All about 6'1" All good shooters All didn't last long in the NBA You can twist it any way you'd like to. You can put a rooster in a tuxedo.....it doesn't make it a penguin. I don't trust the judgement of Clutchfans as a whole scouting point guards. TyTy was suppose to be the answer to our problems at point before Amen was suppose to be the answer to our problems at point before now Reed Sheppard. Somebody better ask Ime Udoka..... because no defense means no playing time a majority of the time. But, sure let's draft an end of quarter spacer at #3. There is always a situation for a situational player.
CP3 has guarded Durant well. He's an excellent on ball defender and uses his intelligence, quickness, physicality and playing like an annoying **** to frustrate people. Tari has shown he can get bodied and fouls too much but he excels at defending passing lanes and scrambles for loose balls. We haven't seen enough of his on ball defense yet. I think MJ fouls Tari out if they play a whole game. CP3 is far shorter but I'd prefer him on MJ even if it's for one shot. Can't say I really like either of them defending prime MJ, but I'll take CP3's intelligence and quickness over Tari's hustle and length. Would you put Tari on Iverson? or CP3 on Iverson?
Edit: To be clear, I'm not comping him to Nash. I think that does a disservice to both guys. But for...reasons, yes Reed does get compared to Nash from time to time (and not just here).
Yes, I was worried Clutchfans was going to suffer from groupthink and fall entirely into an echo chamber. I'm a fan of creating your own analysis and thinking for yourself. You don't have to go with what everyone thinks, just look at advanced stats, highlights, and mocks and assume that's the guy. It's okay to change your mind with new info, or disagree with what's popular or even agree if you feel that way. I think if you're a fan of a player it's good to watch full games and acknowledge strengths, weaknesses, and if someone actually might be better. Different perspectives are good imo.
Sure I'm sure it exists somewhere. I do not believe "secret NBA sources" of course. But the proof is in the pudding. One Nash-like play does not make a Steve Nash. This idea is ridiculous to me. Sheppard has never been a full time PG. Players rarely develop that Magic/Nash/Kidd like magical passing instinct. You can improve your passing, but you can't turn yourself into that elite tier. These people have it when they're 12-14 yrs old and their coaches can't wait to make them full time PG's. Nash would not be a combo guard off the bench in the NCAA. In fact there's a guy in the draft who's shockingky similar to Nash and makes these plays regularly. It's absurd to me that Topic is a candidate and people are using Nash as a comp for Sheppard. It shows me these comparisons are not logical or genuine. Sheppard will be a good passer but Nash is something else. Nash is nowhere near the athlete Sheppard is. The only thing they share is shooting and skin color imo.
Why did you bring up McClung? Freshman McClung's 3pt% was practically half that of Sheppard. Sheppard's TS% was almost 20 points higher. Sheppard had dramatically better advanced stats. They aren't remotely close to the same level of shooting, passing or defense. Maybe it was all a low sample size fluke like roslolian said but Sheppard put up his numbers as a freshman which matters. I'm not trying to act like Sheppard is a HOF lock or something, but going out of your way and putting him in the same category as Mac McClung is just silly.
Um do you know who Sam Vecenie is? He 100% knows and talks to NBA teams, and he does share those tidbits from time to time. At least 2 of his previous co-hosts went on to work for NBA teams. One of them being the Sixers with Morey and the other being...the Rockets. Anyway, your opinion is your opinion and I won't bother trying to change it. I'm just letting you know that yes, Nash comes up (right or wrong).
Dude pretty much everything you said about Sheppard here is subjective opinions of yours, which is fine. But compared that to the OP's analysis with data, I don't see anyone who does not already agree with our opinion will be sway by your reasoning.
Meh - he jumped what he jumped and there is video of him using his vertical defensively. He also doesn’t just have a really strong vertical, he has a lot of hang time. Sheppard is short - and like Chris Paul, defensively he will have limitations in select match ups- but his great hands, vertical, instincts and lane quickness really off set a lot of the issues with his height. I may be in the minority, but I believe he will be a really good defender in the backcourt but it may take him a few years.
I don't doubt what you're saying that he has contacts or that someone compared Reed to Steve. I just don't have much faith in entertainment media to report truth or never lie. Anyone who gives you inside info wants a favor and those favors are to promote a certain narrative. I'm very familiar with that industry. I don't blame them. It's just the business. On Vecenie, he believes Jalen took an actual leap and Amen is likely a star. Likes Whitmore a lot. So if we're not being selective where does Sheppard fit in all this vs our top picks from stronger drafts? If Sheppard is BPA surely we should ship him out, no? Or are we in the midst of our playoff chase going to replace our stable FVV with a guy who needs to learn to be a floor general? Man, a Steve Nash does not need to be taught the PG position. That's not how that archetype works. A Steve Nash can't help but be too unselfish if you put him at SG. Every season there are Nash-like passers and you can see it in a millisecond. They're not always successful either - Ish Smith for example had that skill but not the overall package to make it. Sheppard will likely never be a better passer than guys like that. It rarely happens and we have an example on our team. It took FVV damn near a decade to become an elite passer (3:1 asst/to ratio) and he's still not a Nash. Not sure I'm explaining the difference well, but there is certainly a difference between Nash and FVV even after FVV improved his passing so much. Reed is more in the FVV camp imo.
Because McClung is 6'2" like Sheppard and both have vertical leaping ability. Great leaping ability doesn't keep dunk champ McClung around. I can say Scoot Henderson whom people here also told me he had great court vision and would dominate day one. Blazers fans are talking like they want to draft a point guard. Go figure
This gave me a good laugh. You know that Steve Nash at Reed Sheppard's age was indeed... a combo guard off the bench in the NCAA. With half the assist rate of Sheppard. But I'm sure you know that. You've been crushing 92-93 Santa Clara University game tape.
Fair enough. Not that I necessarily agree that this is what's happening here, but I'd rather focus on my whole point of sharing that news...which is Steve Nash comparisons exist here and elseswhere (Twitter, Reddit, NBA teams, etc). That's all I was trying to prove. I'm...not sure I would accurately describe this as Vecenie's opinions. Well yes he does like Whitemore a lot. But maybe that's irrelevant for now. If they drafted Reed, does it seem unreasonable that you'd let him earn those bench rotation minutes as the 3rd/4th guard (possibly backup PG), and then you go from there? Not sure why he should be expected to start over FVV if that's what you're saying. Not that I want to make the argument that Reed is comparable to Steve Nash, but if you were going to steel-man that argument, it seems reasonable to put out that Nash needed ~4 years of college and maybe 1-2 years of NBA experience to learn the PG position. Unless you want to compare Nash's freshman tape with Reed's freshman tape. Which I'd actually like to do if I could find old Nash footage...but I'm guessing that's not available. I generally agree with you here, so you don't really even have to explain much more. Though I also don't mind a Nash comparison if people want to buy in to Reed's ability to drastically improve his skill level even more. If people want to believe Amen will learn to shoot 3s efficiently, then sure why not believe that Reed could somehow become very Nash-like over time. Neither is too likely, but hey now is the time to dream about upside with these guys.
Vecenie called Green's month a leap that changes our future. He called our draft (Amen/Cam) one of the best ones in the NBA in a strong draft. I think he's very positive on our players. I'm aware he was skeptical of Green earlier. That's why I think he loves our backcourt. You might know something I don't. As far as Reed being 3rd/4th guard my issue with that is I would much rather run Amen at PG who I see as the better passer, finisher, defender, athlete. I see Amen as clearly our future PG so development minutes are actually vital because FVV contract is running out. I don't think he has to become an efficient shooter to become a superstar. I think he has to become a low volume passable shooter. Reed is surely not a better prospect than our SG's and Cam can handle off ball shooting if we go that route. Cam has more proven superstar potential from what we've seen inside the NBA. Am I giving Cam fewer minutes because Sheppard might be a slightly better shooter next season? I can see a case but not for me. Sheppard might have superstar potential prior to seeing him against NBA players. Cam and Amen for sure have superstar potential after seeing them against NBA players- they have more evidence on their side. I don't know. I wouldn't be unhappy having Sheppard but I feel like we are going to underplay him and then trade him at a discount. They're a very subjective side of this which is I believe we have the best young backcourt in the NBA. Who has 3 players in the backcourt that still have superstar potential? Maybe my assessment is skewed because we're so rich with talent in this area. If I'm bringing someone along slowly I'm going with Topic. That guy actually needs a year to learn English, culture, American basketball concepts. He needs G League time. He can run the PG spot like a mature player right now, he flashes the ability to be elite on-ball which is a tier of its own. His one weakness (shooting) looks very easy to fix given his mechanics and FT%. He gets to the line a lot per possession which is an exceptional trait. You will rarely find a teenager baiting grown ups into fouls in any league. I would rather work on Topic's shooting than Sheppard's floor general game. It's easier, faster and more likely to succeed in my opinion.
