I wish Reed had taken more shots, but getting 2 steals and a block in 7 minutes is pretty damn impressive, even if it was against bench players. We had 3 starters without a single steal, and two starters without a steal or a block, and those guys also played against the Warriors bench at least 7 minutes in the 3rd and 4th quarter.
Our rookie shooter can fill up a stat sheet without shooting in the NBA playoffs. He is honored as an all star being in the G league for few weeks. His development is where it should be. His current play is worth of more playing time. There should be banners “Don’t Pay Fred, Free the Shepherd Boy”, “What the flock, free the Shepherd Boy” or something like “Stats matter play Reed” “Data states Reed is the answer”. Coach has no reason to play FVV (old self) 40 minutes a night and / or have Reed Sheppard out of the rotation.
The roster construction is a problem .... too many forwards, not enough guards. The only other true 2 guard on the roster is Jeenathan Williams and FVV is the only real PG on the roster - we saw what happened when he went down - Holiday is a SG masquerading as a point guard but can't run an offense and Shepard just wasn't ready this season. At this point though, I think it can be forgiven - the team was / is accumulating talent. No one really thought they would be contenders this season. Most of us here expected to be in / near the play in & the team still doesn't have it's lead dog .... they'll balance the roster better over the next couple years when the expectations rise. Another part of that is Amen - he was drafted as a point guard and have played most of his minutes at the 4 spot.
Stone needs a true shooting guard to compete with Green next season if he isnt traded. Next year is also put up or shut up time for JSJ. My dream trade is with the Pacers. Green/Tari/Landale/Whitmore for Mathurin/Turner/Walker.
Rox should fine him every time he passes on a wide open 3. PG or not, you distribute the ball to find better opportunities. But a wide open R33d 3 is the BEST opportunity there is. At least in his mind he should believe that.
I thought he mostly made the right decisions last night, but I was really disappointed he didn't get a shot off. Especially in the playoffs, you gotta shoot that even if you're not "regular season open."
He actually passed on a “regular season open” 3. He chose to pass to the corner (Jabari I think?) who bricked the shot
Yeah I know the exact play you're talking about, I thought it was a not-totally-horrible decision because Jabari had been shooting well and was wide open (I think), but I was super bummed when he bricked it. But yeah he should have shot that one.
If we can’t get a star at a reasonable cost we should commit to becoming a fast playing athletic team by tweaking the roster and opening up the offense. The first step is to go ahead and pull the plug on FVV and insert Amen in the starting backcourt and getting Jabari more involved in the offense. We have the assets to find a couple of veteran bench players that can shoot. Amen, Jalen, Dillon, Jabari, Sengun is an excellent defensive unit and with the right mindset and a stronger commitment to a motion offense has a chance at competing for a championship. If any of the guys do not continue to develop (especially Jalen) then you still have the opportunity to make the necessary changes at the deadline. If it isn’t KD or Giannis this off-season, then we should be concentrating on one or two viable backup guards that can shoot and a backup big than can shoot. The x-factor is whether Ime can be convinced to bring in an assistant that can put in an offensive system that fits our personnel. We should also take away his options to run it back with a slow methodical approach to offense, because of his overly conservative approach and fear of turnovers. Extending FVV with the intent of him being an integral part of the rotation will be a huge mistake if Ime is the head coach. It’s sacrilege with many on this board, but Ime should be on the hot seat next season. He has been provided with an incredible amount of talent (with more on the way) and he needs to show the flexibility to hone his system to the talent, instead of continuing to focus on one side of the ball.
Reed fan here. Sorry, but his play last night clearly showed he's not ready. Incorrect decisions, tentative, execution problems on offense, hosed on defense, and sometimes he looked just plain bewildered. It may well be true that most of this is due to him not getting as many minutes in the regular season as he would have gotten on some other team. And that explanation will matter a lot as we plan for next season. But for the remainder of this season, it's no longer relevant.
Tre Johnson looks like a great prospect for that, but he'll probably be drafted around #5. We do have the ammo to trade up, and depending on where the Nets land, we could offer them the Suns' pick and the '27 Nets' swap for theirs.
Yeah that’s a horrible trade, but the sentiment is not bad. Ime and Stone cannot rest on their laurels. We were the 2nd seed with 52 wins. The average number of wins for a second seed in the West is 58 wins. 52 wins earns us a 4th or 5th seed in a normal year. We have to improve our offense period. Ime/Stone have done a fine job of getting us back to relevant. It’s time to find out, if they are the guys to take it to the next level. For the guys that just want to run it back with FVV and Jalen and crew and a 9-12 lottery pick what is your expectation for next year. If we had a like outcome to this year, would you consider it a win or a loss?
Kasparas could be there at 9 though he's more of a project. Kon Knueppel, Tre Johnson and VJ Edgecomb all fit this team pretty well. VJ specifically is like upgraded Jalen Suggs. Would be plug and play in the second unit and he could learn behind Jalen Green if he isn't traded. I think that the playoffs have shown who the core is. It's just a matter of getting pieces that fit around those two guys. Tre Johnson seems like he wouldn't get on the floor for Ime due to his defensive limitations so he'd be a bit of a defensive project.
Amen should replace FVV in the starting lineup. He doesn’t have to be the initiator on all our half courts sets, but he should bring the ball up and get us in our offense or initiate himself whenever he is in the lineup. When FVV initiates in the half court we are horrible at offense. When FVV went down we were 5-5 and Jabari missed some of those games as well. Amen hasn’t even started a full season of games and has been labeled untradeable by the organization and most knowledgeable fans and commentators. Ime is a full blown moron at offense and rotations. One of he/FVV need to go. Unfortunately, they will be back and we will have a lower seed and another first round exit. Then the Godfather will wake up and force change, just hope there is something available.
Imagine if he had gotten over 30 min a game for 4 years, and didn't improve his shooting proficiency much. Would people still be calling him número uno and our franchise player to build around?
Amen isn't a PG, he's a SF.... so he should replace Dillon Brooks in the starting lineup. Reed Sheppard should replace FVV in the starting lineup and they should find a competent SG to replace Jalen. Of course, that'll never happen due to Ime being Ime.
I want to be able to root for Sheppard but I'm looking at guards in the draft who look like they are going to be available at #10 and thinking is this dude better than Reed? Like Demin, 6'8 barefoot. Looks freaking talented AF. I'd be pretty damn happy if we were able to pick him up. That would potentially push Reed back again and with FVV getting re-signed its just tough to see where he's going to get to make his impact.
