You'd think with all the scouting reports, and NBA caliber coach would realise that and you know, run some off-ball motions to get him open. Or even teach THE most basic read in the pick and roll action we run over and over and over and maybe, just once, if possible, PASS TO THE ****ING WING.
...and that's necessary because of his size. NBA defenders are too fast and long - you gotta have a lightning release like Steph AND that ability to create space instantly. He can't just rise up and shoot over anyone like KD.
Opposing defenses know he can hit 3's, him merely being on the court drastically improves spacing because opposing defenses are scared to death to leave him open for even a second..... despite the fact that he's never made a 3 in his career. I don't think Ime or Sheppard's teammates know he can hit a 3 though.
Hard to do when none of his teammates pass him the ball when he’s wide open…..just awful coaching. I don’t blame Udoka as he’s all about defense, but the rest of the offensive coaching staff just plain sucks.
These are the top 12 power forwards ranked by a site coming into the year. Jabari shot .363 as a 20 year old. Hopefully he improves on that to some extent his aged 21 season this year as well. .274 .333 .339 .346 .416 (shot .366 season before) .399 .311 .320 .373 .290 .336 .349
I think you don't know what happened. Jeff Van Gundy playing politics and keeping a Talented player on the bench when he is really talented. Wasted his Talent.
Reed Sheppard is going to struggle to get his shot off until he gets in the weight room and gets stronger so he can play through contact. He’s really small right now.
this might fug up with his shooting mechanics. we've seen smaller/skinnier players that can shoot 3s just fine. i don't think 6'2 - 6'3 is small. However, you need to run plays for them and set it up for them. as of right now, there aren't any plays being ran for Reed. no screen. no backdoor. no elevator screens even though i saw it ran once in the preseason. right now, he has to create his own shots and not surprise he'll struggle since this is NBA defense not college defense. he made 2 3s tonight but he had to create it on his own. off dribble and wasn't catch and shoot. i want to see him more on catch and shoot.
I agree that the Rockets’ coaches can and should run more catch and shoot plays for Sheppard, but he is going to have to put on some muscle over the next few offseasons if he wants to be a very good player. He makes Austin Reaves look swole, and that’s not a good thing when you are 6’1. Also, adding a little bit muscle so he can fight through screens and play through some contact should have no bearing on Sheppard’s shooting mechanics. Look at VanVleet’s build. It doesn’t negatively affect his shooting mechanics.
I think he’s doing fine, but I agree we don’t seem to have plays not just for Reed but for a lot of our guys not named Jalen or Sengun. Would seem to make sense to be more intentional for our shooters in Reed and “Jabari”. Reed plays within the flow well though and doesn’t force anything, the type to not risk to make any mistakes. Love his defense and poise so far.
I think shot creation was one of the weaknesses some of folks mentioned Reed would have initially at the next level that he will have to work through. He's not gonna be this more athletic CP3 out of the gate. I expect he will get his number called more as the season goes on but he'll likely have to earn it by scoring without plays for the time being. You have to remember he's like the 7th man and even if he wasn't a rookie would struggle to have plays called for him.
Definitely need to run some plays for him, but Adams is key there, since he sets a proper screen unlike rest of our team.
He did have one wide open catch and shoot attempt but he missed it badly lol. Prolly didn't think he would be THAT open.
