I mean Steph can probably hit a middy at that rate too but that he finds ways to still get that three by taking a couple of steps to the side after a pump fake is what makes him an all star. If Reed is just taking a bunch of 2s when defenders chase him off the line, he will never reach his potential. It's the difference between a 14-18pt scorer and 25+pt scorer if he is taking them at the volume a guy like Steph was taking them at in his prime.
It was quite a bit into Steph's career till he managed that. For the first several years he got separation via moving screens.... sometimes multiple moving screens.
I'm not worried about Reed's offense. He's obviously a solid shooter, and while his handle needs work, he's been pretty smart and careful in his first preseason games. He can help us set up buckets with relatively few turnovers. I'm very worried about his defense. Already seeing signs that teams can force us to switch him onto bigger players, who can then abuse him. This opens a major liability in our defense. And I bet Udoka, who had lots of switchable defenders in Boston, is worried about it too.
Curry hits threes at 43% for his career or about a 64% TS%. I'm pretty Reed is hitting MR jumpers at a higher TS% than that. If defenses concede that MR jumper, he's the greatest player in NBA history. I don't think defenses will concede or chase Reed into those jumpers just as they don't concede them to Curry. It comes down to how hard will it be for teams to not allow him that shot.
Every wing action Reed has been involved in so far the Rockets have switched, meaning he has been matched up with forwards and power forwards throughout his minutes so far. Against OKC Jalen Williams, a soon to be All-Star player drove on him and scored. Cason Wallace also drove on him and scored. Wallace later drove on Holiday and also scored an easy layup but there doesn’t seem to be much concern over Holiday’s defense. Those were the only two instances where anyone scored against Reed against OKC. Reed is not going to ever be a plus 1 on 1 defender, however he will be elite at generating deflections and steals, which help the defense and boosts the offense by generating fast breaks. His overall impact on defense, in his prime, is going to be neutral at worst and may be a positive when factoring in the steals. But even if it was a negative, I’m not sure what the worry is for, rarely can teams run lineups with 5 defenders. For instance, when Jalen Green was drafted at 178 pounds as a rookie, there didn’t seem to be much concern, and he actually was completely abused on defense with zero redeeming qualities(steals/deflections). Now if the concern was having an entire back court, Reed and Jalen, of poor 1 on 1 defenders then I would agree. Probably can’t keep both.
…hmmm Luka and Kyrie made it to the Finals, last year. Curry and Poole won it in 2022 … (I’m still in denial) Booker and a 35 yr old CP3 made it to the Finals in 2021 And an aging CP3 and Harden won it in 2018, as far as I’m concerned. then Irving and JR Smith won in 2016
I like his Basketball IQ. He could make a splash soon or at least within a couple of seasons. Good kid; apparently has become close friends with Tari.
They are competing for the same max salary slots. We have 7 guys to pay, some will be cut or traded, so it's natural to have these conversations. The actual problem is some people's agenda against some players, which is annoying.
That's only because guys like Hartenstein and Caruso were getting easy buckets at the rim. No need to hunt the Reed matchup when there is another open player diving to the hoop. You only hunt matchups when your initial play didn't work and OKC generated good looks from most of their plays against our poor defensive communication.
They really aren't though. This kind of just shows where your head is at.... They aren't competing against each other, they are competing against themselves. The only thing that is going to earn any of them the max is them playing well and earning it. No one is going to get the max because someone else fails.
Rockets gonna screw this man's game entirely. He wants to listen to country and they got him listening to The Whispers during practice. I wonder who had that music playing? Ime Udoka? Love that song, though. How do you know it was on for him? What if that was Amen's shots? Jk. Seriously, I can't tell if it's on or not for him - it looks like somebody put up 500 shots, though. lol. The audio feedback must be turned off with the music playing or something.
The reference to Jalen is apt. I've been ragging on his defense since he got here. In fact, one point in Reed's favor is that in his first couple of games, he has already shown way more defensive effort than Jalen did. Going over screens and chasing his man, for example: Jalen never got out of first gear. But Reed turns on his jets, knows the pass is coming, and in at least one case managed to deflect it, even at his height. But I also have to say: Against OKC, Jalen looked like he's trying harder on defense than he did last year. More active, quicker, more involved. Somebody seems to have gotten it into his head that he needs to improve there.
Oh, I was just kidding. It very well could be his shot chart. I just want his shooting to even be remotely as good as he was in college. I did find this one from back in January at Kentucky for you, though (college 3 and nobody guarding him, but still pretty spectacular numbers... but still... let's admit "we talkin' 'bout practice") :
Apart from everything else, given the same minutes, Reed would get three more "stocks" per game (steals and blocks combined) than Jalen. Considering how close an average NBA point differential ends up being, that's quite a few valuable possessions. Add to that the much higher FG% and 3-point %, and the higher willingness to pass to the best players on the team... And this can be contagious - with Amen, Tari, Alpi, FVV adding about 1.5 steals and close to a block each per game, plus all the offensive rebounds through Alpi, Adams, Tari, that's really a whole lot of extra possessions.
Yeah. Maybe I’m brainwashed by Morey ball, and spoiled by Harden’s step backs. I wish he would take more 3s and less midranges. Isn’t 3 ball supposed to be his strength anyway?
