this draft is so weak, but that didn’t stop people from calling Reed Sheppard the next Mark Price or Steve Nash I don’t think I’ve ever seen any player barely shooting 30% from the field after almost 40 games rookies in the past who I thought were awful like Mudiay, Scoot Henderson, etc blow Reed out the water
Reed is not in a shooting slump; you have to shoot and miss to actually constitute a slump. His problem, based on the times I have actually seen him play (which to be frank is not much) is that he does not shoot, even when he is wide open. I don't know if its a confidence thing or a misunderstanding of the speed of the defenders at this level (which happens to a lot of players), but he just looks scared. The other thing that is hurting him is that he doesn't get enough PT because we are already guard heavy. Ime is one of those guys who really doesn't like playing rookies as is, and he definitely isn't playing someone who he feels is a defensive liability. That is why I never understood the pick. To me, we needed and still need, a big man or a PF, and should have looked to trade down. Honestly we did not need to use the pick. Sometimes there is no guy worth taking at your draft spot for your team. If we had somehow lucked into the Number 1 pick, then maybe you take a flyer on Sarr; otherwise trade down and draft Edey or something.
Mark Price himself made the comparison. His shooting up to this point is historically bad, but those comparisons after Summer League weren't just kool-aid drinking completely out of nowhere.
For one thing there was plenty of discourse around Jalen during his rookie season. It was just very different. Jalen showed a lot more stretches of brilliance but was also a net negative most of the time, many times in a big way until he picked it up around March because he had no idea how to play team defense or play within an offense. Part of that was Silas, though. With Reed he's clanging way too many shots and he gets beat in isos from time to time but he's not taking much off the table when he's in the game either. He doesn't make many mistakes and even with as bad as he's shot he's not negatively impacting spacing because teams seem to still respect his shot. The other big difference with Jalen is that Mobley was generally considered the obvious pick at 2 if the Rockets didn't pick Jalen. Mobley had an incredibly good start in his rookie year and looked like a potential future All NBA player. With this class Castle is starting to look pretty legit, but outside of that not many in this class picked after Reed look like potential high-end players right now and the ones that maybe have to an extent like Ware and McCain weren't considered realistic to take at 3. Maybe Buzelis is getting there.
Every teams left Reed wide open. He was able to make shots in the G league, but not at the NBA level. This is likely a confidence issue. He may needs to shoot a couple of floaters to jump start his game, not many people can switch on immediately, especially he's a rookie and he doesn't receive consistent minutes. Also, It's not fair to compare Jalen and Reed first season. First, Jalen got the starting job on day 1, and they gave him ample time to screw up and learn. Second, Jalen's draft class was considered the strongest in a decade while Reed was in a weak draft class. If Reed was drafted in 21, he would not even be a lottery pick. Third, Reed is more of a point guard who can shoot than a shooting guard, and he has a pass first mentality. If he can fix his defense, I'd like to see him eventually become the starting PG and shift FVV to the bench when he gets older. Jalen is a shooting guard, a volume shooter, he can occasionally bring the ball up but his tunnel vision will never change. We want Jalen to do what he is best for - shootings. Lastly, I don't want the team to give up on Reed to early. He has a slow start, but he has potentials to become a better version of FVV once he gets stronger and adapt the NBA game speed.
He is Not tall , athletic or fast . Can’t defend . Basically a liability on defensive end . Was supposed to be a shooter , but can’t shoot . Can not get himself open to create his shots . When he gets the ball while open for spot up shots , he is Too scared to miss , so passes it out. He is basically a what happens when a high school level player makes it to the NBA. He should be behind Nate in the rotation.
Shooting-wise, yes. But that's the kind of thing that can change quickly (or never at all, of course). I'm more concerned about his inability on D to keep his man from driving right past him. That happened on three consecutive possessions yesterday. He's got great vision and reaction time, and quick hands, but all that just leaves him reaching for the ball as his guy blows by.
I think this is the best description of what is wrong. He has been an adequate defensive player and a good ball handler and passer. It is all confidence. Do I think he's our future PG, no. Do I think he is an NBA rotation level player in the next 2 years, yes. I've played golf for 50 years. Off and on, I've had the yips as a putter and inexplicably my swing gets off its normal plain. I haven't forgotten how to be a good golfer, but it happens to almost all of us. Sheppard hasn't forgotten how to shoot. He has the Yips, not to say playing against NBA level competitiion hasn't played a part in it, just like playing on a new course with totally different green speeds has an impact. His draft position was good for his pocketbook, but the pressure of high expectations has certainly effected him.
Oh, there have been worse rookie seasons than this In fact, Maxwell Lewis had one last season, shot 19% in 34 games played. If you want a little bit of hope, Rockets legend Steve Novak shot 36% in 35 games as a rookie and wound up being a lights-out 3P shooter, at least. The best player I can find who was this abysmal on offense as a rookie is Ben Wallace at 34.8% shooting and 1.1 points per game in 34 games played. But of course, Reed won't be winning any DPOY awards.
Scoot just last season put up some counting stats but overall as a player was much worse than Reed this season, and now he looks like a reasonable nba player. Reed hasn't even taken 100 3s yet, he has no sample size.
I have no clue who Maxwell Lewis is, but I see he was the 40th pick…Ben Wallace wasn’t even drafted I guess I’ll change my statement to “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any player expected to be something in the NBA barely shooting 30% from the field after almost 40 games”
Rookie PG on contending team = ignore this thread until Oct 1, 2025. Literally everything he does this rookie season, in the G league, and in Summer League is irrelevant, although it would be nice to see some shots go in the hoop. But as far as trajectory goes, I don't think any of it matters. His form is still pure. Everybody that enters the Rockets organization being a good shooter before coming here ends up sucking for a while when they join. See Jabari Smith also. I really wonder if Ryan Anderson was onto something about all the red on the court. We should really look into changing it, because we're just such a shite team at shooting every year for the past 2 decades basically.
Yips or not his confidence is completely shot. If he can't shoot he's completely worthless on the court..
Jalen Suggs was 36% from the field and 21% from 3 as a rookie, though played a lot more minutes and had much higher counting stats.
I still have confidence he can improve as the season goes on. Off season will be huge for him. Next season we will see a different Reed.
This. I pretty much suspended my expectations for Reed for the rest of the season. When FVV comes back, he should go back to the G League just to get consistent, major minutes. Certainly not a ringing endorsement for Reed, but at this point all you can do is hope he improves and starts contributing off the bench next offseason. I'm still optimistic, but just have to be realistic.
Reed is not getting the same opportunities as Jalen, Jabari, Sengun did, as his team is much better and in Win now mode. He is struggling with his shot, particularly his 3pt shot, but there is a reason for that. College 3pt range is 20ft all along from the corner all the way around the top....all 20 feet. The NBA is 22 feet in the corner and 23'9" at the top, it is a much longer shot and he has to get used to it, much like Jabari did. Reed needs playing time - consistent playing time - to get that 3 down........give him time, he will get there. The NBA is an adjustment he needs PT to adjust. DD
Reed is going to be fine. You're making the same stupid arguments kicking the player while he's down as you did with Jabari. "Yeah but he's missing WIDE OPEN SHOTS so he must be so far" the BS myth that keeps on flopping on the BBS. It's childish and egotistical. Sheppard's a shooter who is shooting poorly, you know it. Jabari is a shooter even when he was shooting poorly. You're not going to convince us right now that he's not even a shooter because you're going by the most useless sample of all time: like 20 games of ice cold legs and blow out games in his rookie season? GTFOH. Derrick White shot 33% from 3 for his first 5 seasons combined and he was on Chip Engelland's Spurs team during that time - so no shortage of development opportunities. That's one of the best shooters in the NBA today. How was that ever going to be predicted other than by looking at his mechanics, FT% and work ethic off the court as signs? I'm not saying all our guys will turn out to be the exception, I'm just saying quit acting like there aren't a ton of exceptions in the league to your illogically linear projection. Reed Sheppard is just getting started this month.
