Seems like he’s gassed at times? Might explain why he didn’t check back in last night? Maybe combination of b2b and altitude? I remember someone in the game thread mentioning he was leaving everything short?
Yea, I think he does but not to a significant degree, just not used to starter minutes he’ll adjust. It wasn’t anything major but you could tell he’s gassed. Contrary to the new stupid narrative he has been playing his ass off on D getting tons of steals and blocks. Inevitsbly leads to tiring out. that’s not why Udoka didn’t play him though, Udokas moods and unrealistic expectations for different player is going to he reeds biggest enemy
Reed has been getting beat off the dribble a lot. He needs to get better at staying in front of his man like Fred in my opinion. Everything else is already A+ tier. A lot of times they are targeting him and then kicking out after beating him off the dribble to wide open shooters.
Yeah, as an undersized player he might not have the luxury of “picking his spots”. In the future I hope he can emulate Steph’s offseason workouts which are intense from what I understand.
It will get better throughout the season, pretty sure he didn't expect to play this much because the Fred injury happened during training camp.
I've suspected this. One of Curry's underappreciated super powers is his ability to run around the court constantly for the whole game and still shoot the ball incredibly well.
Not unusual if so for a guy who needs to expend a ton of energy to keep up on defense. I feel like it took Sengun until this year to final get his conditioning up to par with other NBA starters. Not everyone can be an athletic freak of nature like Amen
I think Reed playing high energy & quicker pace for shorter stretches is exactly what the Rockets need, rather than him playing 40 minutes of Kevime Slowrantdokaball fadeaways.
Totally agree! That last game against Utah he was hunted and Keyontae George was eating...Reed is an opportunistic defender meaning he's effective in playing passing/driving lanes. He'll get you a couple of hustle plays, but on iso he's a terrible defender. I'm nervous when playoffs come around that Reed will be unplayable during crunch time. Hence, why Ime is focusing more on mastering the 2-3 zone, forcing our opponents to shoot 3s with our high rebounding percentage team. The 2-3 zone defense protects Reed from getting into foul trouble.
As others have said, it's not really about conditioning. Its about the defensive fundamentals, and a choice to play reactively hunting from steals and blocks rather than staying down, moving laterally, and making sure you aren't the lynch pin that starts the defensive collapse on the rotations.... which he mostly is that guy now which is why it's obvious that nearly every team got the scouting report that says go after Reed, and then the Rockets D breaks down on the subsequent rotations. And yes... I get it... with the steals and deflections his advanced stats on D probably look great. However, stats aren't everything. Sometimes you can see something that is obvious, and call a spade a spade. I don't want to neuter his defensive strongpoints also. He's just gotta find a way to stay solid, and be able to read when and who it makes sense to press in certain situations. Stockton and Hornacek weren't the front line of a great defense because of their steals, and deflections + Greg Ostertag cleaning up after their gambles didn't pay off. Stockton's defensive prowess was between the ears... understanding when and vs who to get physical, get steals, and be a little fcking pest. Most of the time, him and Hornacek were just doing the basic fundamentals first and foremost. The NBA is a pick and roll league designed to breakdown off the dribble. The people guarding at the top of the key CANNOT get blown by or any and every NBA offense will pick you apart all day every day. Reed has to improve here.... BUT I'm sure Ime is ripping him a new one every film session, and during games. Ime didn't bench Reed the entire stretch of that 4th quarter because I'm wrong here... I'm wrong about ALOT of things all the time, but not on this one... at least right now... Reed Sheppard is a turnstile, and its a major problem for the Houston Rockets defense (but I know he is capable of better)
