 |
| Photo by David Dow via Getty Images |
“The coach took it from there, trading on what he had learned from working with the top players in the world as coach of the U.S. Olympic team. ‘The great ones -- Durant, Lebron, Kobe, Carmelo -- don’t have positions,’ Krzyzewski said. Jabari nodded. ‘You’re a great player. And at Duke you will be a player without a position.’”
The one thing everyone agrees on when discussing Jabari Parker is that he will score. And the one thing nobody agrees on is what position he’s going to play in the NBA. We can partially blame Coach K for that and this quote reeks of the ‘Face of Team USA Basketball’ that Adrian Wojnarowski portrayed recently. Jabari had the versatility to play four positions at the college level because of his size, skills, and underrated athleticism. Coach K took advantage of that and used Jabari to plug any and all holes he had on a thin Duke roster. Coach K may have sold it to Jabari and his family as the grooming of a superstar, but I’m not so sure it was in Jabari’s best interest for him to have played so many minutes doing things that he will never be asked to do in the NBA.
The first time I saw Jabari Parker was a highlight of the annual Blue vs. White Midnight Madness Duke intra-squad scrimmage. Off of an offensive rebound, he spun baseline and threw down a nasty reverse dunk:
As a guy who was knocked for his athleticism, I was immediately convinced. Jabari doesn’t have extra-terrestrial athleticism like Wiggins and Lavine, but he has NBA-level athleticism. It was the way Coach K played Jabari, at almost every position on the floor, that ‘exposed’ him as a player that lacked elite levels of athleticism in certain situations. When you are playing a 6’8, 235 lb small forward at center, even in college, he’s going to get pushed around. When you ask him to then chase wing players through multiple screens and guard on the perimeter, it may appear he is lacking in quickness.
There’s no doubt that the biggest question mark attached to Jabari as he enters the league is who he can defend. The Duke defense that he ‘anchored’ had a Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 102.8 placing them 141st of 351 FBS basketball schools. That’s not an impressive number. Jabari averaged 1.2 blocks per game and 1.1 steals, both respectable numbers, but neither are eye-popping. Those numbers will likely be lower in the NBA where his size and length are less of an advantage. However, he’ll be better served in the NBA playing at a more natural position and alongside great defensive players (Giannis) and rim protectors (Larry Sanders).
 |
| via www.shotanalytics.com |
Offensively, Jabari is just so versatile. He shot a respectable 36% from 3-point range and you would expect that he could raise that number from day one with a bit better shot selection aided by a bit less offensive responsibility. Jabari played many minutes at the 4 and 5 for a team that was 2nd in the NCAA with an Off Rating (points per 100 possessions) of 119.6 . He was still able to get up more than 100 3-point attempts last season and was especially efficient at the top of the key where he shot 47%. The unique blend of mobility and strength make Jabari dangerous on almost every spot on the floor. Although he’ll struggle to score as consistently with his back to the basket as he did in college, Jabari’s face up game will be his bread and butter.
Jabari has already said that Jason Kidd plans to use him at the power forward position. He’s also indicated that’s where he feels most comfortable. Last season Paul Pierce (almost identical in size and body type to Jabari) had lots of success in the second half of the season playing the ‘stretch 4’ role that Jabari will be playing. It may have been a glimpse into how Jason Kidd plans to unleash Jabari on the league this season, but if so, maybe Coach K did have a bit of a point. From the same SI piece:
(Coach K): ‘If you put a plant in a pot, it might take the shape of a pot. But if you put a great plant in great soil and let it go, some crazy good things can happen. If i put you in a box and call you a two or a three, that would be a pretty good box. But if I give you the freedom to play multiple areas, there wouldn’t be a box. You would be growing up everywhere.’
As Pierce began to fill out that ‘stretch 4’ role for a Nets team that (due to injury) had a huge deficiency there, his game began to change. As Kirk Goldsberry pointed out, over one-third of Pierce’s shot attempts came from behind the arc and his percentages around the basket plummeted. If Kidd tries to put Jabari into the ‘box’, as Coach K put it, of a stretch 4 and Jabari is taking 160-200 3-point attempts this season, that’s a disservice to Jabari, could lead to a very inefficient (if productive) season, which could open the door for the other ROY candidates.
The versatility of pairing Jabari and Giannis together as the building blocks for this franchise give Jason Kidd even more flexibility and would make it even more disappointing if Jabari was relegated to an average 3-point shooting stretch 4 and not able to attack from multiple spots on the floor. Playing Jabari at the four (as he’s indicated) and Giannis at the 3 is the most natural fit and the lineup of Knight/Middleton/Giannis/Parker/Sanders may accumulate the most minutes over the course of the season barring injury. Kidd will be able to do some other creative things though.
Sliding Giannis and Parker down, don’t be surprised to see a lineup of Knight, Giannis, Parker, Henson, and Sanders often. There has been talk of getting Giannis minutes at the point guard position. A lineup of Giannis/Middleton/Parker/Henson/Sanders could reek havoc defensively. Nate Wolters also had a solid rookie season and Bucks GM John Hammond signed both Jerryd Bayless and Kendall Marshall. Those moves were calculated to have Brandon Knight spend time playing at the shooting guard position as well and all the lineup combinations that come with that. In all of those scenarios, Jabari is bouncing between the 3 and 4 position as expected, but again the key will be not to pigeonhole him in a certain role.
Although Jabari is a big, strong, and underratedly athletic player, he’s going to struggle to score in the post at first. He’ll need to stick with it though, similarly to how Blake Griffin has continued to improve playing down low against length. By all accounts though, Jabari is the type of dude who you want to be building around. A Chicago native, Jabari was so vocal about wanting to play in Milwaukee that he was never really considered as a realistic option by Cleveland. Think about that. The kid really wanted to go play in Milwaukee. For the Bucks. He understands what comes with being the face of a franchise and actively seeked that out in Milwaukee.
In high school, Parker didn’t date or go to parties. He doesn’t drink. He’s formed an immediate connection with fellow Mormon and former professional athlete Steve Young. He’s seemingly viceless in the way that Kevin Durant had constructed his persona during his first few seasons in the league. If any player is ready for development on the NBA level or being the face of a franchise it would seem that Jabari is it. As Coach K says:
‘Jabari has a terrific sense of humor. And he doesn’t have any demons. He doesn’t drink or party or have a problem with authority. Those things rob you of your love of preparation for the game.’
No matter what position he will be asked to play in the NBA, Jabari will be ready.
No comments:
Post a Comment