The-Power wrote:Games like this one need to be monitored. There's a difference between passive and unselfish, and afraid or unable to score or create. Yesterday it was the latter, and he has to show some ability and desire to create a shot in tough situations or else that's going to make him fall some spots come draft time. The kick-out in transition that turned into a contested 3 when he was ahead of a trailing Center close to the basket just cannot happen.
So, since I wrote this post, Sheppard has looked much more aggressive looking for the drive. I'm sure someone in the coaching staff has told him to look more for his drive and finishes. I'm glad he seems to have taken that to heart, and obviously the absence of one of the other two Guards has provided him with more opportunities.
What can we learn from his two recent games? Well, at least that he has it in him to drive and finish. Especially last night he showed also some of his midrange game with pull-up 2s and a floater. That'll help to keep defenses honest and if he can continue doing that it'll become a lot easier to project him as someone who can get some on-ball opportunities in the NBA. Now, that being said, it's also clear why he has avoided shots at the rim at least because he is clearly bothered by size and his arsenal around the rim is limited.
On defense, he's a bit Janus-faced. On the one hand, he always has some possessions that stand out positively. That's when he has an awesome contest (see the late block on Clayton's 3), shows great hands (see the swipe-down in transition that saved a lay-up) or stays glued to his man. On the other hand, there are a ton of possessions in which he struggles to contest effectively (due to physical limitations but also because he allows the gap to be too large) or stay in front of his man.
The latter in particular is a bit odd, because he can have these awesome possessions defending ball-handlers (@Hal14 also posted a video recently, I believe) but for each of those possessions he has 2-3 possessions in which he's blown by very easily because of poor defensive stands and reaction times. I suppose part of the reason is that he needs to be fully locked in to have those great possessions and that his baseline defense because of his physical limitations – and because he tends to gamble or prematurely thinks about the next rotation a bit too much at times – isn't good. So I'd expect him to be a fine defender for his position with his pros and cons in a limited role off the bench, but a comparatively poor defender if he's asked to play higher minutes and/or take on more offensive responsibilities. That's pretty much in line with the majority of small Guards in the NBA, I'd say.
