(ESPN) Jeremy Woo: Rockets have interest in Sheppard, with both the FO and ownership intrigued

It carries more weight than you might think in certain sports/positions.

Being a low 6’ white dude in the NBA is hard - don’t over think it.

 

Jason Kidd is 6’4 is mixed race and blessed physically in a whole different way.

I’m voicing a concern that a lot of American born white guards are faced with.

“Is Reed physical enough for the next level?”

Steve Nash and John Stockton were generational passers. Reed can’t be a shooting guard, he has to be an epic point guard as well as elite shooting and I don’t see it.

 

Curry standing reach 8’1

 

wingspan?
vert?

 

Jason Kidd's real height is 6'2.5....3/4 of an inch taller than Shepard... and despite that, he can't even dunk, he only attempted one in game on his career and he ran out of talent as Corey Brewer would say.

If you don't see Sheppard as a PG that just means you put forth no effort and didn't watch the film, he's a very good passer and was always getting the ball where it needed to go.

 

And a 35 inch max vertical...

 

Abilities will ultimately determine these players worth............no matter what they look like....who they are compared to....or what they've done before this moment..........or what they are projected to do after this moment either.......

YET

I think a player who has won two rings from college, might want to win in the NBA, maybe a whole lot more other players in this draft.........

 

You've been watching too much WNBA. Those ladies get physical.
In the NBA, mother f'ers are fainting 3 ft away from contact.
A better question would be: "Can Reed become a Thespian?" He has shown no ability to flop or dive.
I'm going to call him up and send him vids of Manu and Dirk.

 

Manu was thick and dirk was a monster.

harden and Luka thick boys.

It helps to have a big body when flopping into calls.

 

Man I have a bad feeling we pass on Reed and Spurs take him at 4...I just dont trust anything anymore after Paulo thing few years ago

 

This is a stupid take. You obviously don’t know anything about athletics

 

I'll grant those arguing that physical attributes are important, that they're right. However, they are just a part of the overall player. You can't fixate on one attribute or trait because another may offset that limitation. Some folks have mentioned "tiny hands", although I believe his width was ok. His hands are lightening quick and strong, coupled with his hand/eye coord, instincts, and BBIQ he's made them weapons in his defensive game.

Others say he's not a PG, but a small SG. In his HS career he started as a combo guard as a Fr-Soph, but played PG as Jr-Sr. He led his college team in assists while coming off the bench. "He's a connector" versus a true point--what's wrong with always making the right pass? He sees an opening and pushes the ball up the court or to the open man. That's good team basketball and has become a rarity in today's ISO, too much dribbling game.

He's not perfect, no prospect coming into the world's best league is, but his combination of skills and traits make him stand out from any other prospect in this class. Will he be the best player from this Draft? No one knows, but what he brings are elite shooting/BBIQ/teamwork and the potential to be a very good PG with further work on his ball-handling and body.

If he's our pick, I think he'll make believers out of all his doubters and we'll be happy we didn't take anyone else.

 

…far from overblown - it’s the #1 reason why the Celtics won the title because they exploited matchups better than anybody else. It’s not like they had some amazing offense - it looked like dogshit at times but they “set the court” in a way less about getting a specific offensive isolation matchup and more about taking away the best parts of their defense by forcing guys like Lively to be in places where it’s hard for him to help. That’s why he seemed like a stud against Minnesota…and was largely ineffective in the Boston series. Lively was out of the play and not able to be a rim defender, a guy like PJ Washington or Luka was forced to be the help side rim protector, and the offense was initiated by whomever had the most favorable matchup rather than stubbornly putting the ball into one players hands over and over.

 

Muggsy Bogues was white and had a long career.... and Rod Strickland was only 6'1". Your argument doesn't make sense now that you've been disproved.

 

He will be useful - the mistake MANY make here is thinking the best guy available at the #3 pick in THIS draft is going to be a starter on a good team and I don’t think that’s realistic in this draft. Probably a handful of really good players - but this seems like a role players draft to me and many of them are likely not going to be long term starters….but sure - there are going to be some Herb Jones, Donte Divencenzo, Jose Alvarado types around here.

 

Whats going in here? Nah. The ridiculous meter just broke.

 

Muggsy Bogues was white?

Are we in the “Jeremy Lin is the Jackie Robinson of the NBA” level of ridiculousness now?

 

Going back to 1968 theres not been a draft class without at least 3 all stars. The average all stars per draft class is about 7
Theres usually at least 1 All NBA player from those classes.

The odds of what you're claiming has about 0 chance of happening.

A better tactic rather than dismissing the entire draft class as bench level role players is to take a closer look at the prospects and see if there is something people may be missing or of there is somebody with untapped potential.

 

35 vert and 6’3 wing

 

Mark Price had the GREAT J, but was also an excellent ball handler. This is a big difference between the two. Great vision/passer. He also had smooth/quick lateral movement. Plus, an incredible feel for the game. Such a rare player. So, best to temper expectations on Reed. I'm skeptical of him getting his shot in the NBA (breaking down defenses too), and getting abused on D. Top 5 needs to have the ball handling, and can't have these built in disadvantages on both sides of the ball.