Reed is small, has no handle, has no quickness, shot is unreliable, has matador defense, and not smart enough to know how to draw fouls. Let the cope and delusional rationalization begin. Going to be a long summer.
The kid will always be a defensive liability because of his size and marginal athleticism. Could he one day become good enough to warrant drawing up schemes to hide\protect him like they do for some other smaller star guards, maybe but so far, I'm not seeing it. I'd much rather utilize what years we have left with KD and ship Reed off for someone that can provide what we need now. If the KD years don't work then hell we'd be back to rebuilding anyway.
Small? Yes No handle? Incorrect. No quickness? Very incorrect. Unreliable shot? Incorrect. Matador defense? Maddeningly correct. Doesn't draw fouls? Correct. Delusional rationalization can be used to describe your post about a second year player who might be the most talented offensive player on the team right now.
Rough end to what was essentially his rookie campaign, but there were a lot of positives. Here's hoping the Rockets get a real head coach and we see more improvement next season.
It was a terrible game and he was bad. Then again, the whole team was terrible...from coaches to players.
If we’re at the point where a guy shooting 9.7 3s per 36 and 39.4% isn’t a good shooter then we likely will never have a good shooter on this team. I’m not sure a single player in the league had a higher % and higher volume.
Jalen green got traded for his shtty performance rightly so. Reed sheppard awful turnover that cost game 3 and that sht game 6 elimination performance. I dont think even Jalen green had that type of performance, doesnt help hes small and a bad defender. What a depressing off season if we just run it back with fvv.
Jalen Green did not get traded for his one playoffs series performance. He had 4 seasons of starter minutes to see what he had as a player. Reed Shepperd had 1.1 seasons of sporadic starter minutes to see what he could do.
Shooting is literally the one thing I'm not worried about with Reed. He can shoot. His percentages were all lower in the playoffs because of his other deficiencies. His ballhandling is just not even close to acceptable for a small guard in the NBA. He is unable to get around a hedge on a PnR and get downhill. Even when he gets a switch with a big he can't consistently beat them off the dribble. He can't handle ball pressure. Normally it's a no-no to pressure a small guard in the backcourt because they can beat you and create a 4-on-5 scenario in the halfcourt. There are times when he just gets stood up at the 3pt line and needs to drop it off to Sengun because he is more effective at dribble penetration. He is a poor finisher and lacks the creativity to alter his shot around help defense at the rim. He often pulls up for awkward short range jumpers and his teardrops are sometimes so off it looks like he's never practiced them. Defensively, he's quicker and more athletic than Chris Paul ever was and has inexplicably decided he wants to play defense like Tari Eason. He expends all his energy lundging at the ball for steals instead of shuffling his feet and staying in front of his man. This can have great results when he's off the ball and on forwards but he simply can't be trusted at the point of attack. He just doesn't have the length to play this gambling style of defense on the PG position. In the summer, I would focus on maximizing his strengths. He's never going to be Kyrie Irving with the basketball. He should focus on identifying when he has space to get his shot off and quickly squaring up to fire. There are lots of times where he has space to shoot off of a PnR and if he leverages that it can force the defense to overplay it and help compensate for his weak handle allowing him to get into the paint and create. Defensively, they have to complete change his mindset. Sure, playing straight up won't get you the gaudy steals and deflections but it's way more important to the team. He just can't come back next year as a small guard 3pt specialist that can't defend PGs. He has to give us more.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...ip-void-why-houston-rockets-season-ended-thud The Rockets have believed deeply in Sheppard since drafting him at No. 3 in 2024 -- one spot ahead of eventual Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. Internally, there's a belief Sheppard has the potential to develop into an all-time great, such as former Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, if given enough time and the right conditions. Externally, there is less of a consensus on Sheppard. "More like Steve Kerr," a rival scout quipped, when asked about the Nash projection, envisioning Sheppard as an undersized, reserve 2-guard instead of a pure point guard who could serve as an offensive engine. VanVleet was supposed to buy Sheppard more time. But ultimately, the Rockets believe Sheppard has the right temperament to grow from the ups and downs of this season. "He just flashes so much greatness you can't teach," a team source said. "From Steve Nash to Steph Curry, none of those little guards play great their first few years. We're still big believers in Reed."
I am a Reed fan. But when I hear that our FO projects him to be Nash, I am nervous. Our front office is kind of like DD on this board. Whatever they love so much is bad. I mean, they thought Nix was a lottery talent. I don't trust their talent evaluation.
I have confidence in Reed and think he is a keeper. I think the offensive schemes he has been tasked with running are complete trash by a coach who should be a defensive bench coordinator. I think a coach like D'Antoni or Adelman could make Sheppard look twice as good.
I still believe Reed will improve and am willing to give him two more years. But if hes packaged, like anyone else on this roster, to get someone better, do it!
That's not his numbers though. He didn't average 9.7 attempts, he averaged 7 attempts with 39.4% This whole per 36 business is to skew the argument in your favour. Let's actually look at players who took more attempts AND had higher percentages: Ant Man 8.4 attempts 39.9% NAW 8.1 att 39.9% Knueppel 7.9 att 42.5% Jamal Murray 7.5 att 45.5% Gillespie 7.2 att 40.1% Merill (who?) 7.2 att 42.1% AJ Green 7.1 att 41,9% So yes, he had a decent shooting season overall, and no, he is not the player in the league with the highest percentage at that volume. No matter how you try and spin it with your "per whatevers."
