Now that's the Reed Sheppard that was advertised! I'm sure it didn't hurt that he went from playing against the likes of FVV, Dillon, Amen, Tari, Jae'Sean and Jabari to playing against essentially College talent. The difference in confidence you would have on the court is night and day. Also, it's obvious he was told to go down there and shoot the ball as much as possible to work out his problems. 33 shots is an insane volume for anyone I don't care who you are!
FT's in the G league are where you take 1 shot worth 2 points until the final moments of the game. He had 3 FT's worth 2 points each and a FT off a tech worth 1 pt.
Please note: Reed wasn’t just making shots. He was distributing the ball, seeing the entire floor, makings steals, getting dunks. He did it all. Reed needs to play like he’s THE MAN. He needs to have the ball in his hands and to be running the show. To be effective he should not defer to others. He is our best shooter.
Amen played in the G league last year. Also, Reed is not a typical 3rd overall pick. He was not drafted to a bad team. He was drafted to a .500 team that is taking the next step — a team where he was not guaranteed a role or minutes. Context matters
I am sure he was told to shoot every opportunity he could. On the Rockets, in his few minutes, he has been more concerned with not making mistakes rather than just playing and doing his thing. Not to mention it is hard to get in rhythm when you play very few minutes at a time. If Ime told him to let it loose on the Rockets he would have had better stats. When he comes back up he needs to quit playing timid and let it loose.
Bc there’s levels to this lol. The G league is largely filled with players that will never sniff the NBA. Reed is a fantastic player but the NBA is FAST and PHYSICAL. Reed is still thrown off by the speed and physicality which causes him to hesitate and lose his rhythm. Also, someone else mentioned this but he’s on a good team with other good players so he’s extra scared of making mistakes. My hunch is that Reed is too skilled and too smart not to figure it out. The guy is only 20 and straight up looks like a kid. He’ll be a rotation player soon enough and begin to elevate his game in the coming years…
Reed dominating as an NBA player in the G league should. When he gets back he needs consistent backup PG minutes. I know we are the two seed and ahead of schedule but Reed’s development is still critical. At this rate he probably won’t be ready to be the starter next year.
When you think about it, if these g league players were any good, they’d be playing in Europe making a million dollars a year and not in the g league making $50,000.
Because there's a difference between playing the best players at your local chess club and dominating them and then saying OK big guy let's see you against Magnus Carlsen.
Reed took 19 threes. The most he ever attempted in a game at Kentucky was 10. His shot attempts in college were low considering the level of shooter he is. That's a good sign he was told to be aggressive while in the G league, which IMO has been a problem for him in the NBA. He should be letting it fly rather than second guessing himself. It looked like he was becoming more hesitant with each game rather than confident.
If Amen or Cam did that when they played in the G League people wouldn't put the snide remarks like they do about Reed.
NCAA open and NBA open are two different things. I think he's really just getting used to NBA open. Some of those NBA open scenarios should be passes in the NCAA. Last night, he benefited from a lot of NCAA open type looks. He also made some in tight coverage. You really couldn't ask for much more from him. I hope he comes out strong in the next two as well. And then, let's see this translate to the NBA level.
There's an anti-little white boy bias. Hell, I'm the same height and weight (and complexion) as Reed, and I hear all about how I'm playing like a white boy in the gym. I don't give a ****, but it's definitely a thing.
