How much confidence do we have in Fred actually mentoring the kid though as he was kind of brought on to do? He is in a contract year himself and he has a ton of money to make in his career, Reed doing really well would not be good for his extension talks. Fred mentioned in a podcast prior to the season about his relationship w Reed, and his role in mentoring him. It was kind of an odd response, If i remember correctly he essentially said that Reed reaches out and he asks a lot of questions, and Fred just said you gotta just watch me, I can't tell you or something like that. I would swap FVV for a 40 year old CP3 next year, either that or if Jeff Green retires he can take his spot. Ime really likes Fred too, so i wonder if Reed is getting everything he needs from our guys and the staff. I think Fred has been helpful to the other guys not playing his position, but im not sure how he has been w Reed. It is almost like you want to train an employee to be competent enough to do a job, but not so much that he takes yours.
Not to be knit-picky.....but those things can be overblown as well in the G-league. His DRtg in the first two games is 123 DRtg. But thank you for not mentioning that he scored 50 points in a game. I would say that about KPj and was told two things.....Corey......and.....Brewer.
Team option for FVV. PG FA next season aren't that exciting. (I don't think Kyrie fits with Ime's game strategy.) I see us picking up the team option to go after Sexton or Fox in 2026. There's potential that we make a trade for Sexton this season and sign him to an extension. I see that more likely than Fox, as Sacramento is the pet project of the NBA at the moment and Keegan Murray and Fox are about to both be healthy at the same time again.
Hope you are right and I’m wrong. What I saw was someone substantially bothered by the size. Some small guards either are slick enough or have enough athleticism to find ways of still being able to get separation to get shots off. That was just my observation that the issues he was having was mostly due to the size factor but maybe you are right and it’s only a mental block. We’ll see.
G League was a con program with a bunch of con artist players. OTE has produced better talent if you literally only use the twins. It was shut down for whatever reason but I wouldn't put it past some teams looking into what actually went on in there. Scoot specifically is bad enough to warrant an investigation.
I don't think his problem is in his head. The fact that he shot so well in RGV would point to the opposite. He is having to get his shot off more quickly in the NBA with huge athletic guys running at him. He does not have the athleticism to get to the rim. He is totally reliant on his teammates to set him up and to be wide open. It's not his height that's his problem. It's his inability to create shooting space for himself. His only hope is to be even a decent starter is to add a significant amount of muscle and to have a quick trigger finger like Steph. It's not impossible, but unlikely. His projection should be similar to an average guy that would be taken in the 10-15 position in a typical draft.
Lol another consistently terrible take. Impressive. If you watched, and i know you didn't, he stared of his first game in the g league playing timid and missing the few shots he'd take just like in the NBA.... but he was allowed to keep going and work through all that with the mandate to just keep shooting.... and that same game he started off timid, he put up 49. Since that game he's focused more on creating for others, but the shot is still there. It was CLEARLY all mental. He came into the league with one of the quickest "trigger fingers" in the league, but he was pretty obviously thinking too much, worried that if he made any mistake he'd be banished to the bench for the rest of the game. He wasn't given the leeway to work through things like most top draft picks.
The bottomline is Sheppard's shooting and passing is something that our big league squad needs. Hopefully, dipping his toes in the G-League reminded him what it feels like to contribute and he'll be more confident with his minutes off the bench. While Reed isn't ideal physically, his ultra quick hand/eye coordination and effort make him adequate defensively. There are tons of talented players with greater gifts that waste them with a lack of effort/desire.
I think this is a pretty good take. His athleticism makes it difficult for him to score at the rim in the NBA, and he needs to learn how to create space for himself (step backs, etc). But given what I've seen of him as a 20 year old, I definitely think there's a path for him to become a starter in the NBA. It's harder for me to see him reach all-star potential though; he would need to be the generational shooter we drafted.
I agree with this. I’m very encouraged by what Reed did in these three games. I couldn’t really ask for anything more. I wouldn’t mind Reed getting more time with the Vipers to continue adjusting to the pro game. When Reed gets back to Houston Ime needs to give him the freedom to play like he did in the Valley. Reed needs to run the offense. Reed has great court vision and is a good passer. Furthermore, Reed has the ability to get into the lane and make things happen. He may not be a strong finisher at the basket because of his size. But, he can do pull up jumpers, pass the ball to teammates, or create contact to get to the line. I think he’s capable of all that and more. Having Reed stand at the three point line and wait for the ball to find him is not how he should be used. Reed has to run the show, and he is more than capable of doing so. I hope people can remember that Reed is just 20 years old and there will be a learning curve. He is going to make mistakes and learn from them. But, he needs to stay aggressive and his coach and teammates need to put their trust in him.
Where is the false notion that Reed is not athletic coming from? You dudes really show your bias when you say stupid things like that. Size, length? That’s understandable. But just sheer athleticism, he is good by NBA standards.
I think he's versatile enough to be used in several different roles depending on who he shares the court with, but IMO the biggest thing is that he keep getting playing time and that he get up at least 3 or 4 3's per game. We saw in RGV that all it took was one game of Reed lighting it up before defenses adjusted, scared to death that he'd take more 3's, and that opened everything up for everyone else. I want that for the Rockets.
It comes from people who want Amen Thompson, our current starting PF, to play PG instead despite the fact that Amen plays A LOT better at forward than guard. Don't take those kinds of statements seriously.
The big difference is FVV and Holiday arent afraid of contact and dont mind running headlong to brick walls. Sheppard is like Ryan Anderson he avoids contact thats why he only has 6 FTA in 29 games. It applies to his defense too Sheppard has lightning quick hands so he can get deflections but he lacks the physicality to play elite defense, he rarely body bumps with defenders whereas you look at FVV and DB they are always at the chest of their defender. On offense he will be wholly dependent on his shot cuz he doesnt go straight for fouls.
When the shots fall he’ll have no problem getting to the rim. Beating your man off the dribble is overrated to me. The slowest guy in the nba can beat is man off the dribble if he has a good enough jumper.
We all know that you are irrational about Reed and Jalen. You're omnipresent take was that Reed was going to come into the league tearing it up from the start and becoming our backup PG from the start of the season. Don't preach to me about bad takes.
