It's not even that, Reed Sheppard's max vert gets the top of his finger 1 foot and 3 inches above the rim at the absolute peak.... that's not just a whole lot of wiggle room when dunking a 9.5 inch diameter ball, especially when doing so two handed.
This is intriguing and likely why I believe Reed won’t start. Smaller guards without defense is a liability in this league.
It may be a gimmick but it's been really effective. If we're going to play Sengun and Adams together, it makes sense for them to start the quarter together. This discourages "Hack-an-Adams".
Reed Sheppard vertical 42" Kobe Bryant Vertical 38" Dominique Wilkins vertical 42" Shawn Kemp 40" Julius Irving 41" Make it make sense lmao
You realize there’s tons of players with a vert over 40 right? That you never really heard of. Pat Connaughton had a 44” vert. You’re conflating having a high vert to being a dunker. Not the same thing
Mugsy Bougues had an over 44 inch max vertical.... make it make sense!!! The thing is, it all makes sense, you're just not very bright, so you don't know what any of it means.
FVV led the team in minutes because of defense and his steady organization of the offense. Reed doesn't bring those same attributes. There's now ay Udoka will trust him with that many minutes. Reed will hopefully be a more efficient shooter than FVV. Udoka doesn't seem to care as much about offensive efficiency as he does defense.
Reed will eventually be a much better defender than FVV. He was a great defender in college. He just has to find the balance between team defense and trying to go for steals/deflections
People talking about his Vertical but even AI knows this..... Jalen's wingspan was not even that great but it is much better than Sheppard's.
That's ridiculous. FVV has been one of the best defensive point guards in the NBA for the last 5 year. His defensive EPM this past year was +1.8 which has tied with Jalen Suggs for the best in the NBA among point guards. Reed will never be a "much better defender" than FVV has been. Prior to the injury, FVV had superior lateral quickness and much better defensive awareness than Reed. He's also much stronger and more physical. Much bigger players had surprising difficulty against Fred because of his strength and toughness and how active his hands are. Reed has great hands and seems like a smart player who will get better with experience. Reed will never be the best defensive point guard in the NBA. He might become a better offensive player than FVV. That's possible. He'll just never be better on defense than peak FVV.
Someone should tell Wardell that his 4 rings dont count because hes too small. Teams didnt realize what a defensive liability he was.
He's already a better offensive player than FVV, which is a very low bar, and he's both taller and more athletic than him too. Give him a bit of time to work on his positioning and there's no reason he won't be better then him defensively too.
FVV has never had more lateral quickness than Sheppard. That’s a ridiculous statement. Fred was not a great defender when younger either. Reed needs to fill out but there is nothing that says he can’t be a better defender than Fred. That’s not mentioning Reed was a borderline elite defensive player in college. The potential is there
