When will Reed be placed into the starting lineup?

Not nearly as good as Reed's and much slower release.

Probably the best, up to now though.

DD

 

I mean, this is clearly our best eventual lineup. I’m not sure Reed is there yet, but that lineup has the most upside potential.

 

The best 5 man unit on offense on the Rockets is the current starting unit: Amen, Josh, KD, JSJ, Sengun at 127.9 it is the 4th best offensive 5 man rotation in the league. It is the 3rd best netrtg 5 man rotation in the league. Maybe that changes after Reed learns to play defense, but right now both the 2 big man rotation and Reed in place of Okogie are rated much worse.

 

Which is primarily gained against SHITTY teams but now that we are starting to play good ones, it won't hold up, we have seen poor starts happen against Portland and Orlando, because we have no one competent dribbling the ball up and penetrating and kicking out when necessary.

Teams have adjusted to our lineup, and are pressuring the ball - and we are fumbling around until frankly Reed comes in...and changes the dynamic.

DD

 

Right now Reed Sheppard is the 3rd best performing player on the roster, it's only a matter of time before Ime figures that out and starts him.

 

He needs to be getting 30 minute a night starting or not.

Ime needs to run more plays for Reed. Have him run circles around the court for all I care… but we need more shots out of our second most efficient player.

 

Depends on where you cut off the PT. The starting five lineup has by far the most minutes. All other lineups have very small sample size.

Only four other lineups have more than 20 total minutes together. The best one has Sheppard in it (Adams, Sengun, Eason, Thompson, Sheppard -- double big) with 141.7 OffRtg and a 78,0 DefRtg, a whopping 63.7 NetRtg.

If you count lineups with more than 10 total minutes, the top one is Reed with the other four starters, the one suggested by @Phillyrocket on +138.2 - 56.7 NetRtg 81.6.

All the non-starting lineups have very small sample sizes. So it's hard to compare and say the starting five is the best offensive unit. But on paper, Reed with the other four starters makes a lot of sense in terms of positional fit at least on offense and not too vulnerable on defense. The very limited data also confirms that.

 

As a POA defender, Jabari is nothing special. For the most part he's sound, but his physical limitations (foot speed, lateral quickness and strength) prevent him from being great.

On the other hand, as a help defender, Jabari has used his length to block more shots than I ever expected. That's a bonus.

 

Yes, this is what I'm worried about. Certain defensive pressure makes us collapse. We don't shoot enough 3s and take bad long 2s in droughts.

Need to get Reed a ton more shots

 

It's not who starts, it's who finishes.

Signed, Sam Cassell

 

Maybe after he drops two or three consecutive 25+ points and plays defense as well.

 

I love Sheppard, but Okogie’s fit with the starting unit is really good.

It’s natural to watch Sheppard’s offensive gifts and think he should be there. Half the time, that’s how I feel too. But as fans we tend to underrate defense. Okogie is adding tremendous value by taking tough on-ball assignments, doing that job at an elite level, closing gaps when they open in our defense, and liberating our other guys to focus their energy on the offensive end.

 

We almost lost yesterday because we had no PG in late and Durant fell down.....

Reed needs to be in every high leverage offensive possession....he adds a missing element there.

DD

 

Reminds me of Amen’s ascent. Seems inevitable just like it did with him.

Okogie has been great. He far surpassed my expectations. I thought it was a pointless signing at the time, but he has done really well. But Reed in the lineup takes this team to another level.

 

Remember that Sheppard in his 3 career starts last season, shoot the ball BETTER than he's shooting now . Meaning, Sheppard technically already showed this ability, just in the starts.

He was actually at his best starting than as a reserve. So if/when he becomes a starter, it's confidence he will do well.

Seems Reed needs to be an active shooter to get in the groove, not a selective distributor 5th option type. So Reed will need to take attempts from the rest of the players as a starter to maximize. Which might not be a bad thing with his makeability

 

This is total BS. Amen is bringing the ball up and penetrating and dishing at a fine rate. His problem right now is missing to much at the rim. He has had a total of 2 bad offensive games to start the season and is still learning his new role. I’m fine with Reed starting once he can play adequate defense (that might actually happen sooner if Ime would stop playing zone when he is in the game). We also need ball handling off the bench. I think you are much more concerned about your boy getting promoted than what’s best for the team. Just like Cam last year. Amen’s ball handling is not at all a problem and Okogie is still hitting at 45.7% from 3 with outstanding defense. You say it is the weak schedule, but Reed has been playing against a weak schedule as well and facing more bench players than starters. Right now they are letting him run loose. The better teams are going to start picking him up at half court and hold and bully him. Amen begs guys to pick him up at the half court so he can blow by them. Reed doesn’t have the speed. If I’m wrong fine, but both need to play another 30 to 40 games before we start pigeon-holing them.

 

Reed needs to start.

I don't think Okogie is a great fit or perfect fit with the starters just because he takes on the tough onball assignments. If that's the case then we should have just gotten rid of Fred anyways before he was injured and replace him with an Okogie type player from the beginning. But no one would want to do that and if Fred miraculously was healthy tomorrow, he'd immediately be the starter...Everyone keeps saying we need a PG we need a PG...Well, if we to acquire a PG they may be someone you trust more than Reed for this season...But their skillset will be a lot closer to Reed than it is to Okogie..

And I'm not saying that Reed = Fred, but he is a lot closer to that archetype than Okogie is. And while I love Okogie and the defense he brings, I'd rather have Reed in the game to relieve some of Amen's offensive pressure so he can go back to being an All-World defender than to have Okogie relieving defensive pressure from him so he HAS to essentially take on more of an offensive role.

 

Ime can stagger Amen and Reed starting as easily as he can with one not starting. The only difference is that Reed gets 10-12 more mpg.

The only things holding Reed back from starting are defense and inertia. Ime doesn't like changing his starting lineups. Long term, it looks like Sengun, Reed, and Amen will anchor the starting lineup.

 

there is a reason that Ime stayed away from Reed down the stretch. Any objective observer last night noticed how bad Shep was playing defense. It’s not an indictment on his entire season or his future, it just is what it is. There is no hurry or reason to change up the starters or the roles on this team without giving the different units time to gel. If we are the second seed and still a top 5 offensive team and top 10 defensive team at the all-star break would you still make the change? Reed is instant offense off the bench and our only ball handler on the bench. He can continue to improve on his weaknesses with increased minutes without fixing what’s not broken.