Sheppard needs to be in the G-League getting consistent minutes and learning how to run an NBA offense. In the offseason, he needs to get in the weight room. He needs to add more muscle to deal with the physicality of the NBA.
our defense is much better with Jabari on the court. our rebounding is much better with Jabari on the court. defense is 50% of the game. Jabari is only 21 years old and is a key cog on a playoff team. Our record has been built on defense and offensive rebounding.
someone really needs to look into every shooter losing their shot once they become a rocket. DB the only one who got a shot coming to houston
The end of our bench was the absolute worst that I've seen. We had an 8 second call in garbage time and it wasn't even close. The team looked shook in garbage minutes. It was the strangest thing I've seen in awhile.
Poeltl is a CENTER who shots 61% overall and 0% from 3 ..as in he doesn't shoot 3's. He's a 65% FT shooter. (Sengun is a 48.8% overall shot and 22.7% from 3 by comparison)... so, 61% is great..even better than our All Star. But can Poeltl guard 1-5 and play both Center and Forward? His FT% is not good and he's literally a ZERO from 3. So, there's good but definitely some bad as well. Oh yeah...INSIDE is not why we drafted Jabari.
the funny thing is reed has an actual offense in the g league. feels like Fred is the only one who can run this mess of an offense, lol
There’s truth to that. That said, Reed Sheppard was an elite shooter at Kentucky who displayed some playmaking ability. He wasn’t a point guard in college, and he needs time and development to become one in the NBA.
Poeltl would be an upgrade on Steven Adams and Jock Landale, not Jabari Smith Jr. He and Jabari are different types of players.
He also came off the bench for the Wildcats quite a bit. His game might be better suited to College ball.
But Dream...FVV is 38.7 overall shooting and 34.4% from 3. Assists ? People swear by him but in truth not so good...but he's the best we got even at that.JMO.
That would help - but he mainly needs to regain some confidence and stop fearing failure. He isn’t playing free and with purpose like he is capable of.
I said before the season Reed would have more success playing off the ball as a rookie instead of running point and some of his most ardent fans strongly objected to the idea. The verdict is in. I'm not even convinced playing point full-time is his destiny in the long term.
I really do believe this plays into what's happening. I am amazed that his shot hasn't translated to the NBA YET. I'm not the omly one duped...GM's had him being the best draft pick..almost unexplainable
I don’t this his issues are related to playing on or off ball - he hasn’t done either of them well in some time. He clearly has lost confidence in his shooting and decision making. He played far better to start the season than he is now - he didn’t suddenly lose his skills in two months, he lacks confidence in his shot taking, making and passing… he will need to get his swagger back and that will take time.
I agree, but it’s hard to get your confidence back when you see inconsistent minutes, and your coach doesn’t leverage your shooting ability by consistently running you off screens into good looks. He would be better served getting a lot of run in the G-League and building his confidence up. Assuming the Rockets want Sheppard to be the point guard of the future, he needs a lot of practice and reps at that position. If his confidence wasn’t shot, he should be used as a floor spacer off the bench for now.
Drafting Smith was not a massive masterplan. Holmgren was gone and you had to fight for the scraps. Smith does not have the talent of a $30 million contract and it's more sustainable to trade him before Amen's extension comes up. There's likely some desperate team that might have a PG they don't need or bigs that can better gel with the talented Amen and Green. 35% 3 is not remarkable and being a perimeter defending big means he's a guy who can come off the bench. It's too much of the same with poor shooting guys on the Rox.
I don’t have an issue with him going to the GLeague because at this point he isn’t doing well in the little time he gets. I really think he just needs a summer to work on his game and clear his mind more than anything.
