00:00Last night, the Rockets got a pretty definitive win over, admittedly, the team with the worst record in the NBA.
00:06But they scored 128 points in this game.
00:0944 in the second quarter.
00:10Yes.
00:11Yeah.
00:11I mean, Reed Shepard had 20 in the first half.
00:1420 in the first half.
00:15This was an offensive game.
00:16I mean, they had a frame where they scored 44 points.
00:19This is not the Rockets team that we have been seeing.
00:21Are you convinced that this now says that this can be an offensive team?
00:25Me?
00:26Me convinced?
00:27Are you?
00:28Yes.
00:29Okay.
00:29Yes.
00:31The question is, are they going to allow it?
00:33Is he going to allow it to flourish a little bit?
00:37If you watched that game last night, even if you didn't, let me just tell you, the spacing was about
00:43as good.
00:44Remember, Sho was talking yesterday about something about the Rockets, about the Texans' offense.
00:49It just looks difficult.
00:50It just looks hard.
00:51It just feels difficult.
00:52You could have said the same thing about the Rockets.
00:53It just looks difficult.
00:55They grind things.
00:56I've complained to you a number of times.
00:57I bet you're sick of seeing my Tex come through about how it's slow and indecisive a lot of times.
01:03Some of that is they're trying to get to this offense, so there's a post-up, and we've got to
01:06try and get an entry pass.
01:08Then once we get it to Alperen Shangoon, now he's pounding the air out of the ball as he's backing
01:12somebody down from 26 feet out.
01:13You know what I mean?
01:14And things like that.
01:15That was not the case as much in this game.
01:18The ball moved a lot.
01:19Even Alperen Shangoon as a hub, they got it to him, and he was decisive, and he went quick.
01:24And that, I mean, you're a basketball coach.
01:26That's one of the things that you want from a big.
01:28And he ended up getting the ball out to a good shooter in Reed Shepard, who was out there a
01:32lot more, and that produced a lot of points.
01:34You know, a lot of times you talk about initiators, and you think pick and roll and penetrate and flaring
01:40to the corner and getting the ball to the right spot.
01:43I felt like Reed Shepard was an initiator last night with his shot.
01:47Because of that shot, the defense had to rush him a little quicker.
01:52The defense had to maybe overplay whenever he gave up the ball.
01:56And because of the spacing of that with his shot, Alperen Shangoon had room to work inside.
02:04What do you have, 11 assists?
02:05Yes, 26 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists.
02:08That would be a triple-double.
02:09Yes, that is what they're called.
02:11I believe that.
02:12That is what they're called.
02:12Only two turnovers as well, which is interesting.
02:15Because of the spacing and the availability to hit the open man.
02:18That's such a good point, because there's been so many conversations about how KD is not as good of a
02:23passer because he's turning the ball over.
02:25Alperen Shangoon, not as good of a passer.
02:26And you see, you can see them moving the ball.
02:29I mean, even KD, five assists, he still had a couple of turnovers.
02:32And not to say that that is perfect, but it looks a little different when there's space and there's not
02:36guys crowding your passing lanes.
02:38Or not even just crowding everything, but knowing I don't have to guard one of these guys out here so
02:42I can shoot this passing lane, get the ball, and now we're going to get in a free two points.
02:46A pick six of sorts.
02:47Does this then mean that some of the issue is a man-Thompson in your mind?
02:50Well, that's an interesting way to phrase it.
02:53Yes, I'm being provocative, I think, is the word that they use.
02:55The issue with the offense, yes.
02:58The issue with a man-Thompson is where it becomes a quandary.
03:01Where it becomes like, ooh, we get this with a man and we don't want to give that up, but
03:06we get that with Reed Shepard.
03:08And what I mean, and I mentioned this to you before the show, a man-Thompson is at his best
03:13in the midst of chaos.
03:15Reed Shepard is at his best in the midst of structure.
03:18How do you mix structure and chaos with both those dudes?
03:22Because flat out, Reed Shepard needs to have more minutes.
03:25And I believe as good as he is, as much as he can contribute, especially when the ball is not
03:31in his hands, you've got to cut back on a man-Thompson's minutes.
03:34He's got the fourth most minutes in the entire NBA.
03:36I don't care how you get them things.
03:37Yeah, 37 minutes a game.
03:38I'm not saying cut him to 27, but you've got to find some time.
03:42How do you feel about remembering the conversation I think y'all had a couple weeks ago about him possibly
03:48coming off the bench?
03:51Kind of replacing that?
03:53I know he may shut that down immediately.
03:55Yes, and I would too.
03:57He's just too good.
03:58But there has to be something there.
04:00You know, just not having the ball as much in his hands, especially in the half-court or three-quarter
04:06court.
04:07You know, that type thing.
04:07Well, some of it also is that Reed had a literal career shooting day.
04:12Seven of 16 from three, which is a percentage that you just don't get very often shooting the three ball
04:19at that rate.
04:19Not according to him.
04:20No.
04:20Well, he said, if I shoot 16 times, I'm going to make seven.
04:23That's what I was going to get to.
04:24This is Reed Shepard talking about how you know as a shooter that it's going to be your night like
04:28it was last night.
04:29Anytime I can get up 16 threes, hopefully I can make at least seven.
04:35So just my teammates being able to find me and give me open shots.
04:40You know, I got a lot of kickouts, driving kicks.
04:42I got a couple off the dribble, but for the most part it was off some passes from inside and
04:47out.
04:48So it was, you know, a lot of that was just from my teammates and trusting me to make the
04:53shot.
04:54But that started with the spacing and him getting the ball into the right spots as well.
04:58And it started with the intentionality of we're getting structure.
05:00I was going to say this in a way that sounds crazy.
05:03I'm still going to say it, but I want you to understand.
05:05I recognize this when I say it.
05:08They go into the game saying, we're going to have Reed go off.
05:10Like, we're going to get Reed off in this game, right?
05:11We're going to get the ball to him and let him knock it down.
05:14And that has to come with him being on the floor.
05:16He plays 32 minutes, which is a stark uptick from his like 23 that he typically averages.
05:22That allows him to be on the court to help impact the spacing, to knock down shots.
05:27At this point, I don't know if there are any more excuses that you can have or are there?
05:31Because there are instances of Reed having, you know, bad defensive games.
05:35And this is also a bad team in the Kings that are tanking as they go about this.
05:39So maybe like someone on the text line or two of them on the text line, it's the Kings.
05:44Relax.
05:44We've seen him do it.
05:45Hold on.
05:45Hold on.
05:46We've seen him do it against better teams.
05:47You know, whenever he has had those minutes, someone's been out or whatever.
05:51You know, the game I went to not long ago against the Spurs, who have now won 10 straight
05:56and might be the best or second best team in the entire conference.
05:59What do you have?
06:00Like, I want to say 24 points in that game, something like that.
06:05No, no.
06:05This is not, oh, it's the Kings.
06:07Relax.
06:07The point is he got it in him.
06:09Yes.
06:10He just got it.
06:11How can he stay on the floor?
06:13That's the thing.
06:14That's the point.
06:14That's the big point.
06:16Fewer on-ball reps for a man would be one thing I think they have to look at.
06:20That doesn't mean fewer minutes, a few fewer minutes, but I think fewer on-ball reps.
06:26Yeah.
06:26And with Jabari Smith Jr. on this heater, having a second dude that you know is also at least
06:31a threat.
06:32Because this is a fair point.
06:33Again, 7 of 16 from 3, damn near 50% is really, really high.
06:39And you're not always going to shoot that.
06:41I see you.
06:42Reed misses those same shots, some of those open shots all the time.
06:45Sure.
06:45But there's also the idea of how does a defense have to play you with the threat of you knocking
06:51down shots?
06:51Even if you're kind of off one of these days.
06:53J.J. Redick, when he was out there on the floor, even if he was having an off night,
06:57you still had to think, yeah, but we still got to get out here because he could turn this
07:00around quickly.
07:01Now, Steph Curry is asking a lot to him as a comparison here, but Steph Curry on the floor,
07:05he could be having a bad night.
07:07We still getting out there to check him.
07:08Of course.
07:09And I think that there's something to that that needs to be answered.
07:12We'll see how that locks in and how that stays because tonight they're back in action with
07:17one of the sickest back-to-backs.
07:19They had a home game.
07:20They are going to the East Coast to play Orlando, and they're playing at 630 on Amazon Prime
07:25Video.
07:25So they're playing earlier in the day on a back-to-back traveling.
07:29So we'll see if that sticks, if the legs show up.
07:31But yeah, this feels like it could be something that they need to take notice of.
07:35Biggest question, would he may do it?
07:38Would he may do all these things that we just talked about?
07:40That is the big question.
07:41Again, I hope tonight gives us some level of insight into an answer.
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