He was rookie of the year because a lot of people are incapable of looking past counting stats. He was probably the single most damaging player in the nba last season and had no business getting even a top 3 ROY vote by anyone who paid any attention. He was also on a trash tanking team so of course he got minutes.
DWhite was picked 27th though he wasnt picked in the top 10. What does that have to do with anything? He was picked past 20 so he can afford time to develop. There was no redraft for him just like there is no redraft for Reed. Reed was supposed to be a high floor low ceiling guy like Kon Kneuppel. He is supposed to be instant impact because at 6'1 with trex arms and limited athleticism he doesnt have the potential of a Stephon Castle or Matas Buzelis.
Let's not kid ourselves, his defense WAS awful against OKC. But a lot of what he worked on this summer was defense, and it's easy to see him reverting to bad habits under the opening night glare against the champs on national TV, so I expect him to be better going forward. How much better is the question.
Alpi used to suck on D too, it can take a minute to learn how to be successful against more athletic players. And it might be me but on Twitter, it sure looks like Reed is getting some heat because of other reasons too. DD
Because ultimately outcomes matter in the highly variable draft selection process. One season and one game is hardly a closed case especially since Reed wasn't given nearly the latitude to play and make mistakes like Castle or Buzelis. Was he supposed to be an instant impact player on a team with defense first playoff aspirations? Of course not. For whatever you seem to have this petty mindset of gloating over failures and shortcomings towards Reed instead of acting like a Rockets fan and wanting him to contribute to winning.
Absolutely, but our defense doesn't just put most of its players on an island. We scheme to have help rotate over and it was sometimes late coming over. But Reed will need to get stronger at the point of attack and most importantly stop gambling for steals. If he doesn't get the steal then his tiny NBA body is instantly out of position. Hopefully he focuses more on the fundamentals and staying in position because he won't be able to add any muscle again until the offseason. Time will tell. No reason to overreact to one against OKC.
It's also cause the whole draft class was horrible last year. I was listening to a lot of the awards chatter last year and it's not like the Castle votes were enthusiastic. It was like Castle, Sarr or Jaylen Wells. Somebody had to win it at the end of the day.
Castle was absolute dogshit last year but the Spurs....who admitted to practing like 5 times last year....said here you go bro go do whatever you want just get it to Wemby when you can. Basically was Jalen Green in year 1. People freaking out about Reed Sheppard right now straight up have an *agenda* there is no other way to explain it.
Yup.. not even a maybe. He's noticeably slower. I don't know who advised him to do this but it was the wrong decision. Imagine Trae Young, Steve Nash, and Curry trying to look like Mighty Mouse. It worked for FVV cause he's already slow and can't jump. The added muscle does nothing for him defensively (he's still small) and makes him worse on offense. Lifting weights ****s up your handles and shooting touch. That's why Jabari's shot is just now coming along. He needs to stop and let his body adjust. No one would care as much how bad he is on defense if he were playing better on the offensive end.
People making the Maloney, Price, whoever comparisons forget how young he is. Maloney was 26 when that series happened. Reed is 21.
Yeah if you want to crap on Reed there are plenty of short shooting only black players to compare him to. Rockets legend Troy Daniels is right there.
Less than 30% from the field AND deep is "shooting only?" Seems more like "why's he shooting?" if I'm honest.