Not sure where your math came from... On basketball reference you can download the data. In his last 106 games he's at 34.3% Prior to this season, his 100 games he's at 32.8%. That's in the prime of his career.
Agreed. Having said that, for the first time in a long time I’m watching the games again. And my Reed takeaway is that’s he’s got bad instincts on defense. His entire defensive repertoire is based around quick hands. And when he can’t jump a passing lane or block a shot from behind he’s toast. Super easy to score on. Positioning is bad, angles are bad, ball watching, all compounded by a lack of lateral quickness and height. He’s never had to play defense in his life. Good news is he can get better because it’s technique.
I agree to an extent. But Cooper Flag is in a different situation; AD is out with injury, Kyrie is out with injury, and Cooper is a #1 pick who has been hailed by draft experts for years. Flagg can afford to go all out because his team has nothing to lose at this point after giving away Luka. Reed can't go hog wild because the Rockets have KD on a playoff caliber team for a limited time and they can't waste it. If this was the Silas years, yes Reed should go crazy. Unfortunately for Reed we are in the Ime-win-now mode years so every mistake and deficiency will be under a magnifying glass. Whats worse, we're in the western conference so 1 game can be the difference between being the #2 seed or the #6 seed.
Dude ripped the ball out of someone's hands and took it to the house. I think you're just choosing to ignore the signs. Definitely something there to build on.
I don't see why you think developing him means losing games. If a midtier starter is your worst of your starting 5 then I see no issue.
So is basketball reference wrong or the bot you're relying on? He played 40 games last year and 60 the year before: 16-50 16-42 That's 32 of 92 for 34.7% I guess you're including his recent hot streak to prove it's not a streak... weird logic...
If Reed gets thrown in the fire, there's little chance he's coming out. I think every player derseve chances. Yes, chances! More than one. But when I look at Reed, the first thing that comes to mind is that he is too small. And thats strange, because I've seen other small players like, Moogsy Bogues, CP3, Mark Price, etc. And for that reason, it still seems to me, that Reed Sheppard looks like he is out of place. We all want him to succeed, mainly because he's a Rocket. And fans at the games, cheer louder when he does anything positive. Sure almost cost us the game last night but that's going to happen. However, its the fact that he is such a liability on defense, that it kills everyone else's momentum on that end. And that his offense is predicated on who's guarding him is baffling.
If you're looking at Bball Reference for 23-24 and 24-25 you looked at the wrong years. You selected his two teams (Phoenix and Charlotte) for the 24-25 season alone. Adding his 23-24 season gets us to 61/186, or 32.8%, for the last 100 regular season games prior to this season. I think we should include Okogie's current hot streak if we're talking about the last 100 games. But even including them he's at 66/190 (34.7%) for the last 100 games and 56/148 (37.8%) for the last 80. This is not including the 2024 playoffs where Phoenix was swept in four games and Okogie shot 1/3 from deep. Never trust AI.
Yeah and you could argue that if there are some other teams who still value the upside of Reed - this would be a good time to cash out on that. I agree that having a Fred like career would be an absolute best case for Reed but I also worry that Houston is one of those teams changing the landscape of the game where you can't really be 6' and be an impactful player in the NBA anymore when there are loads of 6'7"+ players with shooting and ball handling skills and just as much athleticism as Reed. It feels like 6'3" is the new 6' and you aren't investing development time in guys hovering around 6' anymore. Here are the shortest players in the league last year: Yuki Kawamura Grizzlies 5'8" Jose Alvarado Pelicans 6'0" Yuri Collins Warriors 6'0" Mike Conley Timberwolves 6'0" Aaron Holiday Rockets 6'0" Kyle Lowry 76ers 6'0" Jordan McLaughlin Spurs 6'0" Davion Mitchell Heat 6'0" Chris Paul Spurs 6'0" KJ Simpson Hornets 6'0" Isaiah Stevens Heat 6'0" Fred VanVleet Rockets 6'0" ...what I notice (aside from 4 of those players have worn Rocket uniforms - haha), is that roughly half of the list reflect vets who started 10ish years ago. It means teams are largely moving away from shorter players and so Reed will almost always be playing guys bigger/stronger than him. Also worth noting Lowry, Paul, and Fred are little tanks - their body type is very different from Reed. Also Fred and Reed look very similar in size to me when standing side by side so even though he officially measures 6'1", they effectively look the same size.
He has poor footwork on D, he goes for steals too much, I don't mind that occassionally but not as a staple, Ime can get it out of him, it is just poor footwork... DD
Im saying the exact same thing....he's just too small! And because he is not quick laterally, its going to hurt him defensively in the future. Additionally, you could see the difference in him and Holiday, once Holiday entered the game. And Holiday is a 3rd string PG.
I don’t know about winning a title with Holiday Imagine, defense sags on Holiday and jams other options. He is wired to shoot. He isn’t going to penetrate and dish. He isn’t going to run an effective PNR. He is just going to shoot. I don’t see that as a winning recipe against top teams. We need someone who is a threat to get into the paint as well as shoot from distance. Im not saying Sheppard can be that player, but we need to find out. I’m not talking elite player, but a Dennis Schroder would be much better than Holiday
Does it concern you that there is one player in the entire association Reed's size(his real size - like he is the height of Fred when he stands next to him) who plays more than 15 minutes a game in the league who is under 30? At some point we have to recognize: A. Reed isn't 6'2" and B. There are virtually no players under 6'2" getting meaningful minutes who didn't get developed in a different era. It's not say Reed couldn't be a useful player with continued development but it's to say shouldn't we recognize that players of Reed's height largely are not given the time to develop by any team in the current NBA. There is a reason for that - you have to be exceptional at something to overcome that size disadvantage. A career 35% three point shooter is not exceptional. I think the hope was an elite shooter can provide gravity and space that overcomes the height disadvantage but also - Reed hasn't demonstrated that elite shooting against long and quick NBA defenders. Even if he finishes the season shooting 39% - that's still not good enough for his size.
. You don't have a point. Never ever playing a high lottery pick doesn't prove he's a bust. Coming off the bench is a reasonable course of action.
It is heavily skewed..... the 43% percentage comes from 2 games of 80% vs Boston and 75% vs Detroit 3 pt shooting..... In the rest 4 games it looks like he is either shooting 25%, 28%, 0% or 46% ....heavily unreliable. That 0-4 in Toronto was pretty alarming. Attempting 5 Attempts per game is pretty bad for such a good shooter as he was advertised. He is also either 28% and 35% from the midrange or at the rim.
I think I made my point clearly. I think Reed is not good on defense and its because he is too small and he does not move well laterally. I think he can make up for it if he becomes elite offensively. However, thats a big IF
