Rotations players who shoot above 30% from 3 Durant Smith Eason Sheppard Okogie Okogie plays 20 minutes, Eason has been injured half the season, averages 25 minutes, Reed gets 25 minutes. In our best case scenario with Eason healthy, 43% of our minutes still go to complete non shooters. If Eason is out, it jumps to around 50% We have a horrific spacing problem. A modern NBA team can’t have this many non shooters. Ime needs to give Reed/Eason/Okogie more minutes, give Holiday more run, and try his best to stagger Amen/Senguns minutes.
Just found out that the Rockets are NOT going after Cam Thomas. No interest from Udoka as he checked in with former Nets contacts and found that Thomas was waived for attitude, lack of passing, and no defense. Sound familiar?
Better with Reed starting? Probably now, and definitely in the long run. Clearly more fun to watch. I'm all about entertainment, now that the season isn't looking as great as it was. Reed starts, cool! Rockets win, wonderful! Young guys look good, awesome! Another cherry-picked Durant record, interesting! Absolute sh!tshow, still entertaining!
Pretty small sample.... and against decent to mediocre teams. When Reed is on.... he is a no doubt starter but the problem is he is still very inconsistent.
Can we talk about Reed cooking Lu Dort last night? Lu was a turnstile. Have you seen the video evidence?
It's not really a matter of what he's doing all the time really, just Sheppard being out there gives them more spacing and makes the other guys better. There's a conversation to be had about what needs to be done to fix the Amen problem.
eh, that doesn't really help the spacing at all, just replacing one shooter with another and the two non shooters are still on the floor. I am beginning to think you have to stagger Alpi and Amen's minutes. You really can't hide them both, hell you can't hide Amen at all really. The double team doesn't have to come from Amen's man - the others on that side of the floor can rotate to the shooters and just ignore him. The only time they have to account for him is when he's in the paint but that's crowding the lane - unless of course you are gonna play Amen as a 5 (which may have some merit). Also, they've tried Jabari as the 5 on occasion in the past - it didn't go well. He just isn't built or wired for that. I like the idea of Reed being on the floor with Sengun, KD, Jabari and Tari or Okogie (essentially a 4th shooter). It opens up the floor and allows for a much more diverse offense. This makes it easier to get Sengun or KD the ball in their preferred spots, instead of them having to work from the 3 point line. I just don't think the team is ready to admit that their best offensive lineups (in the half court) don't include Amen.
The roster construction is a legit issue. There are no good solutions. But Reed at least gives you ball handling and shooting. Amen is a more impactful player than Bari. Reed is a better shooter than Bari. I don’t think theres a world where Amen comes off the bench. But Bari isn’t even shooting 36% and thrived voming off the bench last yr. And we need at least one “shooter off the bench if we are gonna play guys like Okogie (and DFS). Anyway, i think it’s the best of a bad situation re roster construction. I think playing Bari more at the 5 could help.
And this is a conversation that needs to be directed at the coaching staff and what adjustments they’re going to make. It’s like CJ Stroud. Minnesota figured out how to neutralize him last year and now everyone has the blueprint. It’s on the coaching staff. The difference between CJ and Amen is IQ.
Duren and Ausar only play 28 and 26 mpg. 3PT shooting is clearly a weakness for the Pistons too, who make .1 less threes per game than us, but still the amount of time the have players on the floor who are zero shooting threats is less than us, which just opens up the offense, makes it less predictable and harder to guard when the D tightens up at the end of games. Overall the reason why the Pistons have more success isn't offense, they are just much better defensively.
maybe... here's the thing... it doesnt really matter who starts - its about how the minutes and slots are staggered imo... imo in order for Reed to be a net positive, he has to be shooting and making high velocity buckets - period. He's got good vision, makes some questionable decisions, and he's obviously a detriment on the defensive end... but if he's getting buckets, his minutes are a positive. Now if he's on the floor with KD, Alpi and even Tari - idk that we want to be force-feeding Reed Sheppard to get him those high velocity shots... if reed is only getting 25% of the shots but has to play d for 100% of the trips to the other end... thats not a good mix for us. lol Now running with the second unit... with Clint, okogie (if tari starts), dfs, tate or whoever else - yeh, force feed Reed and lets have him get up some high velocity shots and everyone else can help him on D and setting picks... Personally, id like to see KD at like 32 mins... so that leaves 16 mins right off the bat to have Reed on the floor... give him another 14... with KD while Alpi sits... a few down the stretch... and 30 is plenty imo... esp if he's already 'fatigued' and icing his knees... btw... remember when Francis didnt show for a game - so he could go to the SB? lol! JVG was not pleased! LOL Good times...
