I’ll never understand this point. He’s got great athletic traits for his position. You don’t post a 40+ inch vertical without being a great athlete. For reference, Chris Paul had a 32 inch vertical, Curry a 35, Nash and Kidd didn’t really have great verticals, etc.
Doncic and Jokic have no vertical whatsoever, and they are toying with the league right now. Some people just never learn. TALENT ALWAYS OUTWEIGHS PHYSICAL TRAITS. Reed seems legit. And his ceiling is definitely in the top 3 among Core 7.
Totally agree about the hands. My overall impression was that he has excellent anticipation and reaction time, which allows him to compensate with quick hands for what he lacks in speed of movement. I was laughing during the game because he kept deflecting balls, and the ESPN crew couldn't get their heads out of Bronny's jock long enough to notice it. I do worry about his feet, though. CP3 used outstanding footwork to defend bigger guys. I'm not seeing that so far from Sheppard. Love the vertical, but that doesn't necessarily translate to lateral movement.
I'd add Amen to that group. CF love Tari, Amen, Cam, and now Reed. Jalen and Alpi are polarizing. Jabari is kind of split too but people don't have as much energy on him than Jalen and Sengun.
His defensive footwork seemed to improve after the first few plays. I suspect it's more of a matter of focus and jitters than athletic limitation. We'll see though. I was worried when Bronny got by him with ease those first couple possessions.
Some folks already reaching sengun fanatics level for this kid, already implyin others of being racist.
Great analysis. Love the hands. Gotta work on the feet. Sit him down with video of CP3 defending the ball. Even in his first year with us, CP was still outstanding at lateral movement and using his chest. It allowed him to competently defend bigger guys, and it facilitated deflections and steals.
He reminds me a little bit of Desmond Bane, doesnt necessarily have the physical traits but his skill level is impressive.
I know people don't want to hear it, but it'd actually do Reed good to study some later JJ Redick tape to see how he shot in motion coming off screens. If he can learn to utilise his accuracy in those split second movements it'll mean even significantly longer/more athletic guards won't even be able to shut him down because he just needs that one step/hesitation/slow movement round a screen and it's gone. I agree though, his size/length limitations say he should be receiving as much help from our other guys as possible to get those open looks and he should be running around screens to really maximise his prowess. We can't reduce him to a corner shooter, that'd be ridiculous.
Is this not a skill he already has? I swear I saw it in one of the highlight videos I've watched. Or maybe I'm just assuming he can do it because he's small and white, lol. But yeah, totally agree. Being able to hit shots while coming off an off-ball screen and still fading to the side is crazy hard to do, but he seems like the type of guy to do it.
A hockey line change of Reed/Cam /Amen/Eason and Aquaman is going to completely shut down second units.
I think he can 100% develop the skill at an elite level, from all the college stuff I watched he seemed more of a set shooter even when coming off screens. He doesn't appear to have that full-speed coming around the corner catch-turn-shoot in one motion fade yet (do many college players tbh? I feel like that's elite pro level shooters kinda moves) but once he does, how do you guard that? It's like how it was for most people trying to block a Yao jump shot - you can't block something that's gone before you even get close enough to contest it.
Yea but Bane has like a 40 inch vertical and Reed has like a 42 inch vertical. Its not like Reed doesnt have anything. Im just saying, both have physical limitations they make up for with skill.
