Reed Sheppard is the Rockets’ Franchise Player™

I'll add Cade there

 

When Ime figures out that Reed should be our number 1 option, and Reed embraces that, you guys will see.

DD

 

Issue is Reed has to want that. Dude plays a bit too timid out there. He misses a couple gets down on himself and then passes up open shots

 

Yes, it is a shift for sure.

DD

 

Ime is not the reason Reed is missing shots. KD is obviously the best offensive player. Reed has had the 2nd best offensve stretch among any Rocket this season despite having a 20 game stinker afterwards. Last 4 games, he's looking better. Looks like he'll be a great offensive player when his shot (both inside and outside is falling or one is smoking hot) is falling.

 

Sheppard has been in a 2 month slump and that’s a concern. Not all his misses are from him coming off screens. Many of these are wide open spot up shots. Him coming off screens or running toward the ball handler to get a pass is how he plays. That’s not how Tari plays. If that’s how he has always played he should knock those shots down. No excuses. Curry plays like that and knocks down his shots.

Fact is we don’t know where he’s going. A 2, 2.5 month slump is disconcerting. Very inconsistent. Flashes of greatness at times but his 3 pt shooting has been highly inconsistent and disappointing to me since the end of DEC. Don’t believe me? Watch below:


https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CF...r Season&TeamID=&flag=3&sct=plot&section=game

 

I believe his FT shooting will come around with more reps, but yeah 78% isn't good enough for him. Agree wholeheartedly on court vision and hands!

 

Why should he be a number 1 option? He doesn’t get to the paint consistently and shooting 30% last 20 games. What has he done to earn this? Would this be based on merit? If it is then his play certainly doesn’t justify what you say.

 

I have a feeling that Reed will be a streaky 3pt shooter with an overall 40% average. He will have bad stretches and people will say he's fool's gold. But when he is on, we will all be very excited.

His offense is not just 3pt shooting. He has good playmaking instinct (need to develop interior pocket passing though). And his mid range can be a killer.

I hope his defense will improve to a point that he will become a starter before the regular season ends. I have more faith in him becoming an okay defender than in Amen becoming an okay shooter.

 

But this is the same exact issues with his Rocket predecessors. Showing flashes of greatness then going on a streak of poor play. People hated Green for this. Sheppard may be a bit of a better shooter than Green and I think his first month and a half and games where he shoots .600 etc has saved his avg because he’s shot 33% or so past 2 months. We need him to be consistent. No more KPJ or JG type inconsistency with flashes of brilliance. Easier said than done and we may not see this until year 4.

 

I hear Reed doesn't even know how to shoot a basketball, that's why defenders guard him out to the logo every time he's on the court.

 

Both of those are hard to learn, but we also have plenty of examples of it happening with past and present players.

Ideally Amen learns to shoot (at least open corner threes and middies) and Reed becomes an average defensive player and a bit more consistent with his shooting. They can both start for us long-term if that happens. I'd have faith in that Reed/Amen/Tari/Bari/Alpi core being a competitive playoff team, although I'm not sure I see a real championship contender. We're still waiting for the right #1 option to come available where we can make a trade that fixes our roster construction and gives us a real "best player in a playoff series" type of guy. Since obviously KD is just a band-aid fix for that right now, and has never been able to be the bus driver on a championship team.

 

My guess is Reed will get better at all the stuff he's physically capable of. That means his scoring percentage will go up from both 2 and 3. He has extremely reliable form from 3 and should be able to ratchet up his percentage as he gets more familiar with NBA defenses and shot selection. Also as we run more Curry-like plays for him. (I'm not saying he'll be Curry. Curry has uncanny touch and confidence.) And he'll get better at the pocket passing, layups, pull-ups, etc.

He'll definitely get better at free throws. There's no reason his percentage should be that low.

On his handle, I'm a maybe. I'd love to believe it'll get a lot better. But he might just not have that kind of talent.

What he won't get much better at IMO is defense. He can hit the weight room and beef up his ability to slow down attackers, and he can work on reading the opponent's moves to do a better job of staying in front. But those short arms are a killer. He'll always be the guy ceremonially raising a hand as the shot goes over him.

 

yep no championship. Not good enough.

 

I'm still kinda lowkey waiting on Ant Edwards to become available at some point and hoping we'll have the best package for him

Although on the downside, he seems like a real a-hole. But then, so was MJ.

 

He really is the truly generational shooter of the bunch, as much as I hate the shimmying little goblin. People love to act like he wasn't ridiculous out of the gate, he was just not seen as the focal point which is why the %s were already insane and the numbers weren't yet.

 

I think we have to factor in that Reed is playing more basketball right now than he ever has in his life. Rookie wall stuff could be a factor. Also, just simply being young and needing further refinement.

Here is a 10 game stretch from age 21 yr old steph who later became the best shooter of all time:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/curryst01/gamelog/2010/#47-56-sum:player_game_log_reg

This is around the same time frame where Reed is now.

Steph shot 32% during this 10 game stretch.
Reed's bad stretch has been worse (Not monumentally worse) than Steph's, but just showing even the best shooter of all time had bad shooting stretches as a young player.

I think everyone viewed this as a developmental year for Reed. We didnt expect him to be even close to a finished product. We knew there'd be areas he needed A LOT of work in. I wouldnt be surprised if there is a big difference in year 3 Reed vs what we're seeing right now. Even with Idiot Udumbka as the coach.

 

If he averages 40% overall on streaky shooting, he'll be much better than Jalen's streaky 34%. And Reed is a much better passer and a much better middie shooter. That's the big difference between those two guys.

 

To me, if FVV can be a good defender, Reed can too. The only thing Fred is physically better than Reed is his strength and build. Build can't be help. But strength can be trained to improve. For Reed to improve to an okay defender, he just needs to learn the techniques and shed the bad habits. This is why I am still hopeful that he can get there within this season.

I also believe Amen can be an okay shooter someday. But that will take longer, not likely happen this season.