Neither has Jalen and we're in year 4. Seems like we have another 4 years to figure it out with Reed.
Maybe it's just the other team underestimating him, but to me he's shown that he's really good at playing passing lanes and also has a knack for stripping the ball from his man after he gets beat. That would be the one thing I think he's done well. He deflects soo many balls in the limited time he plays.
Jalen is at least playable on the court gimme a break. Gets so mad at Jalen for being inconsistent even if he is scoring at 53% TS but defends Sheppard to death when the dude is scoring at 44% TS. The favoritism is pretty obvious on the Reedsters.
He is averaging 0.5 steal so yes he has quick hands and can disrupt passing lanes. However he is still a bad defender because he is small and slow, he gets cooked by opponents cuz of his slow lateral movement and even if he stays in front of his man they just shoot over him. If you watched Sheppard play 20 mins the last game and 6 mins the previous game not sure who is worse Bronny James or him.
I expect a little bit more out of 4th year players who just got 100 mill extensions than I do rookies learning the hardest position in the game. But that's just me. Maybe we should just pretend Jalen is a rookie. If so his production is actually decent. Does Jalen have a higher TS% than Reed before the season ends? I'm not so sure.
Yes but my issue has been where he was drafted. Were any of the guys you were thinking of drafted in the top 3 of a draft?? Every other year a player his size with his skill set is probably taken in the 2nd round or at best in the 20’s in the first round. It’s just so obvious to me that I don’t understand why any front office couldn’t see how small he is and think… hmm… maybe that’ll be an issue where all this skill see in private workouts won’t translate when he’s trying to get that shot off with someone twice his size and faster and far more athletic than him is guarding him.
Again though… that’s great if that’s a thing he’s good at but anyone who has as much going against him physically to have that be the one skill that is what they are known for have you ever seen a player like that go in the top 3?? I do think he would be a great shooter too but the fact is great shooting specialists like Steve Kerr are still taken later in the draft because most common sense GM’s would understand their effectiveness is only established when they are wide open and you only get wide open in the NBA when you have a offensive mega star who consistently draws double teams. It’s just a wild pick to take that early unless you think he is magically going to be a great true point guard when he’s never shown the ability to have the kind of generational PG talent or a Kidd, Nash, or CP3. I just never understood this pick at all and hate that I look like I was right. Please make me wrong and eat crow Reed. I’m begging you… because the rockets might not have the chance at a top 5 pick again for a decade.
None of the starters outside of Dillon Brooks has played consistently outside of Dillon Brooks. Yet Jalen's on your mind?
Yeah he's not playing well no one is saying that. He looks like a bust. But two things he has going for him is he plays smart and gets a lot of deflections that can translate well as he gets more experience. All his physically limitations can be made up for if he actually was the shooter they said he was going to be. His biggest problem is that he's not making any shots and that's what we drafted him for.
I think he has a lot of things going for him to be able to be in the NBA a long time. The issue is where we drafted him, his contract at that draft position, and the urgency to know the value of the player to contract. This miss this high in the draft means the Rockets are likely to at some point in the next two seasons make moves just to get off his contract before his extension is due and then once he gets off his rookie deal and signs as a free agent at his true value in the open market, we as fans have to then sit there and watch him contribute hitting big shots in big games as a specialist role player on a contender. That sucks and that’s why I was really down on taking him that high. I would have rather taken a bigger swing and if it didn’t work out it didn’t work out. Same outcome to use the salary but at least you gave yourself the chance to hit on real high level upside. I would like to see a 5 game stretch where we sit FVV and start Reed to just throw him in to see if he can be good if he’s just in longer but I just know we are going to be in the playoff crunch now and there’s no way Ime is going to take that chance this season at any point. One of the few downsides to turning that corner and being good.
If you want to talk about draft position, here it is. Current players 6'2 or smaller who were drafted in the top 5: Irving #1 Morant #2 Paul #4 Conley #4 Garland #5 Young #5 Small stars that missed the top 5 Lillard #6 Curry #7 Maxey #21 Brunson #33 These are just current players. I'm sure there are many former players that were 6'2 or smaller who either got picked at the top 5 or missed the top 5 but became stars anyway. Now I'm not saying that Reed Sheppard will be as good as those. But there are examples of smaller guys picked high and have been very successful. Also, don't forget how weak this year's draft was. There aren't really that many players big or small that are clear stars. Of course, it's still early. We'll see in 3 or 4 years how this class will turn out.
You're really putting Reed and Jalen in the same sentence?? Reed is unplayable at this point, Jalen is our LEADING scorer
