Are the Rockets better when Reed starts?

How much of a leash does Udoka give a 2nd-year player like Reed Sheppard? Sheppard sat last 5:41 Saturday.

Udoka: “You live with some [mistakes], but you also want to see growth and progress in certain areas. The playing time will be based on that. “[We want to] continue to see growth from him. [Playing time] will be determined game by game.”

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My eye test sees a bunch of passes that Amen and Fred aren’t making and bunch of ninjas bricking.
And he ain’t “an undersized SG”. He’s a PG.

 

And it's worth noting that 6 of those games were on the road. Sure, 3 of them were at Utah and Indiana, but let's not act like the Rockets haven't had their struggles against crappy opponents away from home(Pelicans, Kings twice, Blazers twice, Mavs twice).

The team plays better with Reed as a starter. The lack of scoring off the bench would be a concern, but if Ime plays the right combinations of starters and reserves, they should be able to avoid lengthy offensive droughts.

 

I truly think Luka might be the worst defensive player in the league.

 

That is probably true.

 

Tough for the Amen fans to admit but the space and attention Reed creates on the perimeter open is up for everyone.

Amen is a special player who won’t take the next step until teams have to honor his 3point shot.

I would start Reed personally. Sengun and Durant get more open looks.

 

I keep hearing about Reed having poor defense yet when he's on the bench, I see all these huge leads blown. also blocks and steals are part of defense as well. I'm not saying he is anywhere near being the defensive player that he needs to be because he has a lot to learn and it is just his second year. In the games I'm watching we're not losing these games because of his defense or his 1.4 average turnovers.

 

Reed is bad at defense. The Rockets generally surround him with defenders as much as possible. This leads to a lot of mutt lineups in which Reed is one of the few players providing offense, while everyone else is there for defense. This leads to the Rockets offense generally not performing as well as one would expect with an offensive talent as good as Reed, but the defense is generally very good.

This kind of messes up stats like EPM when assigning offensive and defensive value, even if the total (offense and defense) EPM numbers are good.

 

I would start him, in place of Tari. Tari has that 6th man vibe, and would bring the energy off the bench.

Reed
Amen
KD
Bari
Alpi

I think Ime should also look more into how he uses his lineups throughout the game, specifically with Reed/Amen/KD/Sengun. I think that we need to avoid lineups where it’s Amen, Alpi, and other non-shooters. I think that Alpi should have more run together with Reed, who can get into the P&R together, and KD and Amen should have more minutes together, without the other 2. It creates a better balance during those non-starter times. You’re basically tethering a shooter to each non-shooting “star” on the team. Long-winded way of saying, I think Alpi/Reed two-man game should be explored much more. That chemistry is starting to grow, and I think it’s a really good match.​

 

Maybe others are more deserving of starting than Tari. Can we end that Tari plays better off the bench? I get that Tari has been having some serious mid-range shooting issues as a starter. Amen and Tari just work so well together on defense while Tari is another 3 point shooter on the court. If Tari goes to the bench, it should be because someone is a better starter. Tari has proven that he works great with the starters, and Tari having a 6th man vibe is a fan creation.

 

I think the board really underestimates how tough it is to develop multiple young core members.

Zach Lowe had another podcast that talked about the Rockets a bit more. He isn’t calling for Reed to be a starter or isn’t an idiot who is calling for Ime to be fired… but thinks Reed needs to play a bit more (especially when the offense bogs down).

 

It's not going to be Amen losing his starting spot in any case as long as Ime is the coach. That's just the reality right now. I don't think Reed is likely to start this season while Amen, Tari, and Bari are all healthy, but if he were, it would be Tari or Jabari going to the bench. More-realistic is, again, for Reed's minutes to go up and become more consistent, which absolutely needs to happen, and hopefully Ime will see it the same way.

 

Offensively, I don't think there's any question. While our current starting lineup hasn't been bad, a lineup of Sheppard / Amen / KD / Bari / Sengun just makes total sense. Sengun setting picks and operating as a hub on the elbow, Amen as a slasher in the dunker's spot, and three shooters moving on the perimeter is exactly how we should operate offensively.

 

It's not a question of Reed versus Amen for a starting spot and finishing role but rather Reed versus Tari. There is simply not enough shot creation with Amen, Tari, and Bari all in the same lineup. The load on KD and Sengun is too heavy. It often works to start games because KD is brilliant, but at the end of games KD wears down and the opponent cranks up - the margin of error disappears and the pressure to score increases. Now you're rolling over for the Knicks in prime time.

 

Lol @ the idea of benching your all nba defender who also gives 17 points and 5 assists for Reed. This is coming from a guy who has been saying to start Reed for a while now.

It's between Tari and Bari. Tari has been the better shooter and better defender over the season. Especially at the position that's available - at SG/SF mostly.

Bari should come off the bench. He's redundant with KD out there and playing out of position as a SG/SF with the starters. What he brings is nice to have. What Reed brings is a need to have.

Ime playing favorites.

 

ego will not allow but kd should be the 6th man. overwhelm with youth and athleticism and then bring in kevin and let him eat.

 

...and yeah, reed should start

 

Yep. I think Reed should start. That said, I see benefit for coaches in not demoting players willy-nilly. For someone like Ime, I just don't see him trading defense for offense unless either JSJ or Tari have a really horrid long stretch of bad play. For the most part, the starting lineup as is works really well despite a recent hiccup (defense is great, offense less so).

Granted, finishing....Rockets tend to try to be too iso heavy and lose what was working, along with starters just wearing out.

 

Udoka doesn't like Reed, KD, and Sengun lineup defensively, but we get so much more offensively. Amen is way better/threat when he's cutting to the basket, also when Reed has the ball, he only needs little bit of a light to pull from 27ft, as opposed to Amen who they know won't shoot. That changes the whole defensive schemes. Not to mention how much he spreads the floor. Ime's got nothing to lose at this point (we'll end up with the HC anyway), but to roll the dice n let it play it out.

 

I know he's your guy, and I know what value he has to the defense, but he can't ****ing shoot and as a result he makes everyone else on the court worse.

His upside is still that of a star, but right now Sengun plus 4 shooters gives you more than having Amen in the starting lineup.

If/when Amen ever learns how to shoot a basketball at a respectable level, then this is a COMPLETELY different conversation, but until then we have to acknowledge what a detriment Amen is to the offense in the halfcourt. He can't pass or shoot well enough to be a guard or even a wing and he's not big enough to be a center.

He's that high upside tweener that sometimes hits and sometimes doesn't.

Right now he's Ben Simmons with a weaker handle and worse court vision. It's okay to admit that while hoping he moves beyond that and reaches his potential.