I’m happy he’s finally starting to make that floater and some layups in traffic. Early in the season looked like he was just throwing up prayers in the paint.
Being a real threat to drive is actually one of the main reasons Steph Curry is so dangerous. 15% of his shots over his career are from 0-3ft and another 11% 3-10ft. Makes it harder to cover him tightly enough to contest his outside shots. So Reed would definitely have to improve in that area to be more than a roleplayer IMO. Glad to see him working on it.
I think that's understandable and I don't think it's a big deal. What was not normal was last year when he would just enter the game and immediately have that deer in the headlights look. It's one thing to be erratic and question yourself after some bad plays. It's another to act like you don't even belong in the NBA. That was the red flag I felt from his last season. Now he just look like a typical young player.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6825731/2025/11/21/reed-sheppard-rockets-improvement-experience/ ∙Per Cleaning The Glass, when Sheppard, Durant and Şengün are on the floor together, the Rockets are outscoring teams by 21.6 points per 100 possessions. ∙He’s fifth in the NBA in deflections this season (57), despite being the only player in the top 25 of the category who’s played less than 300 minutes. He’s also tied with Thompson (20) for the most steals on the team this season, despite playing nearly 170 fewer minutes than Thompson.
Reed is now 50th in Actual EPM that just got out, behind only Alperen and Kevin Durant ahead of Amen Thompson ..
He reminds me of myself, the perfect outstretched arm for max distance between the ball and the defender on his layups, still has the touch to it. Makes him actually able to score inside. Unlike fred.
