More responsibilities await Smith
Jabari Smith Jr. is getting used to doing more against, well, more.
The Rockets’ secondyear forward has had his physicality and versatility as a defender put to the test. He might be asked to guard Kawhi Leonard or James Harden one night, and Kevon Looney or Jaren Jackson Jr. the next.
Smith was not assigned to defend Nikola Jokic in the Rockets’ first meeting with the Nuggets earlier this month, with those duties falling to starting center Alperen Şengün and small-ball five Jeff Green. That will likely be the case for Friday’s game against the Nuggets, too, but Smith said that he is growing more accustomed to guarding bigger players at both the four and the five.
“Oh, yeah,” Smith said. “It’s just all about technique. Doing your work early. Listening to my vets and people who have been in that position guarding bigger people. So it was just about listening and learning, really.”
As the Rockets have experimented more with Smith at center over the past three games — against the Grizzlies, Warriors and Lakers — Smith averaged 16.3 points on 56.3% shooting after averaging 7.7 points on 37.0% shooting the three games prior.
“He’s been doing great,” Green said. “I know it’s all new to him, but he’s been adapting and doing the assignment that coach needs him to do. He’s been playing with a lot of physicality, playing with a lot of force, (to) take advantage of his opportunities when he has them on the offensive end. So I think he’s been adjusting well.”
Try as he might, Smith cannot add multiple inches of height or multiple pounds of muscle overnight to square off against the giants of the NBA. What he can control from game to game is his preparedness.
“It’s a lot of film that goes into it,” Smith said. “Everybody has their go-to moves and it’s just about listening to guys like Dillon (Brooks) and Jeff who guarded these people and know tricks of the trade. And just more technique, because the energy is gonna be there. The effort is gonna be there. But when you’re guarding great players, you got to know their tendencies and all different things like that.”
Of course, sometimes being overmatched in size and strength translates to having an advantage in speed or footwork. Understanding how to weaponize those skills in matchups against bigs is key, said Green.
“It’s very important because you can’t allow a bigger guy to bury you underneath the rim, so you have to use your speed, your IQ, certain techniques to get around,” Green said. “Find different positions to be in to not allow the guy to get the ball so there’s ways to get around it. You just have to be smarter when you can do those things.”
Smith is averaging 13 points on 10.5 shots per game and shooting 48.9% from the field. Although Jalen Green, Şengün and Fred VanVleet all take more shots than him, Smith said he is trying to be more aggressive within the offense and function as a multi-level scorer.
“It’s just knowing that when I’m open, that might be the best shot we get that possession, and it kind of hurts the team when I turn down open looks,” Smith said. “So just always being ready to shoot it knowing that I’m a shooter and the shots are gonna come and just trusting it…. Shots are gonna come from different places and (I’m) just playing throughout the offense and just taking the right shot.”
So far, he is succeeding in diversifying his scoring. Smith is shooting 36.5% on 3-pointers, up from 30.7% last season, on 4.8 attempts per game. His 3point makes and attempts rank third among the Rockets, as do his per game averages for paint points (5.8) and fast-break points (1.5).
The Rockets have never doubted Smith’s ability to score. Defense is where the team needs him to improve most if he is to stay on the court in pivotal moments. Smith did not finish the Rockets’ Nov. 12 win over the Nuggets, with Green playing the final stretch instead, but Rockets coach Ime Udoka did let Smith close all three tight games of last week’s West Coast road trip.
“For him it’s matching that physicality, being able to guard multiple positions as he does when we switch anyway,” Udoka said. “He’s guarding some point guards sometimes up to the floor and sometimes small-ball five, so his versatility there and his size and length, that’s valuable to us. So his main thing is, you know, embracing that physicality. He’s a thinner guy. But he’ll get stronger over time and that’s a big part of this growth defensively, aggressiveness and versatility.”
VanVleet said that since training camp, he’s been impressed by Smith’s willingness to learn and to show up each day with a consistent demeanor.
“I think just being in this situation after being in the situation they were in last year, I think he’s more appreciative of the moment, and just learning and wanting to be led and wanting to be taught and wanting to be coached,” VanVleet said. “And obviously the talent is there. You can see that. Anybody can see that. But it’s the little things, the intangibles, that’s gonna separate you, and Jabari has all of those.”