The rockets don’t need a pg. they need another shooting guard and they need to defer more to Amen to run the offense
Completely missed the point. Doesnt matter if hes hunted (which isnt always true). Thats really not relevant. Whats relevant is the offense success rate of doing so against him, and the numbers (and objective eyes) see that its not as big of an issue as people claim it to be. Yeah, situationally you may want a better defender on the floor. Situationally applies to a lot of players though . Like subbing Amen out for shooting...subbing out okogie for more rebounding... But when you look at the picture as a whole, even with Reed's defensive issues the Rockets are not only overall better, but they have been slightly better defensively with him ON the court. Its pretty simple....all players have some deficiency. But its whether or not your strengths are strong enough to override those issues. Reed's has been. The issue here is that some want to reduce him to just a shooter... "And if his shot isnt going in his defense is so bad, hes worthless out there" That just isnt true. His gravity, energy, passing, ball handling (and developing penetration abilities) are all valuable things... Plus even as a "bad defender" his hands and instincts allow him cause momentum shifting turnovers. When his shot is going he becomes special and does things like help us beat the nuggets and pull of a big comeback win vs san an in prine time. Everyone knows theres major things he needs to work on especially defensively. But the other things he does well, which are backed up by eye test AND numbers, (plus his needed development) warrant hin playing more than Ime does in many cases including this past game. You have udoka using Reed's 4th quarter as a reason why he didnt play him at all in OT. Because of a few things he did that he had an issue with? I mean, WUT?!?!
Likewise, you should watch this: Reed Sheppard's Defense Conundrum | Do the Tape or The Numbers Matter More for the Houston Rockets?
Having a player that is main target on defense (it is true) just makes the other players have to play a more frenetic, scrambling, switching defense to make up for Reed's lack of NBA defense experience and lack of size and strength relative to most of the other players. I would argue that is very relevant, as if Reed is going to be on the floor more then can we sustain that? Clearly the coaches are concerned. As Sam Vecenie and Bryce discuss in my YT I linked above, the tape and the numbers are telling different things. I think you and others are relying too much on defensive numbers that really just show how he performs in limited minutes against more bench units than starting units.
Reed's defense is better than KD, Alpi and anyone guarding the rim tonight except Capela in Detroit. DD
no he’s not good on defense whether it’s help or one on one although he’s improved in some areas. improvements Not gambling as much on steals and giving up the lane Gets down lower in front of his man Puts pressure on ball handler further ftom 3 pt line (30+ ft) Moving feet more to stay in front Needs work Often out of position letting guys get the angle on him Needs to beat his man on the attack Often gets shoved out the way due to size More awareness on defense to help stop dribble drive
Are there advanced stats that show how one player compares to another on +/- and other measures, when facing the same opposing players? I realize that's impossible when one guy starts and the other comes in at 6:00 or 2:00 of the quarter, give all the personnel changes on the other side. But in hard science, they have ways to factor in the equivalent of [during Reed's shift, compared to Rocket X's shift, how many player-minutes on the opposing team were filled by starters as opposed to bench players].
I envision a world maybe in the near future where AI can do this kind of analysis that can give us a single number to judge an individual player's winning impact on defense. Until then, we'll have to rely on our own eye test and keep fighting each other with our own opinions.
