OK, I have now watched all of Sheppard's minutes against the Pistons. The dumping on him in this forum is just whacked. The hits from 3, we know about. The misses from 2, at least two of those, maybe three, were de facto assists, penetrating to interior space, drawing defenders, and putting the ball on the rim for putbacks. A penetration to the basket where he lost his grip a little and couldn't quite get the roll at the rim. A couple of newbie floaters where he didn't have quite the right touch, but he did the creation part right and just needs to work on finishing them. It's the kind of thing where you need to experience NBA-size defenders near the rim so you get a feel for exactly how high you need to put the ball to get it over their arms and drop it in. Lots of shot creation for others. Better ball control starting possessions, even against Ausar, than he showed against OKC. Even the defense, I saw Reed using his feet and chest more, less of the unwise gambling for steals. And he continues to use his hustle and speed to break up plays. Look, we can all see he's got stuff to work on. The reach for a steal that comes up short and leaves a path to the basket. The hero-ball crosscourt pass that gets ripped off. Above all, not fighting hard enough to get over the initial pick in that zone defense. Opposing teams will start every play with that move till he figures out how to handle it more effectively. But the video of this game does not bear out the caricature that Sheppard is a constant fatal liability on defense. Even that play where he got iso'd in the post by Paul Reed, Sheppard got out of it with quick hands and a non-shooting foul. The #1 problem I saw with our team in this game (aside from getting repeatedly outworked in the air, which is a whole other topic) is that we're playing too many big guys who can't handle the ball and can't create, at least from where they start. We need a creator, a guy with some quickness and court vision, ideally one who can hit his shots. This is the guy. And he's getting better. Play him.
Yes, Reed needs to play like he’s the lead dog. I’ve been saying this since last season. He may not be very good at it yet, but that needs to be his role. We saw a little bit of this last night. He was being aggressive, getting in the paint and putting up shots and finding guys on the perimeter. Furthermore, this is exactly what the Rockets need. Reed needs to be in attack mode and not be afraid of making mistakes.
