I almost liked this, and then I thought twice. On one hand we need Reed's shooting NOW, this year, if we are going to go far. So it would make sense to send him to the G league to get his shot going. Then we bring him up and spam the x button for 14 points a night on 4 three pointers and one floater in 10 minutes a game. But he's not on this team to be our shooter. We drafted him to take Fred's place in a year or two. If that's the case then every minute he get's real game time is precious to that goal. The shot is a facet, but so is setting up the offense and playing defense at the NBA level. I think that IF last night was just a regular season game Reed would have played instead of Holiday. But because the game meant more, much more than one of the 82, then Holiday got the nod. Like I expect Holiday will get the nod in the playoffs if Reed can't be trusted yet in the role when the time comes.
I was hesitant, but he's not going to be playing in the NBA cup. I think when it really downs to winning time, Reed is just an afterthought on the main team. Really development is an afterthought on the main team right now.... I think it's time for Reed just to get reps in the G League. He just needs to play and it's not going to happen in the NBA. More than likely we make a minor move at the deadline with some of our smaller contracts to get a gunner/shooter off the bench.
If Ime is too incompetent when it comes to rotations to get the kid minutes, he needs to be in the G league or traded. Early evidence suggests Ime is definitely too incompetent when it comes to rotations so something needs to be done.
After Dec. 14, the Viper's next game isn't until 12-27. As the new year turns over, it would be a positive for Sheppard to get four games in down in the valley (12/27, 12/28, 01/01, 01/03). Over that stretch, the Rocket's big club will play the Timberwolves (12/27) Heat (12/29), Mavs (01/01), and the Celtics (01/03). There is no serious reason to think Sheppard would play many minutes here. He should trade with Cam.
Why the arbitrary 2-month qualifier? Some players come on sooner. Some take longer. Some play 30minutes per game. Other less than 10. The fact is people like you on ClutchFans are doing the typical “XYZ rookie sucks we messed up” way too early. And no, people were mad at Amen for his loose handles and inability to shoot in addition to lack of availability in typical ClutchFans fashion. Like I said with Yao, it wasn’t just ClutchFans posters doing their typical schtick. It was the entire national media clowning on us for picking a bust. And how did that turn out? Reed might come good, he might not. “Ample opportunities” is a lie. Green had ample opportunities as a rookie. Smith had ample opportunities as a rookie. Reed is a 10-minute bench guy shooting like 4 times a game. Get real.
I genuinely don’t remember the Yao coverage. Did they really treat him like a bust? Surely by year 2 they had changed tune, right? Isn’t that when he played Shaq and Shaq gave him props? I definitely remember clowning but not full on “he’s a bust” at least not from media. But 23 years is a long time ago. Your post is spot on though. I’d say “people here” but it’s just people in general, online and off. They make quick predictions and would rather be right on the prediction and have a bad player than be wrong and have a good player. While you shouldn’t have to qualify every early assessment of a player with a disclaimer “it’s still early but…” people shouldn’t be making definitive statements on almost any player in year 1.
The early Yao discourse was brutal, Sir Charles even said he’d kiss Kenny’s ass on television if Yao scored more than 19 points in a game in his rookie year. The hilarious thing was Yao literally went out and did that against the Lakers on perfect shooting a week or 2 after that and suddenly all the bust talks stopped. We went from bust talks to Yaomania in a couple of games, and people hyping him up as the next big thing, Yao vs. Shaq etc etc. So no the Yao bust talks didn’t take 2 years to stop, it literally took his first couple of good game to stop, lol! For everyone’s sake I hope Reed can have another one of his Chicago games, or just play with confidence like he did in SL.
I wanted Edey too, though admittedly not at 3. Remember how everyone said he was supposed to be a bust too? He’s doing well following Yao’s footsteps by being injured already though.
Oh yah I forgot about that Chuck ass thing. For some reason though, I distinctly remember after he had his first 20+ game, peeing at chilis and they had the daily newspaper always posted at the urinals.
safe to say there are like 3 rookie guards playing better than this white boy. Yeah most are getting lot more playing minutes but they still look much better than Reed.
One good rule of life is to check Reed Sheppard's minutes played in his last game and make sure you don't spend more than that amount of time fretting, two months into his rookie season, about whether he's a bust. Hope you're all enjoying the holidays. Looking forward to a great 2025!
Drafting snipers rarely works out immediately. Hard to think of any that came out shooting great, Knecht being the exception because he's a senior citizen. These guys figure it out. When reed does he's going to be awesome. Everything else is pretty solid. Might take a couple years though. We can wait. Team is good without him.
Unsurprisingly the same people who think 3278 minutes isn't enough to judge Jalen Green at all are the people thinking 322 minutes is enough to declare Reed Sheppard a finished product.
Reed is not a bust. He is just exhibiting the all to familiar signs of "shellshock". He is supposed to be a sophomore in college. Instead he has been thrown under the "bright lights" of the NBA. He will need too much time to adjust to really contribute to a contending team. The Rockets picked the right person at the wrong time. They are making it worse by not sending him to the G league.
lol . Y’all must didn’t watch Reed at Kentucky. The way he lays for Gosuton is the same way he llayer at Kentucky. Think shut who he is. He’s not passive. He’s just conservative on offense for whatever reason. He’s never going to to be the type of shooter to just let it fly. This is why Dilllingham was the yong to his yang
Part of that is bullshet. Those 4 or 5 star recruits are fed from later childhood that they could go to the NBA.......in Reed's case he had ballers as parents. Meaning he is well prepared by his parents who both played College basketball as anyone can be..... Dude attended a Top 5 Basketball College in this country with a friggin large College attendance. Thrown under the bright lights? Lol not in his family. Is he one of those that need to go thru Euro League or the Aussie league to play in the NBA? Perhaps. A lot of white players do not succeed as well.......but given his family background I think he can be at least a role player, otherwise there would not be much to talk about on Thanksgiving.
