Case to Draft Reed Sheppard at #3

Sooner423 · Jun 26, 2024

Anyone have the gist of the Reed WSJ article? I don't have a subscription.

https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/reed-sheppard-kentucky-nba-draft-790cb365

Painting_Shade · Jun 26, 2024

If we can get mark williams + 6 for 3, and take carter, I'd be ecstatic.

Otherwise I just want Shep to replace FVV.

zeeshan2 · Jun 26, 2024

Sooner423 said: ↑

Anyone have the gist of the Reed WSJ article? I don't have a subscription.

https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/reed-sheppard-kentucky-nba-draft-790cb365
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Reed Sheppard arrived at the University of Kentucky last season as a decent shooter. Both his parents had played basketball for the Wildcats, meaning he’d been schooled in the nuances of swishing a basketball through an 18-inch hoop since his first attempts on a kiddie rim.

But when Sheppard hears his name called early in the NBA draft on Wednesday night, it won’t be because he’s a decent shooter. It will be because, during his lone season in college, he transformed into something entirely different.
He became the best long-range shooter in the country.

The story of Sheppard’s one-year overhaul doubles as the story of how data is reshaping the very foundations of sports. At Kentucky, he became obsessed with a screen affixed to the wall at the practice facility, whose readouts told him how close he’d gotten to the perfect shot. Sheppard would hoist a 3-pointer, watch the net ripple, and look immediately at the “Splash Board,” which told him how close to the platonic ideal of arc and aim he’d just gotten.

“He was looking at the Splash Board on every shot, every day,” said John Carter, CEO of Noah Basketball, the shot-tracking company that manufactures the product. “He was just so dialed into it.”

Noah’s technology, which is used by nearly every NBA team, focuses on distinctions much finer than simple makes and misses. Using cameras installed above a court, it tracks a shot’s angle, depth, and left-right aim, and supplies instant readouts on its massive screen. Shots that land in the ideal range of all three metrics—approaching the basket at 45 degrees, just grazing the back rim on its way down—register as “splashes.”

As soon as he got to Lexington last summer, Sheppard started a new routine centered around that board. Every afternoon, he’d walk onto the Wildcats’ practice floor accompanied by John Welch, an assistant coach who had spent the previous two decades helping NBA stars refine their shooting strokes. Then Sheppard would fire up some country music and set to work. He’d launch one 3-pointer after another—almost always from the NBA line nearly 20 inches deeper than the college arc—and make adjustments, aiming for the perfect score.

“You can know if your shot feels good,” Sheppard said, “but you’re not gonna shoot it and look [at the ball] and be like, ‘It was 45 arc.’ Having that immediate feedback is really cool.”

There was just one problem: Sheppard quickly became too good of a shooter for the workouts to yield much benefit. “Standard catch-and-shoot just became too easy for him,” Welch said. So Welch recruited other members of the program—including a 7-foot team manager—to leap toward Sheppard with their arms raised while Sheppard shot. And still the pattern held: splash, splash, splash.

During Kentucky’s actual games, the transformation was obvious. In his last season of high-school and AAU basketball, Sheppard made 32% of his 3-pointers. In his one season in Kentucky blue he made 52%, the highest mark in the whole country.

The amazing thing is that the official numbers weren’t even Sheppard’s most impressive ones. According to Carter’s data, he had the best make- and splash-percentages of any college basketball player whose team used the Noah system.

The analysis offered by the Splash Board goes beyond merely codifying shooting. It actually upends decades of inherited wisdom about the best way to get a ball into a basket. Welch explained that he used to believe the classic “swish,” arcing high and landing perfectly in the center of the rim, was the ideal shot. “It’s so pretty,” he said. “It’s like a snowflake, it pops the net.”

But when he began working with Carter’s data during his time in the NBA, he quickly realized that the most accurate shooters actually shoot the ball on a slightly lower line, which gives them greater range. They also tend to clip the back of the rim, because aiming deeper in the basket increases the margin for error. According to Welch, some 70% of 3-point misses fall short.

Still, Welch said, there can be a risk if players become too fixated on their numbers. He remembered an afternoon when Sheppard seemed to be overthinking things, his shots sailing long or coming up short.

“I thought it might be in his head, I was just getting ready to say something,” Welch said. “And then he made 42 straight 3s.”
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zeeshan2 · Jun 26, 2024

HI Mana · Jun 26, 2024

My friend, you're asking whether a post making sweeping declarations about someone's character based on his hand measurements and how he posed for a casual photo is serious?

And also glossed over/cut out the direct comparison to the last Rockets PG who visited New York and ran into a hint of trouble?

I'll let you decide if this post is serious too.

It's not...

deb4rockets said: ↑

Are you serious right now? I think his character is the least of our concerns. This isn't some guy hanging at strip bars, out hanging with thugs, out breaking laws, doing drugs, getting charged with domestic violence, or off getting a bunch of different women pregnant.

I'd say these interview excerpts below speak well of his character.

How would you describe yourself as a leader?

RS: Yeah, I'm a vocal leader, but everything that I say is positive. You know, if something bad happens, I say it's on me. If they start missing shots, I'll be like, “you're good. Keep shooting. Shoot with confidence.” You know, I'm never bringing any of my teammates down or saying anything negative about them. It’s just always trying to build their confidence and keep the whole team positive and have no energy vampires. So everything is positive about the team and just everyone sticks together and just keeps that the main goal in the season

How important is your faith to you?

Yeah, it's very important. You know, growing up in a church, my family, we go to church every Sunday and it's a big thing.

At the end of the day, what do you hope to be remembered for?

RS: Probably just being a good person. You know, being like a nice young man. I don't want anyone to have anything negative to say about me if my name gets brought up. Everyone's like, “he's a good man. He's a good guy.” When people see you walking, they can only say positive things about you. And never get too confident or don't go and boast about anything. Just remain humble and yeah, just be a good person.

For those who aren’t familiar with your game, what are your greatest strengths and playstyle?

RS: Yeah, well, one of my strengths I think is I'll do whatever it takes to win. I can pass really well so if I need to go out and get some of my teammates open or get a steal on defense or something and I'm just going to go out and do whatever it takes and play my hardest. And then if we need a bucket or something, I can go get a bucket as well. But just being an overall good teammate, always encouraging, being unselfish on the court — really just doing whatever it takes to win.

https://www.prospectiveinsight.com/post/reed-sheppard
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zeeshan2 · Jun 26, 2024

3. Houston Rockets – PG/SG Reed Sheppard – Kentucky
There are no indications the morning of the draft that the Houston Rockets are eyeing a different player other than Reed Sheppard in this spot. Sheppard has impressed members of the Rockets throughout he pre-draft process with his shooting skills and his demeanor as it translates to winning, sources said. At the same time, Houston has received numerous calls from rival teams about potentially moving up in this year's draft, especially with Clingan still on the board. The Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are three teams with lottery picks behind the Rockets that are interested in Clingan, sources said.

After making their trade with the Nets on Tuesday night involving multiple draft assets, the Rockets are operating with the mindset of pursuing a star player right now in order to make a legitimate playoff push in the Western Conference. Many around the league are wondering if Houston's front office will turn their attention to Los Angeles Clippers All-Star Paul George, who is a candidate to opt into his $48 million player option and seek a trade ahead of free agency. There are also Kevin Durant rumblings, as far-fetched as that may seem.

Even though they drafted Amen Thompson last year and still have veteran guard Fred VanVleet leading their backcourt, Sheppard would bring a whole new dynamic to the Rockets. Houston ranked 23rd in the league in three-point shooting this past season, which is where Sheppard would leave his mark right away. He would also provide a spark to the Rockets' bench, as Sheppard's toughness would be valued by Ime Udoka and his staff.

In the event that a team trades up to select Clingan in this spot, that may just give the Rockets the future draft capital that they need to pull off a trade for a superstar on Wednesday night.
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cml750 · Jun 26, 2024

jch1911 said: ↑

That would be glorious if Risacher fell to 3 --> the Spurs end up trading 4 & future FRP to get their guy AND Rox still get Shep at 4.
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Spurs would take Sheppard in a heartbeat.

Sooner423 · Jun 26, 2024

Get the ****ing splash board installed in the Rockets practice facility right now

peleincubus · Jun 26, 2024

cml750 said: ↑

Spurs would take Sheppard in a heartbeat.
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I dunno. Making Wemby happy (if that would do it) is tantamount to everything else.

zeeshan2 · Jun 26, 2024

zeeshan2 · Jun 26, 2024

jch1911 · Jun 26, 2024

cml750 said: ↑

Spurs would take Sheppard in a heartbeat.
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But what about the "Les Foreign Legion" or "Les San Antonio Towers" or "Les French Fry Guys" (all pictured with Wemby & Risacher in berets).

You're missing a world of marketing opportunities!

DaDakota · Jun 26, 2024

Dobbizzle said: ↑

You missed the post he made a couple days ago where he tried to claim he had inside info, and then right after lots of actual journalists contradicted every thing he said lmao.
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WTF are you talking about I shared what I heard from a friend and NOT a single thing has been contradicted - I don't know if it is true, but this is what I heard......geez --- no wonder people don't want to share stuff here, bunch of jerk offs trying to call you a liar.

SHEESH !

Go suck an egg Dobbie !

If we draft Clingon it will be for a trade or we will trade Sengun.

DD

MystikArkitect · Jun 26, 2024

zeeshan2 said: ↑

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Rockets want someone to trade up for Clingan. But Marcus Smart isn't going to do it. Would much rather take Sheppard than get another old timer past his prime here.

zeeshan2 · Jun 26, 2024

cml750 · Jun 26, 2024

peleincubus said: ↑

I dunno. Making Wemby happy (if that would do it) is tantamount to everything else.
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Qui

deb4rockets · Jun 26, 2024

HI Mana said: ↑

My friend, you're asking whether a post making sweeping declarations about someone's character based on his hand measurements and how he posed for a casual photo is serious?

And also glossed over/cut out the direct comparison to the last Rockets PG who visited New York and ran into a hint of trouble?

I'll let you decide if this post is serious too.

It's not...

Click to expand...

I think for you to question his character as a basketball player for the Rockets is ridiculous. There are plenty of bad characters in the NBA off the court, and Sheppard's not the guy I'd be worried about.

ROXTXIA · Jun 26, 2024

deb4rockets said: ↑

I think for you to question his character as a basketball player for the Rockets is ridiculous. There are plenty of bad characters in the NBA off the court, and Sheppard's not the guy I'd be worried about.
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Oh, yeah? He looks like bad news to me.

JayGoogle · Jun 26, 2024

MystikArkitect said: ↑

Rockets want someone to trade up for Clingan. But Marcus Smart isn't going to do it. Would much rather take Sheppard than get another old timer past his prime here.
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I'm 100% on Reed here.

Only thing acceptable would be some all-star player around the age of 27...and unless we have some random surprise like trading for Booker using that pick then it better be Reed.

zeeshan2 · Jun 26, 2024

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