This is why you need enforcers in the Nba like Amen, Adams,... etc. Reed knows his teammates have his back so he isn't intimidated by punk Bane. Reed has also been much more physical on defense.
Not to be a Debbie downer but he did get burned badly in that play late in the game by Bane that almost cost the game if it wasn’t for KD’s heroics. Reed has been terrific lately but man… gotta work on finding a way to stay in front of your man on D. Guy is a turnstile still and gets hunted all the time.
need to practice a bit more on his defensive footwork...other than that, I love what he has shown so far
All this happened because Reed hit that snatch back three on him and Bane was salty about it so he gave him that "The F you think you doin'?" stare after he blocked that shot. I'm not sure if Reed said something to him after that three but you can see he had this smirking grin on his face directed at Bane lol.
EDIT: I guess you're talking about the Bane assist with about 40 seconds left in the 4th? If so, that's kind of a nitpick imo. Reed couldn't get up into Bane with the Magic up one and in the bonus. Most defenders are getting beat in a 5-out situation like that. -------------- What play are you referencing? I went through all of Bane's made FGs and the last time Reed was even involved with one, it was with 9 minutes left in the 4th. Reed got picked off by Isaac and Bane pulled a 30 foot three.
It's going to be interesting to see if this Reed-Bane rivalry continues the next time we play Orlando
I agree. I was thinking at the beginning of the game that hopefully Reed can supplant Okogie soon but then watching the Magic exploit him ondefense Reminded me of why Ime probably prefers him on that sixth man role. They were seeking him out in that second half with pretty much 100% success. It’s hard to close games with that type of target on your back. but even still Okogie has his ok games here and there but I don’t think we can expect to make a deep run with him as a long term starter getting most of the minutes at pg. I still don’t see why Holiday doesn’t get much more minutes. Him and Reed were killing it together yesterday.
Defense is definitely his biggest weakness now that the shot has come around. There are times he looks okay, so I'm hopeful he'll improve under Ime, but too much gambling plus inconsistent footwork plus his size/strength all combine to make him exploitable right now.
Not to be a Pollyanna, but Bane did got torched for at least 8 points by Reed (gave Reed room trying to help on Sengun, Reed lost him on a step back, and got put in a hostage dribble after a PnR) that without those points the Rockets would not have been close enough for KD's heroics to matter. Personally, what Bane was doing to JSJ stood out more to me than what he did to Reed, other than Reed tripping him.
Rockets were a ridiculous +19 in Reed's minutes with a 4 pt margin of victory. Anything Bane did while Reed was in the game was inconsequential in the grand scheme of the entire game. Now....that said...the late game play where Bane got by him pretty easily was not good.... but I think KD overreacted...Sengun was already at the rim in help position. There was no need for KD to be so focused on Bane at that point. He wouldn't have been able to do anything anyways....KD should've been more attentive to the two Magic players near him and ready to react to that baseline cut right behind him or a potential kick out pass. Reed definitely needed to play at the poa better there though. His defense for the game was pretty good however. The Magic went after him a couple times, but they didn't generate offense that well when they did. Magic shot 29% when Reed was the primary shot defender. Again....Reed still needs to get MUCH better on that end of the court but in this game it was not near a detriment as say what Amen was doing out there.
He should be starting it balances out our starting lineup and gives more room for Amen on the baseline and Alpi and Durant as well. We have been getting off to slow starts......Reed fixes that. DD
That Bane scuffle really upset me last night. The refs reviewed the play and still missed the fact that Bane smacked Reed upside the head and the flagrant goes to Reed???? Also Bane is clearly using steroids and has anger problems because of it.
The results of the review don't bother me. I don't think the Bane foul was reviewable. The thing that bothers me is how a ref saw Reed trip Bane unless they were watching Bane taunt Reed.
