A rookie to year 2 transformation like that has never happened to my recollection. But you can't say Reed was a complete bust as a rookie. Up to the ASG, he looked like a flaming bust but then showed significant signs of life in the later stages of the season. You can cherry-pick individual games where he actually excelled. There have been plenty of players who were terrible the first part of their rookie seasons (like Reed) but ended up having productive careers.
I hope so, I had really high hopes for him but even Josh Christopher showed more promise. I can't really argue with you on him looking good in the later stages of the season but there was something there sort of. I wish he became like the pacers dude.... I forgot his name already....
I wouldn't expect Reed to play like TJ McConnell, who is one of a kind. Many of us have been watching and admiring him for years. He and Reed are programmed very differently.
I thought he was going to be the guy last year watching him in summer league. But the first half he was so lost during games. Granted it was sparse minutes but man was it noticeable. He has shown flashes of being a dynamic shooter and passer but we will see. If he can become a floor leader for the 2nd squad then we are golden. I just have worries if he struggles and we have to depend on Holiday.
I don’t have time to transpose the stats exactly, but look up the rookie seasons for Steve Nash, Kyle Lowry, FVV, Mike Conley, etc. Basically that archetype of undersized PG where tool #1 is offensive court vision, tool #2 is the 3pt shot, and tool #3 is defensive court vision…their rookie seasons are never pretty. Chris Paul is a huge except there, but please don’t compare any player to Chris Paul. For reference, Scoot Henderson is not a perfect comparison—different archetype more like Ja Morant or Kyrie in terms of their off the dribble being more of a primary weapon than passing—but he was given way more oxygen in terms of playing time and put up a resoundingly worse season than Reed in terms of efficiencies and A/TO. For small guards it never starts out pretty. But if we can get Reed’s 3 close to what it was in college, and his court vision is 75% of Steve Nash’s…that’s still an all-star. You can tell it on defense, his offensive and defensive IQ’s are still very high. Hes the anti-Cam, where he was constantly making the right decisions on the court, but the shots weren’t going in, and he was on the receiving end of a lot of “welcome to the NBA” plays where opposing guards just took him off the dribble one on one. But a lot of that will flip on a dime once he gets experience. As opposed to Cam where he seems like a nice guy, but spilling out the seems of his feigned composure was pure knucklehead basketball. The breakaway slam dunks that he caught all rim on because he was trying to break the glass on his jam. The no-no-no-yes tunnel vision off the dribble threes. And the hundred mile an hour dump off passes he threw to teammates who then failed to catch the pass, causing Cam to throw a conniption fit while his defender sprinted the other way for a 4-on-3 fast break just because he couldn’t get out of his head to get back on D. He’s the epitome of the meme of the fuming angry stick figure guy wearing the placid face mask.
Plenty of guys who started out terrible as rookies and turned out good or even great with much-improved 2nd years. Andrew Bynum Dirk Nowitzki Ben Wallace Jimmy Butler Brandon Ingram (Rockets legends) Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowry Edit: Actually come to think of it FVV also had a terrible rookie season, somehow managed to stick around in the league, and was a good player year 2.
Tired old show, sir. My favorites on the Rockets are : Tari, Reed, Amen, Jabari.....I like KD too. DD
Just their height. Curry has had a pretty good career being his size. Reed's game is similar to Curry. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Reed can have a solid career too.
Eye test says Reed Sheppard has the stuff. Players don't typically look out of their element and beat those allegations and become a star. Reed, despite having bad counting stats, looked remarkable at times. He's willing to play a role. He is incredibly versatile in off ball/ on ball. There is a reason why the Rockets made him untouchable in KD talks despite having a very lackluster rookie campaign. Star Upside and above average starter downside. He'll be in the NBA for a decade plus. How his career looks is a different story. I think he's 's the third best player out of the original core seven when their careers are done. I also see him being a strong sticking point in any trade for a superstar going forward, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him blossom elsewhere if an opportunity arises for a superstar trade this year.
The kid is barely past his 21st birthday can we not call him a bust when he was playing behind two other players on a 52win team? as stated above, he’s got super bball IQ and a transferable skill in his 3pt shot. His biggest adjustments last year the speed of the NBA game (which is good in summer league but not the same as real NBA playoff level) and defense, which he has the smarts to figure out so hopefully we will see that this year. I’m excited to see his improvement as the season goes on since I expect if he does figure out that defense he will see way more PT
Obviously could be wrong here, but Reed looked more like the classic "everything is happening too fast for the rookie" situation as opposed to "this guy just sucks." That gives me hope that the game slows down for him rather than just hoping a bad player suddenly becomes good.
