If you could put 10-15lbs of muscle on him right away it would alleviate a lot of the things we're worried about. Would shield the ball better, get to the line more, get bullied less on defense. He'll get there in a summer or two. In the meantime the next highest priorities are defensive positioning and handle. Really needs to sharpen these but I feel it's very possible he'll be much better at them by the end of the regular season. Right now he's a perfect 25mpg player for us. Contributes our biggest weakness (shooting) and disruptive at point of attack. His offense is working because he now has an elite weapon to base his game on. Hot shooting means they have to guard him close and close out hard. That opens up driving opportunities for attacking the rim or stop and pop. Just a great development for us short and long term. Seems pretty obvious he'll be a hell of a player by the time Durant retires.
He definitely seems to be learning to take advantage of defenders being over-aggressive which I think will eventually translate into more free throws.
While I wish we could fast forward his development, but Sheppard did considerable work on his body in the offseason. And his elite shooting is already starting to pop. The really good teams will guard him well out to 25-feet and that means other guys will be open. Add in a few half-court wrinkles with guys setting screens and some better floor balance on the break and Sheppard will pack a punch. Defensively, I see more and more working with his teammates, funneling drivers into the help, etc. If you try and drive right at him and take advantage of a size mismatch, you're just as likely to dribble into a turnover. Just ask Giannis the other night.
In college and HS he was a 1/2. Score and create as much as possible. We ate taking his strengths (defensive hand strength, intelligence, shooting) and crafting him into a specific type of pg who will play off ball a decent amount. The spacing provided will be great. Perfect compliment to Amen.
Was pretty impressed with how he handled the press conference yesterday. He looked way more poised in interviews and much more sure of himself. Ime must be grinning ear to ear feeling like he may have found his micro-Tatum.
It’s so refreshing seeing him take those dribble pull up 3s and have confidence he will make it at a high clip. Compare this to JG who was terrible at it making his dribble pull up 3s at like a 30 percent clip if that. I would literally cringe every time JG did it knowing it was high potential to brick. Reed is lethal in that he doesn’t require to be stationary for his 3, he can run around screens and pull up, once he gets more comfortable I think he will start destroying defenses with the pnr or run around screens 3s. It’s going to be fun to watch, he’s our cocaine curry!
Maybe we can learn Reed some dirty plays. Flops. Grabbing the offensive player and throwing himself backward to the floor, drawing the foul. I swear, thinking of the pedoph--er, Malone-Flopton days of the Jazz still makes me wonder how many Jazz jerseys those guys were giving to the refs: "This one should fit your nephew. A picture? Sure!......Cheeeeeeeeeeeese!"
Even back when Ryan Anderson was slightly above average before decline, him just standing 27 feet out as a viable deep threat provided spacing. Sheppard is doing more MDA 'The Light is Always Green' Eric Gordon shooting, which is good
Drawing fouls is a skill. Lou Will was good at it despite having a thin build. Trae is even smaller and he's great at it too. I'd rather Reed work on his shot making abilities over trying to be a foul merchant, but it's skill that can be developed. Austin Reaves said he studied James Harden and it clearly worked, although I'm sure him being a Laker is a contributing factor to all of the whistles he gets.
Let’s have some fun coz why not on a no-game night Per 36 minutes Player A: 2nd Season (age 21) 19.9 pts, 5.2 ast, 3.6 rbs, 2.3 stls, 0.7 blks, with 2.4 tov FG% (FG / FGA): 49.5% (7.3 /14.8) 2pt% (FG / FGA): 48.6% (2.6 / 5,7) 3pt% (FG / FGA): 50% (4.6 / 9.1) TS% 64.8% BPM +5.0 Player B: 2nd Season (age 22) 19.9 pts, 6.2 ast, 4.1 rbs, 1.6 stls, 0.3 blks, with 3.3 tov FG% (FG / FGA): 48.0% (7.3 /15.2) 2pt% (FG / FGA): 49.8% (5.1 / 10.3) 3pt% (FG / FGA): 44.2% (2.2 / 4.9) TS% 59.5 BPM +2.3
Truthfully, I think he is excelling in the role he was going to originally have playing behind FVV. We will see his averages over a longer time frame but he seems to be fitting like a glove now.
