Sheppard got most of what he needs yesterday, 15-20 minutes a night. Sure, playing him next to Holliday is stupid, but let's not nitpick.
Stupidity tends to do that to people. I did like how you were able to provide a simple retort though. I gathered from your original comment though, that basketball IQ isn't your strong suit.
We can't afford to be playing either Reed or Holiday 15 mins a game against good teams. Reed should get plenty of play the next 3 games. If we win all 3, Ime and many fans on this sight will say we have righted the ship and no changes are necessary and he will go back to the horror of an FVV/Green backcourt until we start getting our ass handed to us when the schedule turns nasty starting Dec. 29th and all the way through January. We are only 3.5 games ahead of the 11th place team in the West. How much will we be ahead at the end of January? Stone will probably be panic trading at the deadline, because we didn't address our offensive issues in a timely fashion and missing the playoffs and maybe the play-in becomes a real possibility.
Sure we can... Ime just won't. Against good teams Ime plays essentially a 7 man rotation that is unsustainable and won't get the Rockets anywhere in the long run.
I agree with you I was really pissed Stone didnt trade for Dennis S. But maybe he didnt do so to give Sheppard PT and then he'll make the necessary trade at the deadline. Stone doesnt need to do a panic trade because Rox have so many expirings and assets available for trade. Outside of superstars he has enough to get whoever he wants. We'll see if he cooks up something at the deadline.
Cassell won major minutes on that team because he came in playing like a vet in the post. The dude had a mid-range and paint game for a guard who had average-ish athleticism. He came in knowing how to back down and shoot over guys bigger than him in the paint. Even for that era, that's pretty impressive. He basically came in with a mature court game while having to learn things here and there. It's a lot of the difference between him and players nowadays. Today's players are, for the most part, kids who are 18-19 years old that dominate based on athleticism/size over their peers in high school and immediately want to make the jump to the NBA or want to play somewhere in college for 1 year and move on to the NBA. When they get to the NBA, they come up against vets that know how to play the game, have been playing for years, and may have equal or greater athleticism. All of a sudden the superstars don't look quite as super. For many, the first few years are spent finding their way or just learning basic skills. Comparing Reed to Cassell is almost disrespectful to Cassell, and I'm saying that as a Sheppard fan who hopes he'll become a great player. As a rookie, if you put the ball in Cassell's hand on a last possession to win the game and said "go do your job", he would either find Hakeem or he would take the shot himself (insert "big balls dance" here). He had the audacity as a rookie on a good team to say "just give me the green light". He earned the respect of the vets and coaches quickly both on the court and in practice. I don't see that in Sheppard yet. They're just different players. He's always looking to give the ball up. Even when presented with opportunities to pull the trigger, he may pass. Then there's the Ime line about him making the correct play "a lot of times" that still makes me wonder if that's much of the problem. I read where last night Ime was ticked off on a play Reed messed up. Growing pains.
That's my biggest disappointment in Sheppard. I just want him to get out there and shoot. He needs to show more confidence in his own skills, and not be so quick to pass to someone else. I think if he can do that it could be a big turning point.
His time will eventually come. Maybe in the offseason he will have the time and space to fine tune his shooting mechanics. RN though it is def rough he already broke the 30% barrier and is shooting at 29.8%. He also doesnt get to the line to make up for his missed shots only 4 attempts in 25 games. In comparison Holiday takes 0.5 attempts in 9 minutes a game so you can see the difference right there one is tough the other is soft AF.
Cassell was also 24 yrs old as a rookie. At 20, I think Cassell was playing at San Jacinto College. Everyone needs to chill.
I have been against sending Reed to the g-league. I didn't think he would learn anything he couldn't do already. I still don't. But one thing the g-league experience will do for him is aggressiveness. Down there, he won't have the mindset of deference because he will be the best player on the team.
My guess is that it's because people call him or treat him like a star on the team when he hasn't improved his shooting proficiency in over 3 years with 32 min a game and we signed him to a big extension as our starting shooting guard.
He needs lots of minutes against almost nba level players. Nba teams have very little practice time during the season and playing 10 mins a game it will be hard for him to find his stroak. He has shown absolutely nothing except an ability to protect the ball and some quick hands. I'm sure it's confidence and he won't get it with the big club. He's just not ready no matter how bad we want him to be.
Yeah, I remember him being older, but that's not an excuse. Cassell was that good because of the game he developed before he got to the league. He was that good at San Jac, he was that good at FSU, and he was that good in the NBA (and underrated). Nowadays if you're 23 or 24 the NBA Draft and fans think you've got ebola and you fall to the 2nd round or something. Reed seems to have suppressed the "takeover"/scoring/shooting gene or doesn't have it. Either that or he's pooping his pants in the NBA right now for whatever reason. Here's an example : Reed had that gene in high school, he had it in college (here and there), he had it in summer league, and all of a sudden in the NBA he doesn't and hit a brick wall. Is it the level of competition or something else that has him hesitant to shoot? I don't even care if he's missing shots - that can possibly be worked out. The fact a shooter isn't looking to take shots even while running with mostly second-teamers or lower is disturbing. I'm almost curious what would happen if he gets sent to the G-League. Would he just be average or go for 20+ ppg? Hopefully the latter, but I'm scared to death to find out sometimes, but like you and others have said - I'm willing to wait 3-4 years for most rookies nowadays. Reed, I thought would be different for some reason.
