Isiah Reed Sheppard, #1 pick for 2024

[JMAC3]

No. You think I care if I’m wrong. I literally don’t but I sure as hell won’t admit being wrong or right after less than two goddamn months. LMAO you’re so broken.

I simply pointed out his last 2 games, poor shooting this year and said man the Steph comps looks pretty awful right now..

Which has caused you to spiral out and put a full court attack on me. But yes I’m the broken one.

Nobody is spiraling lol. You can’t seem to make any non-hyperbolic posts. It’s wild.

I doubt anyone reading what I posted would have had this large of an overreaction, so maybe I’m not the one being hyperbolic?

You asked for me to provide comments, which I politely obliged to then be called Broken, a back peddler, obsessed with validation.. all just random things that have nothing to do with Sheppard the player.

You need to stop taking everything so personally. You would think I tagged you specifically the way you took offense to me sending 3 luke warm takes on the #3 pick that 95% of fans would say has been underwhelming.

You have control problems if you really can’t handle that surface level chatter about a player at this point into the season… it’s an open discussion forum, but you try to gatekeep others from expressing any concerns.

[JMAC3]

Nobody is spiraling lol. You can’t seem to make any non-hyperbolic posts. It’s wild.

The Great thing about RGM is everything is documented, if you actually look at 90% of my posts on the Draft Board over the last 2.5 years here are really the only issues I have commented on heavily.

1. Brandon Miller> Scoot. Was down on Scoot, doesn't look too bad.
2. That same draft I was very vocal about Amen and Ausar being #3 and #4 both ahead of Scoot as well.
3. Also, been vocal about Amen over Black, which has been talked about a lot on this board.
4. I was low on Jabari Smith pre-draft compared to most, had Paolo and Chet clearly above him.
5. Doubled down on Paolo being a better player than Jabari 10+ times since and had plenty of heated exchange.

6. This year I was lower than most on Reed Sheppard, was vocal on that.
7. Was vocal on Zach Edey not being a lottery pick, finished with him 25th.
8. Ended with Holland and Topic 1 and 2 on my board.

So yeah feel free to highlight where I have been super hyperbolic and just been way wrong, so far the stuff I have been heavily invested in looks pretty solid, again the vast majority of my posts are on these topics. I have had a few other small takes, but I haven't been heavily invested in anything not listed above. Feel free to call it out if you think I am leaving out some giant topics that I have talked at length about.

Maybe this draft I look like a giant idiot and I eat a ton of crow for the next 18 months, who knows at this point. Edey could bury me, but so far I am not too worried about him being some massive miss. If he is an all-star center then yeah I was probably way off, if he is the 9th best player from a meh draft class then I can live with him being a late first round grade. If Holland and Topic both are terrible that will be a big miss and you can roast me on that.

[wegotthabeet]

Houston is really deep and talented. I didn’t think they’d be this good this fast. Unfortunately that usually means a rookie can get buried in the rotation.

Reed looks bad, but what would one expect with inconsistent minutes and no defined role. People tend to really fall victim to recency bias here on RealGM and online in general, which is why you can’t really take anyone on this forum’s opinion seriously. You got to give a prospect at least a couple of seasons and maybe even one team change before drawing anything conclusive.

All I see is a kid who’s not getting a real chance to develop and might be a great buy low candidate before the deadline.

[Benjammin]

No reason for the Rockets to panic. On the flip side finding the next Steve Nash/Mark Price/Steph Curry type is not easy. At all.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[JMAC3]

Houston is really deep and talented. I didn’t think they’d be this good this fast. Unfortunately that usually means a rookie can get buried in the rotation.

Reed looks bad, but what would one expect with inconsistent minutes and no defined role. People tend to really fall victim to recency bias here on RealGM and online in general, which is why you can’t really take anyone on this forum’s opinion seriously. You got to give a prospect at least a couple of seasons and maybe even one team change before drawing anything conclusive.

All I see is a kid who’s not getting a real chance to develop and might be a great buy low candidate before the deadline.

He can't beat out Aaron Holiday for mins. You know who is playing?
Jaylen Wells on a good Memphis team.
Risacher on a playoff Hawks team.
AJ Mitchell on a playoff Thunder team.

The dude plays scared and passive. That was one of my bigger issues with him in college is he was passive way too often. He was the 3rd pick in the Draft and ranked 4th on Kentucky in FGA per game, 6th in usage per game. He shot 5 times in a tournament game they lost because he looked scared and passive. This isn't some new issue that has developed since he came to the Rockets.

[wegotthabeet]

Houston is really deep and talented. I didn’t think they’d be this good this fast. Unfortunately that usually means a rookie can get buried in the rotation.

Reed looks bad, but what would one expect with inconsistent minutes and no defined role. People tend to really fall victim to recency bias here on RealGM and online in general, which is why you can’t really take anyone on this forum’s opinion seriously. You got to give a prospect at least a couple of seasons and maybe even one team change before drawing anything conclusive.

All I see is a kid who’s not getting a real chance to develop and might be a great buy low candidate before the deadline.

He can't beat out Aaron Holiday for mins. You know who is playing?
Jaylen Wells on a good Memphis team.
Risacher on a playoff Hawks team.
AJ Mitchell on a playoff Thunder team.

The dude plays scared and passive. That was one of my bigger issues with him in college is he was passive way too often. He was the 3rd pick in the Draft and ranked 4th on Kentucky in FGA per game, 6th in usage per game. He shot 5 times in a tournament game they lost because he looked scared and passive. This isn't some new issue that has developed since he came to the Rockets.

I haven’t watched enough of him to know how much of a leash Udoka has given him. Feels like it’s not a lot. That can kill a young player’s confidence. Wouldn’t put much weight into your other points. Nothing unusual about a freshman getting lower usage. One tournament game is also pretty irrelevant.

[JMAC3]

Houston is really deep and talented. I didn’t think they’d be this good this fast. Unfortunately that usually means a rookie can get buried in the rotation.

Reed looks bad, but what would one expect with inconsistent minutes and no defined role. People tend to really fall victim to recency bias here on RealGM and online in general, which is why you can’t really take anyone on this forum’s opinion seriously. You got to give a prospect at least a couple of seasons and maybe even one team change before drawing anything conclusive.

All I see is a kid who’s not getting a real chance to develop and might be a great buy low candidate before the deadline.

He can't beat out Aaron Holiday for mins. You know who is playing?
Jaylen Wells on a good Memphis team.
Risacher on a playoff Hawks team.
AJ Mitchell on a playoff Thunder team.

The dude plays scared and passive. That was one of my bigger issues with him in college is he was passive way too often. He was the 3rd pick in the Draft and ranked 4th on Kentucky in FGA per game, 6th in usage per game. He shot 5 times in a tournament game they lost because he looked scared and passive. This isn't some new issue that has developed since he came to the Rockets.

I haven’t watched enough of him to know how much of a leash Udoka has given him. Feels like it’s not a lot. That can kill a young player’s confidence. Wouldn’t put much weight into your other points. Nothing unusual about a freshman getting lower usage. One tournament game is also pretty irrelevant.

It is not like he was deferring to upperclassmen in college, it was other freshman who were ahead of him fga and usage. It also wasn't just 1 game in college, dude shot 50% from three and was 4th in shots and he didn't get to the rim or FT line with any type of consistency. The red flags were all there, but people couldn't look past his 3pt%.

He has just looked bad on top of not doing anything, he is a 4% Overall EPM player right now which ranks dead last on the Rockets.
He is shooting 28% from three when he was billed as the best shooter in the country because he shot 50% on low volume.

This is if Risacher couldn't get minutes over Garrison Matthews levels of bad but people are in denial.

He has 6 FTA in 29 games, shooting 38% from 2.

[wegotthabeet]

He can't beat out Aaron Holiday for mins. You know who is playing?
Jaylen Wells on a good Memphis team.
Risacher on a playoff Hawks team.
AJ Mitchell on a playoff Thunder team.

The dude plays scared and passive. That was one of my bigger issues with him in college is he was passive way too often. He was the 3rd pick in the Draft and ranked 4th on Kentucky in FGA per game, 6th in usage per game. He shot 5 times in a tournament game they lost because he looked scared and passive. This isn't some new issue that has developed since he came to the Rockets.

I haven’t watched enough of him to know how much of a leash Udoka has given him. Feels like it’s not a lot. That can kill a young player’s confidence. Wouldn’t put much weight into your other points. Nothing unusual about a freshman getting lower usage. One tournament game is also pretty irrelevant.

It is not like he was deferring to upperclassmen in college, it was other freshman who were ahead of him fga and usage. It also wasn't just 1 game in college, dude shot 50% from three and was 4th in shots and he didn't get to the rim or FT line with any type of consistency. The red flags were all there, but people couldn't look past his 3pt%.

He has just looked bad on top of not doing anything, he is a 4% Overall EPM player right now which ranks dead last on the Rockets.
He is shooting 28% from three when he was billed as the best shooter in the country because he shot 50% on low volume.

This is if Risacher couldn't get minutes over Garrison Matthews levels of bad but people are in denial.

He has 6 FTA in 29 games, shooting 38% from 2.

Valid but it’s still too early to know anything yet. Houston has drafted well. If you’re right then they should move him now.

[sikma42]

Houston is really deep and talented. I didn’t think they’d be this good this fast. Unfortunately that usually means a rookie can get buried in the rotation.

Reed looks bad, but what would one expect with inconsistent minutes and no defined role. People tend to really fall victim to recency bias here on RealGM and online in general, which is why you can’t really take anyone on this forum’s opinion seriously. You got to give a prospect at least a couple of seasons and maybe even one team change before drawing anything conclusive.

All I see is a kid who’s not getting a real chance to develop and might be a great buy low candidate before the deadline.

He can't beat out Aaron Holiday for mins. You know who is playing?
Jaylen Wells on a good Memphis team.
Risacher on a playoff Hawks team.
AJ Mitchell on a playoff Thunder team.

The dude plays scared and passive. That was one of my bigger issues with him in college is he was passive way too often. He was the 3rd pick in the Draft and ranked 4th on Kentucky in FGA per game, 6th in usage per game. He shot 5 times in a tournament game they lost because he looked scared and passive. This isn't some new issue that has developed since he came to the Rockets.

I haven’t watched enough of him to know how much of a leash Udoka has given him. Feels like it’s not a lot. That can kill a young player’s confidence. Wouldn’t put much weight into your other points. Nothing unusual about a freshman getting lower usage. One tournament game is also pretty irrelevant.

Why do you “feel” that way? Seems like a weird stance given you haven’t watched enough


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[wegotthabeet]

He can't beat out Aaron Holiday for mins. You know who is playing?
Jaylen Wells on a good Memphis team.
Risacher on a playoff Hawks team.
AJ Mitchell on a playoff Thunder team.

The dude plays scared and passive. That was one of my bigger issues with him in college is he was passive way too often. He was the 3rd pick in the Draft and ranked 4th on Kentucky in FGA per game, 6th in usage per game. He shot 5 times in a tournament game they lost because he looked scared and passive. This isn't some new issue that has developed since he came to the Rockets.

I haven’t watched enough of him to know how much of a leash Udoka has given him. Feels like it’s not a lot. That can kill a young player’s confidence. Wouldn’t put much weight into your other points. Nothing unusual about a freshman getting lower usage. One tournament game is also pretty irrelevant.

Why do you “feel” that way? Seems like a weird stance given you haven’t watched enough


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

He’s playing 10 minutes a game. That’s not enough playing time to know what he is or isn’t.

[JMAC3]

i'm confused, is anyone in the Reed thread claiming he's playing great? you're in the Zach Edey thread asking for crow about Sheppard, yet the guy *you* had #1 overall is playing even worse by several metrics, including BPM, WS/48, VORP.

Maybe I am wired differently, but which of these situations seems like a bigger eat crow spot?

Since 2016, here are the averages for 3rd and 9th picks.

3rd pick- 29 mpg, 14.5 ppg
Reed- 11.9 mpg, 3.4 ppg

9th pick- 24.3 mpg, 9.8 ppg.
Edey - 22 mpg, 11.3 ppg.

Reed is significantly underperforming his draft slot by -18 mpg, -11 ppg.
Edey is slightly overperforming his draft slot + 1.5 ppg.

Which one seems like the outlier that should be getting talked about? To me it is not close.

What success story is Reed mimicking here? Which top 5 pick didn't play as a rookie (non-injury related) and then turned out really good?

[JRoy]

Nobody is spiraling lol. You can’t seem to make any non-hyperbolic posts. It’s wild.

The Great thing about RGM is everything is documented, if you actually look at 90% of my posts on the Draft Board over the last 2.5 years here are really the only issues I have commented on heavily.

1. Brandon Miller> Scoot. Was down on Scoot, doesn't look too bad.
2. That same draft I was very vocal about Amen and Ausar being #3 and #4 both ahead of Scoot as well.
3. Also, been vocal about Amen over Black, which has been talked about a lot on this board.
4. I was low on Jabari Smith pre-draft compared to most, had Paolo and Chet clearly above him.
5. Doubled down on Paolo being a better player than Jabari 10+ times since and had plenty of heated exchange.

6. This year I was lower than most on Reed Sheppard, was vocal on that.
7. Was vocal on Zach Edey not being a lottery pick, finished with him 25th.
8. Ended with Holland and Topic 1 and 2 on my board.

So yeah feel free to highlight where I have been super hyperbolic and just been way wrong, so far the stuff I have been heavily invested in looks pretty solid, again the vast majority of my posts are on these topics. I have had a few other small takes, but I haven't been heavily invested in anything not listed above. Feel free to call it out if you think I am leaving out some giant topics that I have talked at length about.

Maybe this draft I look like a giant idiot and I eat a ton of crow for the next 18 months, who knows at this point. Edey could bury me, but so far I am not too worried about him being some massive miss. If he is an all-star center then yeah I was probably way off, if he is the 9th best player from a meh draft class then I can live with him being a late first round grade. If Holland and Topic both are terrible that will be a big miss and you can roast me on that.

You have a better record than many and less hyperbole.

Maybe Edey is a blindspot for you.

Mine is overhyped “generational” prospect and Dukies, don’t believe the hype on either. When both are present in the same guy (Zion) I get drunk on hateraid.

[tontoz]

49 pts in the G League

https://www.espn.com/nba-g-league/boxscore/_/gameId/401712539

[K_chile22]

hes gonna be fine, hes not confident enough right now to assert himself in the few minutes he was getting and there are too many mouths to feed in houston for that to work and the rockets are trying to win too much to give him time to get his legs under him in the league

[sikma42]

hes gonna be fine, hes not confident enough right now to assert himself in the few minutes he was getting and there are too many mouths to feed in houston for that to work and the rockets are trying to win too much to give him time to get his legs under him in the league

The big question is defense and whether his offensive contributions will be worth it on a good team. I've seen him picked on and it looks like it will be an uphill battle. But offensively he will be more than fine.

[CptCrunch]

Bad defense means you don't play. Ime won't tolerate ass cancer no defense plays from most rookie guards.

[K_chile22]

hes gonna be fine, hes not confident enough right now to assert himself in the few minutes he was getting and there are too many mouths to feed in houston for that to work and the rockets are trying to win too much to give him time to get his legs under him in the league

The big question is defense and whether his offensive contributions will be worth it on a good team. I've seen him picked on and it looks like it will be an uphill battle. But offensively he will be more than fine.

I think he's pretty much what I expected, stocks come through but he's small. Stocks not good enough to make up for being small and rookie mistakes tho

[tontoz]

Reed's defense has actually been his strength so far. His big problem has been shooting

[JMAC3]

The Gleague stats are probably more pointless than watching a guy in a pro am over the summer.

The 15th man on NBA rosters can score 30 per game in the Gleague.

Enrique Freeman the 50th pick who has ZERO offensive game scored 28 points last night in the Gleague.
JD Davidson puts up 30+ frequently.
Nick Smith Jr had multiple 30+ games last week.
Brice McGowens had 46 and Cam Christie had 38 in the same game the other day.
Kevin Knox had 39.

Like good for him, maybe it gets his confidence up but in the grand scheme of things it means nothing to his talent level.
If he struggled in the Gleague that would actually mean more because anyone can throw up points down there.

[The-Power]

The 15th man on NBA rosters can score 30 per game in the Gleague.

A lot of of back-of-the-bench players can also score a ton in the NBA as long as they get the usage. You see it all the time when teams rest their rotation players or turning on the tank. But they cannot do it consistently and at high efficiency, and that is what separates them from the actual good scorers in the NBA.