00:00One of the things that I've kind of been brewing just in general with Rockets fans, I think,
00:05is the question of, is it Reed Shepard's time to start for the Rockets?
00:12Is this something?
00:13Reed Shepard has been phenomenal of late when it comes to his play.
00:18He's been just shooting with a level of confidence.
00:20In fact, can you give me a little bit of the audio from this?
00:23Because this game was on Prime Video on Friday night versus the Nuggets.
00:28And there's one point where, well, not one point.
00:31The whole game, Reed Shepard is mic'd up.
00:32There's one point where he knocks in a three over Tim Hardaway Jr.
00:36And tell me if you think you know what cuss word he was about to say before he cleaned it up here.
00:47Yeah, he was going to call.
00:56He's going to call Tim Hardaway Jr. a dummy, I guess, to clean it up a little bit.
01:00But no, Reed Shepard has been absolutely phenomenal.
01:02For the season, he's shooting damn near 50% from three.
01:06I mean, scoring 13, 14 points a game.
01:10And that's even considering the early portions of it over the last, I mean, how long?
01:15The last, how long?
01:17He's been really, really good.
01:18I guess this is the way that I should just put it.
01:19He's just been fantastic recently.
01:22And so with that being the case, the question is, should he be a starter?
01:24Especially seeing as we got news that Kevin Durant is not playing tonight in their upcoming basketball game.
01:31Well, look, for sure now.
01:34For sure, you said.
01:35For sure these next two games.
01:37It's a good test run for one.
01:40Obviously, you want Kevin Durant out on the floor.
01:42But without him, you still have Shingun.
01:45You still have some, you know, run some offense through there.
01:47You can have Jabari sort of fill that role.
01:49I think you mentioned that in a break.
01:51Fill that role of Durant.
01:54You still have a man doing things.
01:56Which, by the way, I think part of the reason, you know, this is where you have that little test run with him in the starting lineup.
02:03Is because a man has not been really embracing the point guard role the way he should.
02:07He just has.
02:08He's still amazing in so many things that he does.
02:10But I think it's affecting him.
02:11We touched on it a little bit last week.
02:14And Rich Shepard has just been, I mean, he's been a game changer.
02:18He's been an absolute game changer for this squad.
02:20He's the reason why they were in that game.
02:22Yes.
02:22On Friday.
02:23Like, his ability.
02:24David Adelman said as much afterward.
02:27Yeah, his ability to shoot and, you know, really knock down shots.
02:30His defense has been one that is annoying to me personally, but shouldn't be to, like, the average Rockets fan.
02:37The reason why it's annoying to me personally is I am on this quixotic mission to civilize that steals do not equal defense.
02:44Right?
02:44I think that, like, those things can be together.
02:47You can have a defender that is good at steals, but inherently being good at steals does not make you good at defense.
02:51However, he is finding ways to improve his defense while also still being phenomenal at getting his hand on the basketball, poking the ball out, making it tough for opposition players to, you know, have a good handle.
03:04So, with that, with his eagerness, his passing has been pretty solid, especially in, like, more of a secondary role as opposed to an initial creator.
03:12And he is just knocking down shots with level of confidence.
03:15In that game, you would see them run, pick, and roll.
03:17And that defender, if he was a half step back, Reed is taking it with confidence.
03:21In fact, that highlight that we played was that what's happened, right?
03:24There's a screen.
03:25The defender either goes over and is behind or goes under to try and get back in front of him.
03:31And he just knocks down shots consistently.
03:32I think that this is a dude who very much has a valuable role, but as much as I think that he probably fits more next to, you know, in that second unit, I think right now is a great opportunity with Kevin Durant missing a couple games for a family matter, mind you.
03:46It's not like he's injured or anything, but he's missing a couple games for a family matter.
03:50This might be the perfect opportunity to get a feel for what Reed looks like as a starter.
03:53That's where I am.
03:54I think ultimately he's going to end up being the guy at some point, at least in the most, getting the most minutes in rotations.
04:01And it's a good chance to see what he can do, kind of running the show in such a way that he runs it.
04:07And I do disagree with you on the whole defense thing.
04:09If you know that that's what he is, and you're kind of describing an off-ball defender or someone with instincts in terms of passing lanes and such, that is defense.
04:19That is defense if you know that's what he brings.
04:22We're not talking about him as an off-ball defender, though.
04:24And passing lanes and hands on the ball.
04:27He does that more even on-ball, and I think that defenses know he is my target.
04:33I'm going to bring him up and see if he can navigate the screen.
04:35I'm going to bring him up and see if he can stay in front of this ball handler.
04:38And those are things that he struggles with.
04:39He can't poke the ball out, which is great, but then at times it comes with gambles and such.
04:44And so I'm not willing to say that he's a great defender.
04:46I don't think anybody is saying that's fair.
04:48But is he a willing defender?
04:49Absolutely.
04:50He is.
04:50Is he one of the guys that can offer you other things?
04:53Absolutely.
04:53And then on the offensive side, it's often very telling.
04:58You can tell the sincerity in people when they're talking about another player.
05:03Like, well, he's a good teammate, blah, blah, blah, versus I think he's going to be one
05:08of the best players in the league someday, which is what Shane Goon said.
05:12I think he can change a game by himself, which is what Adelman said.
05:16So I think the respect that he's getting is very sincere, and I think he's earned it.
05:20He's earned it.
05:20Let me ask you this about a man, though.
05:22Okay.
05:22How much is he being not himself?
05:26Oh, a lot.
05:26It's a lot of not.
05:27And early on, we were wondering how much it was the responsibility of being a primary
05:32ball handler and having more usage.
05:35I think even in instances where that's not the case, where he's playing off ball, him
05:39attacking the rim is a little bit less aggressive than he typically is.
05:42And I use that word very intentionally because his game is an aggressive one.
05:46Even defensively at times, I wonder where the aggression is that we've seen historically
05:50from a man.
05:51And I'm not saying that it's something that's entirely left him, but in this moment, I'm
05:55not seeing it in that same way.
05:56I wonder what that catalyst will be to kind of jumpstart that.
06:00And maybe tonight's game will be an opportunity.
06:03They are in Phoenix facing off against some friendly names.
06:06They'll see Jalen Green.
06:08Actually, I don't think Jalen Green's playing in this one, interestingly enough.
06:10Dylan Brooks is.
06:11But Dylan Brooks is.
06:12Dylan Brooks will get you fired up as well.
06:15And I wonder, are shenanigans going to pop up?
06:17Is that going to be the way that Dylan Brooks says I love you?
06:19Who's he going to stare down?
06:20Stare down?
06:21I'm not worried about stare down.
06:22I'm worried about him stirring up.
06:24You got the wrong direction there, big fella.
06:26Like, I think that just because he knows you, he knows exactly where to push the buttons.
06:30And I do wonder if that'll help him get it going.
06:32They were asking him about E-May, and he goes, well, I'll be interested to see who he puts on at first.
06:38At first, as if, like, I'm going to work that dude.
06:40Yeah, and then they're going to need to change it.
06:42But either way, I think it'll be a very intriguing opportunity.
06:45Whether it's Reed that goes.
06:47I think if Tari Eason was available, I think Tari would step in to be a starter.
06:51I think he fits a little bit closer to some of the things that they're trying to do there.
06:54But regardless, I'll be very intrigued to see how they handle it without Kevin Durant.
06:57Like, he's been such a savior for their offense a lot of times,
07:00where they go, you know, to get him on the block and let him initiate.
07:04He has become kind of the pseudo-initiator when it's not Alperin.
07:07I think this will be a really interesting point to see how they fare with Kevin Durant
07:11not being a little bit of a crutch for them, for lack of a better word, in this.
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