The young Houston Rockets Summer League roster has played two games, losing to the Magic and then beating the Thunder by 2 points to achieve a 1-1 record. Ethan is undoubtedly the best performer among the 3 rookies, with two double-doubles in 2 games, which allows Ethan to pass the Rockets' inspection directly, and even if he is not the main player in the new season, Ethan can basically get 15-20 minutes of playing time per game.
Little guard Taitai Washington also performed well, although his shooting ability needs to be improved, but he is the most calm and big-picture point guard in the Rockets' backcourt. The Rockets have not had such a selfless traditional point guard since Paul, so the Rockets took off Taitai Washington with a first-round No. 29 pick, which was also an excellent result. But how is the Rockets' most notable exploration big forward, Jabari Smith, performing?
To be honest, after two games, although Smith scored in double figures, his performance was still somewhat disappointing. Yes, Smith doesn't pull his crotch on the defensive end, but on offense, Smith's shooting percentage is extremely unstable. 4-of-10 in one game, 5-of-19 in one game, and more troublesomely, Smith's biggest shortcoming is not his shooting percentage, but the way he scores. Compared to Bancello's all-around scoring model of "inside and out", Smith is obviously more of a pitcher floating on the outside.
Most of Smith's offensive methods are basically jump shots, either two or three points, such as back-to-back playing inside and forced layups. Take a look at the statistics table of Jabari Smith in two games, after two games, Smith, as the main center of the Rockets, only got 2 free throw opportunities.
The Magic made 1 of 2 free throws in the first game, and the second round against the Thunder, as a center, he did not have a single free throw chance! This is definitely not accidental, and it also reflects Smith's way of scoring, basically not one-on-one with the opposing center on the inside, nor on the inside, but on the outside jump shots at a distance - natural free throws are less.
The reason for this situation is also very simple, compared to the strong Bancello, the tall but not weak Chet, Smith seems to dislike the big man on the inside, he has become accustomed to solving the problem with shooting, so that he is like Yao Ming, Howard and Capela in the inner hand-to-hand position, basically impossible to achieve. Smith, who weighs 100 kilograms, has the same shortcomings as Jaylen Green - the ability to fight is not good. Although Smith is tall, he is relatively thin and not suitable for fighting opposing centers on the inside, similar to the Rockets' former main center Wood.
How to improve it? In fact, it is also simple, just like Green and Shen Jing, seize the time to increase weight, that is, the so-called "hanging meat, muscle gain", with the strength to have the ability to resist, naturally not afraid to solve the problem with strength on the inside line. Imagine how terrifying it would be for a big man who has shots and defenses, and can participate in interior confrontations. As long as Smith can gain some more weight, he has the hope of becoming this all-round center.
The Rockets' Wood has made the team very uncomfortable, although the average per game has nearly 18 points and 10 rebounds, but Wood's scoring means are basically focused on the long-range shooting, and finally Wood harvested the data but lost the game, so that the Rockets could not see the hope of winning, and finally was traded by the Rockets.
The current Smith can be said to be a defensively upgraded version of Wood, and if he can't score closer to the basket, he may become the next Wood. If you want to be really valued by the Rockets and truly become the cornerstone center of the Rockets, Smith must not learn from Wood, has been floating on the outside line to shoot, he should now increase his muscles and change his scoring method.