For someone 2 years straight starting last offseason not wanting any draft picks seems to enjoy Cam Amen & Reed on the team. Woohoo!
Not to make any excuses for his relatively poorer play in the last two games, but he certainly had fresh legs during the first two games and he showed how good he was with the 3 pt. shot during that time. His usage during the SL games was incredibly high for someone who has never played these many minutes in a game with his position as the ball handler and distributor. It would be very interesting if he works on his conditioning from now until camp and pre season games. IMHO, he will be a very impactful player from the start if he works on his conditioning. His defensive mistakes are something that can be taught and learned from experience. His future with the Rockets looks very good.
Let us be honest, in a better draft you would have taken a remotely close Paolo or Flagg over this kid. Or Boozer's son.
You really felt a need to post this, huh? I'm curious as to why, given it offers no analysis, no argument, no insight, is not funny, not clever, not witty, and does nothing but draw attention to your fourth-rate juvenile mind. If the latter was the goal, congrats I guess.
Great clips. Legler is one of my favorite analysts and I generally trust his opinion. Sheppard's 2-year development into a star is really simple: - Learn positional/POA defense from FVV and Ime. - Tighten those handles asap. Jalen has had more success tightening his handle than most players I've ever seen so maybe get tips from Jalen. It helps that Amen, Jalen, Sengun can be on the floor with him to share PG duties. - Put on some muscle. Not too much. Brooks, for example, really overdid it putting on muscle and he's gotten slower. Don't want that. Just prevent being pushed around too easily. Could be max-worthy by his 5th season. Really excited for him to grow into his potential.
A few thoughts and observations after watching the 4 SL games... - Wasn't impressed by our coaching this year. Made a few adjustments on defense, but missed some opportunities to call TOs and stop other team's momentum. Maybe his first time running a team, so I'll give him a break. - As many of you have already said, this SL team lacked talent except for Cam, Reed and I would include Orlando Robinson who I thought looked to be serviceable. I think we can do better than Nate Williams, Hinton, Samuels, etc. Dante could get a 2-way and spend the season in G-League maybe. As for Reed... - Fell in love with his mid-range game. I really didn't appreciate this aspect of his game from watching HS and UK tape. - Natural PG mentality confirmed. We knew he wasn't flashy, but he showed he's absolutely a solid floor general--controlled tempo, made right reads, delivered passes on the money for the most part. - Super smart/savvy gamer. Adjusted in last game to bully ball defense and finished strong. - Still getting a feel for new level (as would be expected), tried to do much and ended up forcing some things in last game. - Will need to work on his ball handling, but especially situational choices (when and when not to attack) against various players and defenses. - Conditioning. I didn't think this would be an issue, but he got tired. I was a little surprised by the rotations, but he's definitely getting his sea legs still. Overall: I'd give him a solid "B" for SL. It's not fair in some ways, because SL is definitely not tailored to Reed's style of play, but as a fan I'm pretty happy with what I saw and how he handled himself. I believe he's our PG of the future and fits like a glove with our current core. I wasn't confident that we would select him, but damn it was a wonderful surprise when we did. Alpi, Amen and Reed all have an elite BBIQ, as well as some individual skills that make them special. I believe these three can be our big 3 if they continue to develop and improve their games.
The last 2 games for Sheppard have in part been about him being our best player on the floor. That wont be the case when the regular season comes. They have also been valuable in terms of experience. But it is also true that Sheppard will face better defenders than Nix, even though Nix deserves some credit for his effort. Not worried a bit here. It will take time for Sheppard to get comfortable at the NBA level. All rookies do. But I think he will adjust faster than most. Cant wait!
If they graded him outside the top 10, that is a lot of crow to eat, based on the Summer league showing. As a Rocket fan, I am beyond thrilled the Rockets selected him with their pick. To be honest, the Rockets may have picked him #1 if they owned the top pick in the draft. Green, Whitmore, Sheppard, Thompson are going to have to have a Battle Royale to see which guys are in the teams future at guard. And Tari, Thompson, and Whitmore will probably duke it out at SF too. I can see Thompson at SF or PG, Whitmore at SG or SF, Green is SG or bench, Tari is SF or bench, Reed can play at PG or SG (albeit very undersize). Lots of talent that Stone has assembled.
Reed and Whitmore are the most likely to be on the bench the entire season. Green will definitely be a stater. If he isn't, he's not on this team. There is no "Jalen is going to come off the bench for us" thing happening. He's either a max contract guy for the team or he's traded. Those are the only two options for Green on the Rockets. He's either a max contract guy by the end of the season or he's traded.
He had great chemistry with Cam and showed that with another good player on the court, he can both feed them and play off of them. It was clear that he can be a great part of a functional team. It is harder to shine when things degenerate to YMCA ball.
I think you're right. Reed is not a 1-1 guy, he's the epitome of a team player. I think he'll really show his worth on a functional team.
I get why you would think this. Personally, I think there is a space where he improves a bit but still doesn’t quite sign for the max. I do agree With the concept that he hasn’t been that much worse than Cade Cunningham or Scottie Barnes. I truly have no idea which way it is going with Jalen. I feel like he’s going to end up being a Max player, but it might be two or three years from now.
There's a third possibility. If he doesn't prove his worth as a starter, he could find himself coming off the bench. In that scenario, he may find himself with a lack of suitors willing to pay the max. It could be another Brandon Ingram situation. It could behoove him to embrace an instant offense role off the bench and continue to try to improve to become an efficient player eventually.
Not really. The reason is regardless of what you think of Jalen, there isn't a replacement on the roster for what he is or supposed to be. He also is in this in-between of not being a bust but not being a clear star by his third year as a number two pick. So if he disappoints it isn't going to be at a level bad enough where a team maybe like the Suns who might think of tanking if they don't do anything this upcoming season might see Green maybe as a more late booming star to take a risk on along with getting some of their draft capital back to control their own destiny in the lottery for Booker who would replace what Green should be on this roster. But Green isn't going to ever come of the bench for this roster. He will get traded before it comes to that and I'm pretty confident even people who don't like Jalen agree with me here.
