot shooting might not keep up. Bad shooting nights will happen. If Smith can keep this same level of confidence in the face of that though, then he really will be on his way to becoming an elite shooter. The luxury of being six-foot-ten with decent lateral mobility is that he doesn’t need to be a marksman to have value on the court. If that’s a part of his game that he can consistently unleash though, then the Rockets’ excellent start to the season might not be a fluke.
