I don’t think so, I’ve come to the conclusion that the whole “udoka knows defense” has to be one of the biggest scams in rockets history. Even with our all defense players lineup we can’t defend a ****ing PnR Sheppard and senguin are just scapegoats
So true, it's impossible for a 21 year old to add muscle. This is truly brilliant. I hear it's much easier to learn how to shoot a basketball than to gain muscle....so that's good news for Amen.
Right. A good defensive coach would at least teach the players how to defend a PnR. You can't just blame the players. They don't even seem to know what to do in a PnR situation.
He has very narrow shoulders even narrower than Brunson's. You can't generate or absorb much force before it disrupts your shot. Didn't Green have that same issue as well? He couldn't finish through contact. It's pretty universal among all contact sports. In football (soccer), very slim wingers with narrow shoulders often struggle to keep their dribble alive under contact while stronger and more physically developed wingers are better able to stay on their feet while maintaining control of the ball.
Shop Reed around and see if we can find some one who values him highly. If no god offers keep him as there is some chance he can be a great asset. NOONE knows if he will ever be more than a streaky off the bench shooter who is a defensive liability. What can we get in the the 2026 draft or another young player for Reed plus the Sun's pick?
In his defense Prichard works his ****ing ass off and is pound for pound one of the best players in the league for his physical limitations. Reed has a ways to go to be as good as him, but I agree he needs more pt.
Udoka played Pritchard 14.1 mpg and Mazulla played him 13.4 mpg the next year. I do think Pritchard has progressed very nicely but they are 2 very different players. Pritchard is a great ball handler and 1on1 player. Reed is more of a shooter and I think they should be developed very differently.
It's not just the P&R either. FVV said himself on the Out the Mud podcast that Amen's relying entirely on his athleticism, and "doesn't know what to do with his hands" and "I'm telling him all the time he could close that off way before it even gets to there." Does that sound like our coach knows how to train defense? Sounds like Fred does more of it than Ime to me, and probably the real reason Amen is falling behind his peers defensively (and his brother also) - Ime's not teaching them anything. You don't learn by being called a punk and a b**** and "hustle harder."
I see your point. Still, its not any better or worse measure of race sentiment, when compared using the measure of "inconsistent allocation of player's minutes" as 100% proof of racism Maybe I shouldn't have added that example. But it accidentally proves the overall point that there isn't enough clear action to know the person's position on race
Don't you think we'd get a lot more for him if we just bulked him up a bit, gave him one more summer to work on his handle and let him show what he's learned after his first playoff experience? I think we should wait to get that low hanging fruit, these are almost automatic improvements. He's going to grow a lot as a person and player over the summer. Trading him after 20 more regular season games is likely to be in our favor.
I'm so tired of hearing this lie. Udoka played Pritchard more minutes than Mazzulla did in Mazzulla's first season. It's in Mazzulla's second season that Pritchard started getting real minutes and he had improved his defense and handling a lot. I'm no Udoka fan and Mazzulla is a much better coach but this story is BS.
Reed played great last night, he was good on offense, and he stayed in front of his man on defense, and wasn't a turnstile. Progress. DD
I caight one instance he got lost but otherwise he did good. Training with a wider stance defensive position, learning to take a charge/flop, and be alert of his surroundings are all he needs.
He needs to get up to the ball handler's space early before the guy has time to size up the floor. Once he settles 3 ft away from the guy, he's gonna be cooked because he's laterally too slow and physically too short. Good things happens when he can crowd the guy.
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4711272/reed-sheppard Reed is NOT playing badly in the playoffs, he got benched one game after only 11 mins, and never got a chance to shoot his way into that game. Even with that game he is still shooting 35.1% from 3, not great but only a bucket or 2 from normal. The 11 minute game - where IME ****ED HIM - is causing his numbers to be off. DD
I don't know about football (soccer), but the way the NBA is called it's almost a non-contact sport. Being shifty and getting your defender off balance is much more important than muscle. Austin Reaves is under 200 pounds and has no problem handling the ball in traffic and finishing through contact. Tyler Herro is one of the thinnest guards in the league and is a three level scorer. Steph Curry and Shaun Livingston came into the league with very narrow frames and were excellent finishers from the jump as well. It's far from universal. I've heard this about thin big men as well: Mobley, Holmgren, and Wemby. That they lack muscle to bang with NBA centers. They are all excellent finishers and defenders. I'm not saying Reed is on any of these guys' levels. Clearly he lacks finishing and ballhandling. It's just not about his frame. TJ McConnell and Collin Gillespie are his height and weight and have no problem navigating the lane. McConnell is a ridiculous finisher in the lane considering his physical limitations.
Agreed. A small but pesky defender like Reed has to get up into the offensive player early so he can, at the very least, funnel them toward help. If he waits, tries to react and absorb contact while backpedaling, he's already half way in a body bag.
