Reed Sheppard is the Rockets’ Franchise Player™

It's like the Lin fans who hated Harden because they saw him as a threat to their guy.

Player first fans never change.

 

I know I sound like a broken record after weeks of saying it, but once again last night proved that Reed and KD need to be paired with Capela and not Sengun. Both Reed and KD need a defensive center that provides rim protection whenever they get beat and sets real screens.

Last night...
Reed/KD/Sengun: -45.7 net rating, 13 minutes
Reed/KD/Capela: +45.3 net rating, 10 minutes

For the season...
Reed/KD/Sengun: -3.3 net rating, 458 mins
Reed/KD/Capela: +20.6 net rating, 299 mins

 

Reed helps this team a lot, and p makes this offense actually watchable. Every metric backs up that he makes this team better when he’s on the floor.

that being said..

I would trade Reed for Kon in a heartbeat. maybe he’s a better playmaker but Kon dos everything better.

the issue is we have so many biased fans that the second Reed doesn’t have a 30pt 7 3s game they hyperfixate on any blow by etc (it’s amazing that after watching yesterdays game that’s what they came away with lol).

 

Tbh I saw it as primarily senguin regardless of who he was with

he just can’t defend the rim period . Dickerson was right

 

A second year player is who he is?

 

Im not biased against Reed. I just think he's a traffic cone and when you are trying to crawl back in a game defense is important as well as offense. Traffic cones put no effort into defense.
We have 3 players on this team that are traffic cones. Reed, Alpi, and Aaron Holiday. We have 2 low iq defensive players. Bari and Eason are the 2, that just do stupid things for no reason. We have 2 that are hindered by old age and injury, KD and DFS.
Reed brings another level to our offense, I agree with that statement. I just dont want him to be that bad at defense to where there is an offensive output threshold he has to meet to justify why he's out there. We are not Reed haters. Alpi has the same threshold now as well. As you can see by all the comments.
Those 3 turnovers he had last night were back breakers when cutting the lead to 12, but thats also on all the Rockets.
I made a comment last night during the game and it was, because yes San Antonuo defense is elite, but what they were doing, is what we are going to see during the playoffs. If Reed can't elevate his game to handle that, then we are screwed when we get to the playoffs already.

 

I think a lot of people overlook just what a defensive liability KD is because of how good he usually is on offense.

He's arguably the worst of the 3

 

This matches the eye test from last night. You could pair up video of (a) Reed getting beaten off the dribble with KD or Sengun behind him, staying alongside the driver and giving up a layup, with (b) Reed getting beaten off the dribble with Capela behind him, staying alongside the driver and leading him into Clint for the block or miss.

This is why Reed worked so well with Adams. In fact you could argue that Reed basically learned how to defend with Adams behind him, channeling the driver into the rim protector.

 

Amen, Reed, and Jarbari have been solid lately. Just need Alpi and KD to be solid also. I’m not asking for a superstar, 2nd star etc. just need these two mofos to be solid. A team that shares the ball and helps each other out on defense.

 

I like his future, but Reed is still a really flawed young player that has ups and downs. Out of control handles and defensive screw ups still happen on the regular.

However it is so painfully obvious to everybody, except the one man that matters, that our current starting unit desperately needs more ball handling and gravity. Every f**king game we come stumbling out with KD and the bricklayers. Even when Eason and Jabari are making shots, defenses don't feel compelled to stick to them very hard.

 

Alternatively, Jabari is a decent rim protector when he doesn't have to chase perimeter players. I seldom see him setting picks on offense, maybe because his role is spotting up for the 3. I want to see how effective he is doing Pick & Pop with Reed.

 

It's also what he did in college

 

So the problem is our top 3 offensive players need to be paired with a rim protector who can play the dunker role. Do we think Sengun has a better chance of developing an outside shot than Amen? If yes, then Amen is the odd man out. Sengun is getting abused on defense and both Amen and Sengun make the offense worse.

 

This is becoming ridiculous, no way does Jabari survive Sengün, who is the better player....lmao......

Bari is mediocre at best, average shooting.

 

KD sucks on defense but Sengun might be one of the worst defenders in the league this year if taking positional importance into account.

Reed + Sengun is a literal death sentence especially against a team like the Spurs which have *three* players that can torch Reed. At some point yesterday Steph Castle literally shot over Sengun like he wasnt there. That wouldn't have happened with KD.

 

I'm all for it, we're stuck with Ime so we might as well get him that team full of nothing but athletic forwards who can't dribble pass or shoot that he's always wanted.

 

With KD he'd be a mile away not paying any attention or willing to even attempt to contest the shot.

Old man KD is one of the laziest players you'll see on an nba court the vast majority of the time he's out there.

 

Anytime I criticize Reed in the least the fanbois come out and flame me as a hater. Most of what I said after this last game was just to gig BTG for his ridiculous predictions about how the Reed/Castle matchup would go. I probably went a little far in calling him a p*ssy along with Sengun and Durant but it was said in jest as was the Mary Lou Retton meme. You guys don’t need to guess about how I feel about Reed and Amen, but I’ll create a reference for you.

Before the year started, I set a ceiling on Reed as a bench sharp shooter with solid backup combo guard potential. This was based on his physical limitations and his seeming inability to get into the lane and convert. As the season went on, I admitted I was being a bit too pessimistic about his up-side. He clearly has improved his driving ability and is finishing at the rim better. His on-ball creation is better, but still weak when faced with stronger more athletic opponents (like Castle). His defense looked to be getting better, but recently he has regressed substantially in my opinion. I believe the GSW game was the worst this year and maybe in his entire career.

This team desperately needs his shooting. I think he and Amen compliment each other very well on offense. I think he should be starting the rest of the year and share the initiating role. It is important for Reed and Amen to continue to be on-ball as much as possible to continue their development. If Reed can overcome his physical limitations and becomes an elite PG, I’ll be happy for him and the Rockets. Having the opinion that Amen can be an elite PG is no dumber than thinking Reed can be.

I have adjusted my ceiling on Reed to becoming a solid FVV type PG with a better shot and average at best defense. That’s not hating and it has nothing to do with my love for Amen as a player. I have a higher expectation for Amen. Sorry if that is hating in your fanboy minds, but it is an honest opinion.

On Amen:

I think he is the best player on our team other than Durant, even with his poor 3 pt shooting. Unlike, the Reed fanboys I see real progress in his handles, his 10-15 ft shooting form and his ability to dish and drive is far superior than Reed at this point. I think to be the superstar I am predicting, he will have to extend his jump shot to well outside of the lane and have to have at least a mediocre set shot from 3. I think it will be a multi-year process, but we will see good improvement next year if they stay the course and don’t divert him to being primarily off the ball.

He is maintaining an 18 ppg average with good efficiency even without a shot. He is at the level in assists and turnovers pretty much equal to FVV with much better finishing and defense. This year, he and the Rockets need for him to be more aggressive at getting his own shot and to continue to evolve his decision making when driving to the hoop. He could easily average 22-25 ppg with greater confidence and aggression.

I don’t downgrade Reed, because I am fearful he will take Amen’s spot, which is ridiculous. If PG nomenclature is the what is getting in the way in how some describe my vision for his future, call him an initiator or a point forward. Our problem as a team is not that we don’t have pg’s, it’s that we have two guys, Durant and Sengun, playing the initiating role 70% of the time and they suck at it.

When it comes to comparing the two, I am of the opinion that Amen will become a superstar and Reed will become a solid rotation player (maybe a starter) with solid shooting skills. I don’t think he will ever be an elite NBA player, because of his physical limitations. Hate all you want, I will still express my opinions and troll a**holes like BTG (or DD’s burner account) when the mood strikes me.