Seeing the form on these deep threes and how they went "nothing but net" had me go... The ball never touched the rim on any of his four threes, and one was from the parking lot. Here you can watch all four of them: https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CF...eamID=1610612745&flag=3&sct=plot§ion=game
Yeah if Sheppard played on the Harden/CP3 Rockets he'd clearly just be able to get a lot more easy looks. But unfortunately he plays on one of the worst shooting team in the NBA, and why the Rockets took him #3. If his 3pt shooting is as good as people hype him up to be, he should be overcoming his teammates like with those deep 3s last night.
I think they got the shot distance wrong on that third one. They have 24ft and that had to be close to 30.
All of a sudden he's back? Are you joking? He's just getting started. He's only played I72 minutes so far. Think about that before you pass quick judgement on people getting excited of glimpses of what he could bring to this team in the future. Lord knows people have a reason to get excited about having a deep threat on our team. Not only that, just imagine when he gets even better defensively and at passing. The kid's already shown glimpses of shot blocking, steals, and good vision when passing. Fred won't be around forever. It would be great if Reed becomes fully capable of stepping into those shoes. Maybe you should wait until April to smack down people's excitement if he doesn't progress to your liking in his first year. For now, let people enjoy seeing those moments.
You just have to be able to see the vision of Alpi feeding him all day, after drawing defenders with his gravity. They are made for each other. It's just a matter of time.
Sheppard was not hyped to be a prospect that can drive past two defenders and then dunk on the guy waiting for him in the paint. He was not hyped to be able to elevate over a help defender that has 6 inches on him and drain a three. He's creating space for his teammates. Being on the Rockets has its advantages and disadvantages. Besides for Washinton, the Rockets have kept him from getting attacked too much on defense. Offensively, he's had trouble with lack of spacing while playing with the reserves. Though, with the starters, the starters are feasting on the space Reed provides (i.e., teams already treat Reed like a dead eye shooter).
Reed doesn't have to shoot a lot at this stage of his career. He only needs to drain shots when the defender isn't close. That in itself is enough to keep the defense honest and open up space for his teammates. But please someone set a pick for him when he is guarded closely.
He was much better defensively yesterday than vs Washington. A lot of defense isn't size, it's how you use your body to not give offensive players what they want and denying them their spots. It's how FVV and CP3 can stay on the court next to oak trees. Reed was much better yesterday at denying penetration (no homo).
He was definitely gaining some confidence out in the 4th on offense. But I like what I see from him on defense.
He was hyped to be the floor stretcher that would open up the floor and add the much needed long shooting this team has sorely lacked. And he needs to be that guy if the Rockets are planning to give him rotation minutes while trying to win every game. The issue right now isn't that he's not getting to the basket. He's never been able to really do that. But he does need to get enough space to be shooting 3s and mid-range jumpers. If he's not able to do that this year, so be it. Rookies usually don't contribute much anyways. And I won't blame him if he needs time. But if he does want rotation minutes and be a positive, then he has to shoot at a higher rate than what he's doing before the Chicago game.
It would be a good sign if Reed were able to string 2-3 more good games like this one together. One good game against a bad team is not convincing enough.
100% - we need Reed's shooting gravity more than we need his shots to go in because we have guys like Amen and Jalen who can get high percentage looks at the hoop but Reed's presence prevents teams from doubling off him without ramifications. The more we have guys making outside shots (looking at your Jabari!!!), the more it helps Amen and Jalen to do the things they do best.
I like Edey. But you are way early with your judgment. Like I said from the beginning, look at Mark Price's career trajectory, or even Stockton's or Steve Nash's. That's what I expect to happen.
I liked the deep 3. He needs to realize that those might be the only open 3's he gets. But it will space the defense out like crazy. Eric Gordon used to do this back in the Harden days and he isn't nearly the shooter Reed is.
You put some respect in EG's name that dude did it in the NBA not NCAA. He was also our most consistent 3 pt shooter in the playoffs. When Sheppard starts replicating his NCAA performance in the NBA on a consistent basis THEN you can say he is a better shooter than EG.
