Listening to @Clutch and @BimaThug on the wolves post game show I think i remember them saying that the organization AND Ime believe he has star potential. If they see this they can comment, but I got the impression from them that Ime is trying to groom Reed into reaching his full potential and is tough on him because he expects a lot, not because he doesnt like him. Im not really sure how I feel about that if thats the case. On one hand I think Ime should play him consistent minutes and empower him as its whats best for the team. On the other hand, I understand not wanting him to become a trae young, and to understand the importance of defense and the little things.
If true, it would mean that Ime is just doing a horribly incompetent version of what Pop did to Tony Parker. It's kind of like how blowing yourself up with 300 pounds of Tannerite and a BB gun is a horribly incompetent version of NASA going to the moon.
Report from the Spurs game: 1 minute into the 4th, after his full-court outlet to KD, with the Rockets down 8, Reed comes down and jacks an airball from 33 feet. A minute later, he swishes a 3 from the corner. 20 seconds after that, he steals the ball and gets us a layup. A couple minutes later, a missed 3. A couple minutes after that, a hit from 3. A minute after that, another hit from 3, and we have the lead. 30 seconds later, a drive and reverse layup. Ime takes Reed out for defense. Puts him back in at 2:30, and the first thing Reed does is soar to block a corner 3 from the hottest shooter of the night. It's another sign that this kid thrives on moxie. Give him more shots and a long leash. He'll have some howlers, but he's a great shooter, so the percentages will usually pay off. And it also bucks up his whole game. And when he's on, we're on.
Reed seems way better off the catch. The problem is that we don't have enough creators to kick it out to him. Reed would thrive the most in an offense where players allow him to play more like Curry, which involves letting Reed pump fake, get his defender off the ground and re-position himself for his next move. This would mean more immediate passes back to Reed once Reed passes. If Reed got half the dedication to getting the ball to him as Durant does, I think we'd see a much more efficient shooter. Unfortunately, I don't think Reed will ever get the fast ball movement that is needed as long as he is playing with Durant.
Reed is a ****ing dawg. We need to encourage him to shoot as many shots as he can. Hit or miss, I like our chances when he does well. Dude is all heart. Courageous.
Reed is a rythm shooter. I’m so happy ime trusted him tonight. Dude is going to be a star in this league
Ime's approach to Reed does not change, for better or worse. Teams defense on him doesn't change either. Some nights Reed fights to make an impact, and some nights he just kind of blends in and shoots 3's. I've never seen Ime bench Reed for shooting too much.
he had a couple of steals and the aforementioned block in that timespan...and still he's pulled for "defense." make it make sense.
Yep. The problem with being our best passer is that he's the only guy who can't receive those passes.
Ime's offensive gameplan for Reed is to have him just camp out on the 3 point line. Awful mismanagement.
Bad 1st half. Excellent 2nd half. I thought the Rockets moved the ball better as a team which benefits Reed. Reed depends heavily on making his threes. He did have a nice open middie this game (Not the best percentage for the season, but this looks like it will be money at some point).
He shouldn’t be camped at the 3 point line, but Reed’s superpower is spot up shooting, not creating off the dribble. Last night is an example of how to use Reed. He was 8-17 shooting. 6 of his made baskets were assisted (4 by Amen, 2 by Jabari). He was 2-9 in non-assisted shots. Reed is best, at least this season, spotting up. If at some point, we become a more Pick’n’Roll team then Reed can expand his repertoire to be on-ball more. Amen continues to improve as a pg as his assists are growing and middie shots are beginning to fall. He is our best creator off the dribble and gets to the line consistently and shoots his ft’s better than Sheppard. He still has some work to do on his handles and when to shoot and when to pass, but is progressing nicely only half way through the season at his new position. His fast play leads to TO’s, but the best PG’s in the league often have lots of TO’s as they have to beat double teams and force there way into the lane (see Harden and Curry for example). Without Amen’s ability to get in the lane, we would have even less spacing than we have now. Use Amen to drive and score or dish and use Reed to space the floor with his shooting. It is the only offense that makes since for this roster.
i made that comment in terms of him actually cutting and moving off the ball which would actually create open looks for other players. i'm not saying he should create ISO off the dribble. i'm saying we need to actually run some motion offense using his gravity to create confusion defensively. reed should be running off curls and screens. i've yet to see anything even resembling this which isn't playing to our strengths.
Some of us have been advocating for that style of play and saying he could be in that mold since before he was drafted. Its the Rockets offense though. They run simple actions and rely way too much on individual greatness vs the offense making things simpler. Thats why Sengun, Amen, KD have to make these amazing plays in iso situations so often. Reed, Jabari and others arent equiped right now to do that consistently....So "our role players suck"... They dont suck. They just arent being placed into favorable situations often enough.
I’ve been a proponent of that as well, but so far at least, he does not shoot well on the move (like Curry for example). Also what are the odds that Ime can/will institute that kind of offense. I’d put the probability at about 10%. The best we can hope for is that Durant takes it on himself to take a step back from Iso to make the team better. Adams going down did at least take away Ime’s option to go double bigs. We had more movement and screening in the last 2 games than we have had all year. Reed can be important piece in that kind of offense, but is next to useless in an Iso centric offense.
