Reed Sheppard is the Rockets’ Franchise Player™

Yeah but JG is so much better than Sheppard is right now so the favoritism doesnt make any sense. Sheppard was the 3rd pick and he is averaging 3 pts thats one pick per point. Even if Sheppard doubles his pts every year by his 3rd year he still wont reach JG's average his rookie year.

We signed JG to a "big extension" but using the top 3 pick is far more expensive than a 33M contract. JG at least has some use on the court Sheppard is always borderline unplayable so when you are talking about bang for the buck praising Sheppard but being overly critical of JG makes zero sense to me.

 

He only averaged 12 ppg in college he wasnt some great scorer lol. He had amazing efficiency but thats on low attempts kinda like Mikal Bridges on the Suns.

 

Now tell me what Devin Booker did in college.

 

You are right. playing 10 mins a game is hard to find his stroke.

The problem with the g-league is that it is not really "almost nba level" players. The talent level is far below NBA so that any average NBA player can immediately dominate like a franchise player™. And defense is pretty much non-existent there. The guy eventually will have to learn how to deal with NBA level defense. And you can only learn by playing against it.

 

I never made some thread saying Reed was our franchise player or our numero uno. That's what I was talking about. I'm critical of any guy who gets 32 minutes a game for over 3 seasons and hasn't improved his shooting as a SG, and I would be the same way if it was any other person starting at that position under the same scenario. It's not a Jalen hate or bias. I give Reed more of a break in criticism simply because he isn't a starter, he's a rookie, and don't want to rush a judgement so early. I didn't criticize Jalen as a rookie. I don't even remember criticizing him his 2nd year. It wasn't until last year.

 

I have mixed feelings about Reed and his development, but one thing that nobody is really discussing is his horrible defense. Yes, he has good instincts for deflections and steals, but his ability to fight through screens and not get bullied on switches is actually more concerning than his shot right now. He almost needs to shoot 52% from 3 in the NBA to justify his defense. Reed makes Curry look like Tony Allen on defense.

All this said, if he could find his shot AND Ime finds shots for him, he may still be useful.

 

He has improved his shooting though because it has remained the same despite him playing much better defense and he is doing more stuff now that he didnt do before.

The years in the league dont matter much because he was only 19 when drafted and the first 2 yrs he was on a tanking team so they just let him chuck shots without any control. Although you can say he is on year 4 the reality is he is still much younger than seniors and juniors who used to go to the NBA after significant college experience.

 

Booker averaged 10 pts. Now tell me what Booker did in his first year in the NBA compared to Sheppard's 3 ppg.

Just cuz Booker had that glow up from college to NBA doesnt mean Sheppard and him are on the same level.

 

No, he hasn't improved his shooting. Thousands of minutes, thousands of shots, and 3 years as a starter. Just stop. He's a shooting guard.

Year 1-4

FG% 42.6, 41.7, 42.3, 40.5
3 PT% 34.3, 33.8, 33.2, 31.8
SC-EFF 1.213, 1.239, 1.209, 1.192
SH-EFF 0.51, 0.49, 0.50, 0.48

There are tons of better shooters in the league.

 

I believe Sheppard has 2 pre-dominant issues to work through. 1. A lack of confidence in his shot. The G-league provides a lot of practice time and he also needs to see his shot going through the net to build that confidence. 2. His dimunitive stature and lack of an ability to break people down off the dribble. The G-League games probably have little impact on having him overcome those issues, but practice time could by having an NBA level player like Cam guarding him (bullying him) forcing him to overcome his disadvantage from an athletic point of view.

The other aspect is the current mind-set of the head coach and FO which is focused on making the playoffs as opposed to this being another development oriented season. Ime's short rotations and heavy distribution of minutes to FVV and Dillon are evidence of this mind-set. I'm not saying they are wrong in having that mind-set and it may have some advantages in the overall progression of the team, but my personal opinion is that the further development of our youth should out-weight the need for playoff experience. Since we wasted 2 years with Silas, it has put a premium on understanding quickly who we need to pay and who we need to move by next season. I for one think we have the talent with either a significant trade or Jalen and Amen becoming a + backcourt to be contenders as early as next year. FVV and Dillon are and have always been stop-gap starters. In my opinion, we are not going to be a contender until at least FVV is replaced in the starting line-up. He just does not fit our personnel.

 

He is playing better defense thats why he is shooting worse. Look at Sengun's FG it has also consistently gone down his 2nd for the same reason even if everyone agrees he has expanded his offensive game since his rookie year.

 

LOL. We need a better shooter for a starting SG.
End of story.

 

Going to the playoffs is gonna be big for the development of everyone except Sheppard. Sorry but Sheppards dev should be least priority compared to everyone else because he has the lowest ceiling due to his size and lack of length and athleticism.

I also disagree on Dillon, he isnt a stop gap starter especially if you want the Rockets to be contenders as early as next year. He has proven to be more reliable than Tari at least. Dillon is our new Trevor Ariza you always need a guy like that and at only 29 he should be good for his current contract.

 

I dont disagree with you just arguing his shooting has improved.

No matter how much you hate JG he is here for the entire year.

 

No, it hasn't, unless you are just talking free throws. He hasn't improved his FG%, his 3 PT%, his SC-EFF, or his SH-EFF.

 

Again the defense has caused his nos to drop. His offense has improved similar to Sengun.

Are you saying Sengun hasnt improved? His FG numbers are also down like Jalen.

 

I'm talking about our need for a better shooting guard. An above league average shooter. Our offense is not good, and Jalen isn't improving his shot proficiency.

 

You're having trouble keeping up or understanding because you seem to be trying to go after arguments that weren't presented, so let me break it down for you :

1) I'm not saying Reed Sheppard is having a Devin Booker-type 1st season. It's not like either of their stats are hidden.

2) I stated Reed had a scoring/shooting gene that he has shown ever since high school, but it seems to have gone dormant in the NBA, so I was curious if it's just he's not tall enough, if he's just confused at the moment by plays, NBA speed, whatever, that was the cause of him being hesitant to shoot at times.

3) Your response to that was "He only averaged 12 ppg in college he wasnt some great scorer lol."

4) I gave you a person who averaged even less in his lone college season who became a great scorer in the NBA. Again, not insinuating Reed would be the next Devin Booker, but trying to understand what made Booker take a leap but Reed not (as of yet) and to convey "he only averaged x ppg in college" means nothing to me without understanding their situation in college.

So again, "He only averaged 12 ppg in college he wasnt some great scorer lol." isn't an answer to the discussion. It actually raises the question again for Reed when looking at Devin Booker.

 

Maybe what you arent understanding is averaging 12 pts or 10 pts doesnt mean somebody has shown a " great scoring gene" since highschool.

"Since Highschool" means there is an unbroken streak from highschool to today. Our definition of "great scorer" may vary but I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people wouldnt call 12 ppg or less as great scoring.

Showing me Booker serves what purpose? Just cuz Booker is a great scorer today doesnt mean he was a great scorer since high school, cuz in college he averaged 10 ppg which nobody will say is great scoring and 13 ppg his rookie year which people will say is GOOD scoring, but not GREAT scoring. Your present performance doesnt rewrite your past performance. Giannis is averaging 28 ppg now I guess he is also a great scorer since high school for you?

By your logic every single player who scored 20 ppg or more in the NBA had a great scoring gene since highschool. Does that make sense to you?

Maybe what you are trying to say is Sheppard was a great scorer in high school, and maybe he can be a great scorer in the NBA in the future. In that I agree with you. But he hasnt been a great scorer since high school, Jalen, Jabari, Sengun and Cam are the guys who have been great scorers since high school.

If you ask me, with Sheppard his main issues are his midget height, short arms and mediocre ball handling skills. Short height and short arms means he cant get his shot off taller players, and bad ball handling means he cant Kyrie Irving it up and get clear looks at the basket. I'm a big proponent to sending him to GLeague and have him work on his ISO skills. He isnt learning anything playing 11 mins and getting cooked left and right rather its just destroying his confidence in himself.