Amen faced the same BS Reed Sheppard faced, having to deal with a totally incompetent Ime harming their development. Fortunately for Amen, injuries forced Ime to play him later in the season, Sheppard wasn't so lucky. Without injuries forcing Ime to give Amen opportunity, he probably would still struggle to get minutes. There simply isn't a worse coach in the league from the perspective of young players.
Some players actually develop better earning their minutes fairly and not having everything handed to them. Amen has worked and earned his development. FVV came off the bench as a young player, Brunson, Harden, Giannis at 19 as a rookie etc. Reed wasn't playing as well early in the season if we're being honest, some fans wanted to give up on him which I totally disagreed with and he went to the G League and became much better later in the season. He has a lot of talent and will develop over the seasons.
6'1" shooting guards with a bit of point guard skills and average first step who are hunted on defense. You are correct that they are extreemly rare -- in the NBA.
1) He's 6-2 2) He has exceptional point guard skills (second best on the roster behind Fred) 3) He has a great first step actually (hes incredibly athletic). So yeah. Rare.
People who call him a SG really should just be ignored at this point. It's probably why they were so confused about him not jacking the ball up every time he touched it. Same folks who said he was just a "connective passer" at Kentucky.
I just assume they're those negative discourse bots from China created to spew nonsense on message boards and social media.
And that fact that you didn't originally highlight those games in between starts speaks towards his inconsistencies.
bro, we took a team with 3 hall of famers to 7 games. I wish we had won, but Golden State was not really a 7th seed. I’m not making excuses but we went from a laughing stock to a 500 team to the 2nd seed. That’s incredible progress. You have to walk before u can run. The guy literally turned the franchise around in 2 seasons.
I was reading the scouting reports about Reed Sheppard while he was in high school, and they were fairly accurate. I know he has the size for a point guard, but he seems to lack the speed generally seen in typical NBA PG’s. To me he looks slow even bringing the ball up the court, so when I read the scouts were touting him more as a SG, it makes more sense. I like the fact he has a high Basketball IQ, his shooting form is perfect, he is relentless, and has perigee. But it seems that his future might be at SG, albeit a super short shooting guard. https://247sports.com/playerinstitu...h-laurel-253293/playerinstitutionevaluations/ I copied pasted a few I found intriguing: Evaluation 07/24/2022 Sheppard is a throwback style guard who is skilled and exceptionally sound fundamentally. He is a solid athlete, but not dynamic or totally explosive. His attack is based on his ability to shoot the ball, make sound decisions, and process the game. He has a high and compact release that allows him to get his shot off and rates as one of the best free-throw shooters on any of the three major circuits at over 90%. He plays strong with the ball, is tight and efficient with it as a handler, has good use of both hands, and snaps his passes. He’s supremely confident in his approach and is capable of playing on and off the ball. Because he’s a tad upright off the dribble and lacks that extra gear of burst, he isn’t always able to flatten defensive pressure and ends up settling for tough shots. He converted only 29% of his three-point attempts as a result and while he’s a better shooter than that number indicates, his three-point range is going to be an even bigger emphasis at the next level and so being a driller is crucial. Defensively, he’s going to rely more on his intellect, physicality, and toughness than he is sheer footspeed. Evaluation 07/09/2021 Sheppard is a combination guard that leans on more of the shooting guard side because of his three-point shooting prowess, in-between game, and knack of getting to the rim on the break where he catches most off guard with his ability finish above the rim. Although his combo meter leans on the two guard side, Sheppard is tough, smart, and displays a lot of savvy when handling the ball primarily. Confident, moxy, fearless, and competitive are just a few words that come to mind when describing his game. He plays with a high basketball IQ and is fun to watch when he gets into a groove. Sheppard projects to be a terrific collegiate player as his skillset fits in both an up-tempo and slow-tempo paced offense and his pedigree is beyond undeniable.
I feel your Bern my Bernie brother, but com'on. Seriously? By your criteria he shouldn't be in the NBA at all and if this was the criteria by which we evaluated his talent and took him at 3 then Stone should be fired. But it wasn't. By your criteria (if we deduct from your ironic framing) 1. tall shooting guards 2. w good point guard skills 3. and exceptional first steps are the criteria by which you judge the value of an NBA guard. In this case then we are talking about Jalen Green who is tall enough, has an ability to play point and one of the best first steps in the game currently. But this isn't what @DaDakota, or any of us Reed stans, are saying. We know he's undersized, has a modest handle, and average quickness. We know this. His one skill, that makes him worth holding onto, is his very rare ability to shoot the basketball from anywhere on the court. His shooting. It's his shooting. One more time, he's an exceptional shooter. By your argument you would take a pass on Steph Curry who, when he was drafted, had a bit of point guard skill, an average first step, and who is still hunted on defense. But we all know why we just lost to GSW and it wasn't his average first step. It was his ability to shoot the damn ball from everywhere on the damn basketball court. He's the damn cheat code that can't/won't be nerfed and Reed might be a version of that. His own version of that. That's why we took him and why some of us hope he realizes his potential. To be a world class shooter and smart enough to start an offensive set.
I want every Rocket player to succeed, so I don’t understand the getting desperate comment. I was looking at the scouting reports for the fellas the UH Cougars are getting this season. After Pop decided to go to Texas A&M, the cougars dropped from #1 to #2. So out of curiosity I checked to see how Sheppard was perceived coming out of High school. It is my opinion that what was written about him is still fairly accurate, based on his play last season. Ideally, I want him to take the helm at PG. I did see a while back that a good comparison for his body type was described as Fred Vanvleet, though Vanvleet seems bulkier. Nevertheless Fred is not the fastest, but he plays strong and has a super high IQ. I would be curious if the Rockets are having him learn under Fred’s tutoring, hence keeping Fred for another season or two, before they hand Reed the reigns as the starting PG. Because there is no doubt about it, that Sheppard has some high basketball IQ. Imagine Fred Vanvleet with a +40% 3 point shot!
Amen never really had issues getting playing time, other than due to his own injury at the beginning of his rookie season. By January he was already well ahead of vets like Holiday and Jeff Green. Al P injured his ankle on March 10th but Amen was strongly in the rotation by then. His minutes per game breakdown by month for his rookie season are below. December - 12.6 January - 17.8 February - 27 March - 26.4 April - 30.1
Fred would just suck less with a 40% 3pt shot. If Reed can get to the rim and score along with a 40% 3 pt shot, then he is way better than FVV.
It comes off as someone desperately looking for something to say what you want it to say so you went back to high school scouting reports to find ANYONE who would say what you want the narrative to be. Reed Sheppard is about as close to a traditional pure PG as exists in the nba today.... being a pure PG that is capable of shooting a basketball doesn't mean you are a combo guard. I just don't get that narrative at all.
He hasn’t proved that he can break down defenses and get to the hoop on a regular basis, which is a requirement for a modern day PG. The comp of FVV is good. Hopefully he can become more like John Stockton
I thought his best case coming out of the draft was something like FVV but with more-consistent shooting. That's a low-level all-star IMO--not an All-NBA player, but a #2/#3 option. The main problem his rookie season that got me doubting him was that his shooting wasn't where it was supposed to be out of the gate. Actually, it as atrocious the first half of the season. Good news is, it seemed like after the all-star break he had fixed whatever was going on--maybe just needed to find the NBA distance? I think there's a decent probability he's the better fit next to Amen than Jalen is, long-term. A truly elite shooter in the backcourt would make it much easier for Amen and Alpi to share the court.
