July 15, 2024 • 14 mins
Stan Norfleet of Next Up and Ben DuBose, editor of The Rockets Wire, recap the Houston Rockets defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 99-80 on Friday and the Washington Wizards 109-91 on Sunday to win their first two games of the NBA Summer League. Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 overall pick from Kentucky, recorded 23 points and five assists in his debut against the Lakers. Cam Whitmore, the reigning summer league MVP, and Sheppard combined for 47 points and 10 steals versus the Wizards. Will the Rockets be able to return to the Summer League championship, and with the rookie already exceeding expectations, will Sheppard be a consistent piece in the Rockets rotation for the upcoming season?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Rockets are now two and oh inNBA Summer League. We see the debut
of one Reed Shepherd, third overallpick out of Kentucky. And that was
what Friday night they played the LakersBrownie James out in Vegas. Rockets win.
And then yesterday afternoon Rockets wrap upas it was a one o'clock pitch
Rockets, rap, I immediately golet's see what's happening with the Astros.
(00:24):
Rap im meiately gover and see whatwas happening with the Rockets. Yesterday it
was a Cam Whitmore and Reed Shepherdshow. Reed Shepherd twenty two points,
six rebounds, seven assists, fivesteals. He shot sixty percent from the
field, as did Cam Whitmore withhis twenty five, eight and four.
Those dudes, those two, andI want to focus on Reed Shepherd specifically
(00:47):
as I come to you. BenDubo's editor of USA today is the Rocket
Wire as well as Rockets handlers forUS at seven ninety. Yeah, Breed
Shepherd is going to help this team, the big team this year. This
year. Yeah. I mean wetalked through the whole pre draft process about
the question with Reid being what hecan do beyond shooting, because we know
he can shoot at an elite level. And what stood out to me through
(01:08):
these first two games is how he'sorganizing the team. His leadership has passing
his ability to do other things besidesjust shoot three point shots. I know
it's summer League, but quite frankly, he reminds me a little bit of
Chris Paul out there, just fromthe standpoint of how he's able to navigate
in a half floor general be crafting. He can square his shoulders at any
time, he can get the midrange shots, he can hit the floaters.
(01:30):
This is something the Rockets have nothad for a long time. And
it's not just the shooting, it'sread, the floor general, it's the
IQ, it's the entire package.And I'm honestly looking forward. So it
sounds like, from reading the reportingof Jonathan Fagan to the Houston Chronicle,
he's out in Vegas with the teamthat they're gonna shut Cam Whitmore down starting
today. There's no reason for Camto be out there. It's just like
(01:51):
Javari Smith and Tari Easton last yearplayed two games and get out and down.
I think part of read being somewhatdeferential is that Cam is more established,
he can be well, he wasthe MVP of Summer League last year.
Yes, now that Cam's not goingto be out there, I want
to see what happens if Reed Shepherdgoes even higher usage. I mean,
can he put up thirty forty pointsif you let him just go bombs away
and the way Steph Curry does justrise and fire from thirty feet out in
(02:15):
transition. I want to see that, and we might get to see that.
You know, they're back in actionthis afternoon against Detroit. We'll see
I think that's an NBA TV game. They've got a couple more games after
that. So they've been the bestteam in Summer League to this point.
They're one of only seven teams undefeated, and they have the best point differential,
which is the NBA tie breaker,So they're actually in a decent spot
if they keep winning to potentially,you know, win a Summer League title,
(02:35):
which would be kind of cool,I guess. But more than that,
I want to see Reed Shepherd specifically. Now, if there's no Cam
whitmore, can he take it toan even higher level. He's gonna get
the chance. There's a gentleman's agreement. That's a bruin between Ross Veree one
half of the Matt Thomas Show,and I about Cam Whitmore had a very
admirable rookie season. Yeah, evenafter spending some time in Rio Grand Valle.
(03:00):
I think Reeed Shepherd situationally, whenwe get to the end of the
year, we're gonna look up andReed Shepherd's going to have a better rookie
season than Cam had. And I'mtalking more about statistics, Like I know
they played two different positions, butI think Reed Shepherd's really going to help
this team. Did you see wherehe was pulling up from? Oh?
Yeah, the logo this dude is. And again, I know what I'm
(03:23):
not saying, Steph. Some peoplehave said Steph because of their stature.
They have a similar stature. Bythe way, you see during the last
that game, Trey Young Jean Moranzshouting out Reed Shepherd did see that.
Yeah, that's telling I think Reedis going to get minutes. Let's do
minutes. Yeah, I think Reedis going to get Now. Obviously the
Rockets re signed Aaron Holliday. That'sinteresting. It allows them to bring Reed
(03:46):
along slower, but Reed can alsoobviously play off ball. I'm saying Reed
getting fourteen to sixteen minutes a nightaggressive, No, you might even get
more than that. The way he'splaying now relative to Cam Whitmore, I
don't know if he'll have better statssimply because Kim Whitmore shoots at such volume
and he gets out in transition thathe can put points on the board in
(04:10):
a heartbeat. But what I willsay is Kim Whitmore was a lot more
raw. He was one of theyoungest guys in the draft class. He
had just turned nineteen, like hejust turned twenty. And even even with
all the strengths he had as arookie, there were still moments where the
shot selection was an issue. Asrecently as Friday night, the first half
of the game against the Lakers,there were times in which you saw bad
Cam come out and he was justtoo aggressive, not playing within the team
(04:31):
concept. What's striking about Reid isthat already he is playing within the team
concept. He mentally is ahead ofwhere Cam Whitmore was entering the NBA,
and that's somewhat to be expected.Again, he sort of a year earlier.
He also had some very high levelexperience at Kentucky and great coaching and
John calipark As did Cam Whitmore tobe fair playing for Jay Wright of ill
(04:53):
Noble, So I got to givehim that as well. True, but
I just think that Reid is mentallya step ahead of where a lot of
the Rockets rookies have been in recentyears. I heard it's going to give
you may a chance to play themearly. Roephael Stone agrees with you.
Roephel said outside of the shooting,Yeah, like this is a dude that
he was being disruptive. He wasraking the ball away from guys in the
(05:15):
paint, stealing the basketball. Getthis is a guy that Ree Shepherd is
going to end up. And manypeople are saying that out in the NBA
right now. Rockets may have inthe third spot gotten the best player in
this year's draft. And if youadd that to what is going on,
I know, also, can wedispel this this bs pissed me off too.
(05:36):
What we're concerned about how he's goingto do in the pick and roll
with alfronshin Gun and or Jalen Green, because they didn't run a ton of
pick and roll in Kentucky, butwhen they did run it, he was
fluid. It's fine. I'm notworried about reading the pick and roll.
It's just recruiting politics. Why hedidn't get those high level point guard reps
(05:57):
at Kentucky because he was a fourstar. They had some five stars.
They're Kentucky. You know how coachKyle operates. So yeah, he's gonna
get more opportunities in Houston. He'sgonna be fine. If you watch him
in Summer League, he looks likethe quintessential for general. He's been spectacular,
So I'm not worried about him atall. He looks fantastic, real
quick. Team USA is in AbuDhabi going up against Australia. Jack Landale
(06:18):
of the Rockets a reserve center,the third center. I would say,
uh, going up against Team USA, what's the score? What? What
were we looking at over there?I don't know. I didn't know if
you had to score up in frontof in front of me. They had
a slight lead. Last I checked, they were up by like five.
USA was yeah, all right,Team USA out and Abu Dhabi doing the
thing. The only other NBA thingthat I saw that I wanted to comment
(06:39):
on over the weekend, Jalen Brunsongives the New York Knicks back. He
left one hundred and thirteen million dollarsand guaranteed money on the table. Hopefully
that's a good president for the Rocketsbecause they got some guys due for extensions
the next few years. The NBANBPA must be going absolutely crazy. Jaylen
(07:02):
Bronson said, I want to putmy team in position to go get other
pieces. Da da da da dah. God bless you brother. If you
can afford to leave one hundred andthirteen guaranteed million dollars on the table.
I'm all for leaving some dough pendingsituation. But that's crazy. That's unprecedented.
I've never heard of that in theNBA. Somebody leaving a hundred million
(07:26):
yeah on the table. Crazy.We're up against it on this side.
Let's take these phone calls. Carlos, Frank somebody else just called in.
We'll bounce around h town. Whateveryou guys want to talk about. Seven
one three two point two five,seven ninety. Also, the Texans start
camp this week. Many people areranking the quarterbacks. Where the CJ.
Strang found with the CJ. StroudLand Sports Talk seven ninety stand Northfleet.
(07:50):
It's just a five. Chris Cordy, I want to be next the next
up mentality on your radio everybolla thatyou go through, prepare, thank you
for the next, Welcome back tonext Up. On Sports Talk seven ninety
she says, I No, Idon't have to ever say that to him
during the year. Oh wow,he went to Oh he was deeper like
(08:15):
the fries Worth. The bottom spopyou gonna got. That got him up
and on his speed. A littlesmile from Reed Shepherd. Of folks,
this is game right here. Thisis about feel and understanding. Isolated gets
that defender, dancing, change ofpace, little floater the then one stopped
and read Shepherd crossover. Then appreciateMark Jones at doris Burg or the Full
(08:41):
Letter Network, NBA Summer League andAction Rockets getting busy. Game three this
afternoon? Was that tonight? Whattime is that? Five thirty Detroit Pistons
tonight? Washington Wizards yesterday? ReeedShepherd can whit more best two players on
the floor if you didn't hit aprevious segment, cam whit more likely done
at some league. For this year, It'll be to Reed Shepherd show.
(09:03):
He outperformed Alex Saw from the WashingtonWizards, who went a spot ahead and
actually went first number one on wrongonline number two. The round and outperformed
Dalton Connect. One Friday, anotherlakes God top ten prospect fell to seventeen.
People saw him his top ten prospectand he's twenty three years old.
He's ready. Dalton Connect was aguy if they had traded back, if
the Rockets had traded back with Memphisat nine, for example, Yep,
(09:24):
Daltonkonnet was a guy that I waslike, he gives you some elements,
but he also gives you some otherthings. And that's a four or five
year college player, and Reid lookbetter. It's early, but what Reed
is showing you. I mean,it's hard not to be excited. I
know there's a lot of talk thatthe Rockets during this tanking era, which
thankfully they're out of now. Butthere's a lot of casual fans say,
oh, they didn't get Wimby,they didn't get Palo BANKU didn't get Kate
(09:46):
Cunningham in the draft lottery, thatprospect you can point to. Well,
I think this year is an exampleof them getting really lucky, going from
what was supposed to be the numbernine or ten pick from Brooklyn to number
three and getting a player like ReedShepherd and compare him to a guy like
Dalton Connect who would have been oneof the guys in the mix if you
had stayed at nine or ten,many people expected. That is incredibly fortunate.
(10:07):
So even if you're down in theRockets from a lux standpoint, saying
oh, they didn't get a numberone pick in the this Rebelt, I've
heard that talk even with the NBA, you know, distance and advising,
tanking, you know, lowering theodds, all that stuff. They got
real lucky with Reid this year.I think Reid was the ideal player person
compliment to where the Rockets are like, it's plug and play. He's exactly
(10:31):
what they needed at the right time. Yeah, and rafel Stone had an
interview during the last night's game onESPN, and I thought the most telling
part of it during the Presjarft processbefore the Rockets brought in Reid. Rafel
said that he met with one ofReid's Kentucky teammates. I'm guessing either Rob
Dillingham or Antonio Regis got rast yearand he said rafel that is that he
had never heard another player speak ofa teammate as well as this guy did
(10:54):
of reed Shepherd. Wow, he'sbeing interviewed by a team. It is
a unique dynamic. Yeah, andso that's peak to not just read the
player, but read the person andhow he's gonna fit in that locker room
and what he can do down theline. Because we're talk about Canny be
a point guard. A big partof that is leadership and to have your
teammates respects you to that level asa true freshman in college, that's pretty
rare, and I think it speaksto what he can become in the NBA.
I heard some whispers there are peoplesaying could read Shepherd become the Rockets
(11:18):
every day starting point guard and eventuallymove on from Fred van Vliet, move
Ami and Thompson, who was thoughtto be occupyed in that space as the
future point move him maybe to asmall forward situation. So it's interesting they've
got some versatility there. Frank onthe north side, get this last Rockets
comment. Then we'll pivot back intowell, get Texans pivot back into strows.
(11:39):
Go ahead, Frank Fellas, Ihear what you're talking about about Red
Sheppard, but amre Thompson what we'regonna do with him. I mean cause
we got three. We got threeof the same people at every position almost
Okay, I don't see that.Yeah, okay, where you're gonna play.
(12:05):
Whitmore is gonna come off the benchas a two or three and in
some cases four, depending on whatthe matchups are, you would agree,
Yeah, I think yeah, Camand Jayalen are gonna be competing for minutes.
Cam's not beating out Jalen, notthis year. I just all right,
so go ahead, Frank, SoJalen Greens, you're starting to That's
just that's happening until he's moved.Jalen Green's the two. All right,
(12:26):
you're not taking him off the floor. Where where else do you see some
redundancy? Uh? The full position? I mean gonna be back and then
what you're gonna play? Jar Smithat three? Yav no, no,
(12:46):
no, no, no, no, we got we got the big one
coming. Steve Hadams is not gonnastart what Oh my bad, Frank on
the north side. I apologize.I see where you're going. Frank is
under the pinch. Steven Handams wasnot brought here to start machine gun when
healthy is going to be the five? Well, I thought he was talking
about Shangoon coming back because he missedthe last twenty games. But to circle
back to his original point on amen, what I would point out is
(13:07):
his best play as a rookie camewhen he entered the starting lineup in place
of Shangoon and he was playing inthe front court. So I know he
was drafted as a point guard,but he has showed enough off the ball.
Maybe he ends up being like theShawn Murray and our generation. When
he was in the dunker spot.Yeah, I thought he was excellent,
Like it allowed his true athleticism.The shooting was a big of an issue.
He could play even more help sidedefense. Well, like when the
(13:31):
ball's in your hand, you're doinga different thing. Yeah, from a
point guard standpoint, So I likea man off the ball. There's a
world where they move on from DylanBrooks and now he becomes your three,
and don't worry about having too manygood players. That's like saying, you
know, my diamond shoes are tootight. I mean, look at the
Timberwolves we saw in the playoffs andthey went pretty deep. They've got three
guys in the front court between Gobert, Karl, Anthony Towns, and nas
(13:52):
Reed. You can't play those threeguys six. The NBA doesn't work that
way. But if you can plugand play over forty eight minutes, every
minute counts the same. And soeven though they all can't be in the
closing lineup, I don't think anybodyin Minnesota saying, oh, we should
have invested in Nasried because we've gotKarl, Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.
No, you make it work.So even if I know what he's saying
with this point is how can youplay all these guys down in the strutch
(14:13):
of a close game. No,No, he's saying there's too much like
too much of the same guys.I'm saying, yeah, because and so
it's tough to fit them in.But my point is, look, there's
a lot of minutes to so cupforty eight minutes a game, eighty two
games a season, playoff series arebest of seven. You'll figure this thing
out. You would rather have toomany good players, and for me,
Fred got tired down the stretch.They leaned on Fred and Dylan. Also
(14:35):
true the injuries and the fatigue,Like you can't run dudes in the ground
like that. So again I'm notconcerned about that part when it comes to
the rockets.
Rockets are now two and oh inNBA Summer League. We see the debut
of one Reed Shepherd, third overallpick out of Kentucky. And that was
what Friday night they played the LakersBrownie James out in Vegas. Rockets win.
And then yesterday afternoon Rockets wrap upas it was a one o'clock pitch
Rockets, rap, I immediately golet's see what's happening with the Astros.
(00:24):
Rap im meiately gover and see whatwas happening with the Rockets. Yesterday it
was a Cam Whitmore and Reed Shepherdshow. Reed Shepherd twenty two points,
six rebounds, seven assists, fivesteals. He shot sixty percent from the
field, as did Cam Whitmore withhis twenty five, eight and four.
Those dudes, those two, andI want to focus on Reed Shepherd specifically
(00:47):
as I come to you. BenDubo's editor of USA today is the Rocket
Wire as well as Rockets handlers forUS at seven ninety. Yeah, Breed
Shepherd is going to help this team, the big team this year. This
year. Yeah. I mean wetalked through the whole pre draft process about
the question with Reid being what hecan do beyond shooting, because we know
he can shoot at an elite level. And what stood out to me through
(01:08):
these first two games is how he'sorganizing the team. His leadership has passing
his ability to do other things besidesjust shoot three point shots. I know
it's summer League, but quite frankly, he reminds me a little bit of
Chris Paul out there, just fromthe standpoint of how he's able to navigate
in a half floor general be crafting. He can square his shoulders at any
time, he can get the midrange shots, he can hit the floaters.
(01:30):
This is something the Rockets have nothad for a long time. And
it's not just the shooting, it'sread, the floor general, it's the
IQ, it's the entire package.And I'm honestly looking forward. So it
sounds like, from reading the reportingof Jonathan Fagan to the Houston Chronicle,
he's out in Vegas with the teamthat they're gonna shut Cam Whitmore down starting
today. There's no reason for Camto be out there. It's just like
(01:51):
Javari Smith and Tari Easton last yearplayed two games and get out and down.
I think part of read being somewhatdeferential is that Cam is more established,
he can be well, he wasthe MVP of Summer League last year.
Yes, now that Cam's not goingto be out there, I want
to see what happens if Reed Shepherdgoes even higher usage. I mean,
can he put up thirty forty pointsif you let him just go bombs away
and the way Steph Curry does justrise and fire from thirty feet out in
(02:15):
transition. I want to see that, and we might get to see that.
You know, they're back in actionthis afternoon against Detroit. We'll see
I think that's an NBA TV game. They've got a couple more games after
that. So they've been the bestteam in Summer League to this point.
They're one of only seven teams undefeated, and they have the best point differential,
which is the NBA tie breaker,So they're actually in a decent spot
if they keep winning to potentially,you know, win a Summer League title,
(02:35):
which would be kind of cool,I guess. But more than that,
I want to see Reed Shepherd specifically. Now, if there's no Cam
whitmore, can he take it toan even higher level. He's gonna get
the chance. There's a gentleman's agreement. That's a bruin between Ross Veree one
half of the Matt Thomas Show,and I about Cam Whitmore had a very
admirable rookie season. Yeah, evenafter spending some time in Rio Grand Valle.
(03:00):
I think Reeed Shepherd situationally, whenwe get to the end of the
year, we're gonna look up andReed Shepherd's going to have a better rookie
season than Cam had. And I'mtalking more about statistics, Like I know
they played two different positions, butI think Reed Shepherd's really going to help
this team. Did you see wherehe was pulling up from? Oh?
Yeah, the logo this dude is. And again, I know what I'm
(03:23):
not saying, Steph. Some peoplehave said Steph because of their stature.
They have a similar stature. Bythe way, you see during the last
that game, Trey Young Jean Moranzshouting out Reed Shepherd did see that.
Yeah, that's telling I think Reedis going to get minutes. Let's do
minutes. Yeah, I think Reedis going to get Now. Obviously the
Rockets re signed Aaron Holliday. That'sinteresting. It allows them to bring Reed
(03:46):
along slower, but Reed can alsoobviously play off ball. I'm saying Reed
getting fourteen to sixteen minutes a nightaggressive, No, you might even get
more than that. The way he'splaying now relative to Cam Whitmore, I
don't know if he'll have better statssimply because Kim Whitmore shoots at such volume
and he gets out in transition thathe can put points on the board in
(04:10):
a heartbeat. But what I willsay is Kim Whitmore was a lot more
raw. He was one of theyoungest guys in the draft class. He
had just turned nineteen, like hejust turned twenty. And even even with
all the strengths he had as arookie, there were still moments where the
shot selection was an issue. Asrecently as Friday night, the first half
of the game against the Lakers,there were times in which you saw bad
Cam come out and he was justtoo aggressive, not playing within the team
(04:31):
concept. What's striking about Reid isthat already he is playing within the team
concept. He mentally is ahead ofwhere Cam Whitmore was entering the NBA,
and that's somewhat to be expected.Again, he sort of a year earlier.
He also had some very high levelexperience at Kentucky and great coaching and
John calipark As did Cam Whitmore tobe fair playing for Jay Wright of ill
(04:53):
Noble, So I got to givehim that as well. True, but
I just think that Reid is mentallya step ahead of where a lot of
the Rockets rookies have been in recentyears. I heard it's going to give
you may a chance to play themearly. Roephael Stone agrees with you.
Roephel said outside of the shooting,Yeah, like this is a dude that
he was being disruptive. He wasraking the ball away from guys in the
(05:15):
paint, stealing the basketball. Getthis is a guy that Ree Shepherd is
going to end up. And manypeople are saying that out in the NBA
right now. Rockets may have inthe third spot gotten the best player in
this year's draft. And if youadd that to what is going on,
I know, also, can wedispel this this bs pissed me off too.
(05:36):
What we're concerned about how he's goingto do in the pick and roll
with alfronshin Gun and or Jalen Green, because they didn't run a ton of
pick and roll in Kentucky, butwhen they did run it, he was
fluid. It's fine. I'm notworried about reading the pick and roll.
It's just recruiting politics. Why hedidn't get those high level point guard reps
(05:57):
at Kentucky because he was a fourstar. They had some five stars.
They're Kentucky. You know how coachKyle operates. So yeah, he's gonna
get more opportunities in Houston. He'sgonna be fine. If you watch him
in Summer League, he looks likethe quintessential for general. He's been spectacular,
So I'm not worried about him atall. He looks fantastic, real
quick. Team USA is in AbuDhabi going up against Australia. Jack Landale
(06:18):
of the Rockets a reserve center,the third center. I would say,
uh, going up against Team USA, what's the score? What? What
were we looking at over there?I don't know. I didn't know if
you had to score up in frontof in front of me. They had
a slight lead. Last I checked, they were up by like five.
USA was yeah, all right,Team USA out and Abu Dhabi doing the
thing. The only other NBA thingthat I saw that I wanted to comment
(06:39):
on over the weekend, Jalen Brunsongives the New York Knicks back. He
left one hundred and thirteen million dollarsand guaranteed money on the table. Hopefully
that's a good president for the Rocketsbecause they got some guys due for extensions
the next few years. The NBANBPA must be going absolutely crazy. Jaylen
(07:02):
Bronson said, I want to putmy team in position to go get other
pieces. Da da da da dah. God bless you brother. If you
can afford to leave one hundred andthirteen guaranteed million dollars on the table.
I'm all for leaving some dough pendingsituation. But that's crazy. That's unprecedented.
I've never heard of that in theNBA. Somebody leaving a hundred million
(07:26):
yeah on the table. Crazy.We're up against it on this side.
Let's take these phone calls. Carlos, Frank somebody else just called in.
We'll bounce around h town. Whateveryou guys want to talk about. Seven
one three two point two five,seven ninety. Also, the Texans start
camp this week. Many people areranking the quarterbacks. Where the CJ.
Strang found with the CJ. StroudLand Sports Talk seven ninety stand Northfleet.
(07:50):
It's just a five. Chris Cordy, I want to be next the next
up mentality on your radio everybolla thatyou go through, prepare, thank you
for the next, Welcome back tonext Up. On Sports Talk seven ninety
she says, I No, Idon't have to ever say that to him
during the year. Oh wow,he went to Oh he was deeper like
(08:15):
the fries Worth. The bottom spopyou gonna got. That got him up
and on his speed. A littlesmile from Reed Shepherd. Of folks,
this is game right here. Thisis about feel and understanding. Isolated gets
that defender, dancing, change ofpace, little floater the then one stopped
and read Shepherd crossover. Then appreciateMark Jones at doris Burg or the Full
(08:41):
Letter Network, NBA Summer League andAction Rockets getting busy. Game three this
afternoon? Was that tonight? Whattime is that? Five thirty Detroit Pistons
tonight? Washington Wizards yesterday? ReeedShepherd can whit more best two players on
the floor if you didn't hit aprevious segment, cam whit more likely done
at some league. For this year, It'll be to Reed Shepherd show.
(09:03):
He outperformed Alex Saw from the WashingtonWizards, who went a spot ahead and
actually went first number one on wrongonline number two. The round and outperformed
Dalton Connect. One Friday, anotherlakes God top ten prospect fell to seventeen.
People saw him his top ten prospectand he's twenty three years old.
He's ready. Dalton Connect was aguy if they had traded back, if
the Rockets had traded back with Memphisat nine, for example, Yep,
(09:24):
Daltonkonnet was a guy that I waslike, he gives you some elements,
but he also gives you some otherthings. And that's a four or five
year college player, and Reid lookbetter. It's early, but what Reed
is showing you. I mean,it's hard not to be excited. I
know there's a lot of talk thatthe Rockets during this tanking era, which
thankfully they're out of now. Butthere's a lot of casual fans say,
oh, they didn't get Wimby,they didn't get Palo BANKU didn't get Kate
(09:46):
Cunningham in the draft lottery, thatprospect you can point to. Well,
I think this year is an exampleof them getting really lucky, going from
what was supposed to be the numbernine or ten pick from Brooklyn to number
three and getting a player like ReedShepherd and compare him to a guy like
Dalton Connect who would have been oneof the guys in the mix if you
had stayed at nine or ten,many people expected. That is incredibly fortunate.
(10:07):
So even if you're down in theRockets from a lux standpoint, saying
oh, they didn't get a numberone pick in the this Rebelt, I've
heard that talk even with the NBA, you know, distance and advising,
tanking, you know, lowering theodds, all that stuff. They got
real lucky with Reid this year.I think Reid was the ideal player person
compliment to where the Rockets are like, it's plug and play. He's exactly
(10:31):
what they needed at the right time. Yeah, and rafel Stone had an
interview during the last night's game onESPN, and I thought the most telling
part of it during the Presjarft processbefore the Rockets brought in Reid. Rafel
said that he met with one ofReid's Kentucky teammates. I'm guessing either Rob
Dillingham or Antonio Regis got rast yearand he said rafel that is that he
had never heard another player speak ofa teammate as well as this guy did
(10:54):
of reed Shepherd. Wow, he'sbeing interviewed by a team. It is
a unique dynamic. Yeah, andso that's peak to not just read the
player, but read the person andhow he's gonna fit in that locker room
and what he can do down theline. Because we're talk about Canny be
a point guard. A big partof that is leadership and to have your
teammates respects you to that level asa true freshman in college, that's pretty
rare, and I think it speaksto what he can become in the NBA.
I heard some whispers there are peoplesaying could read Shepherd become the Rockets
(11:18):
every day starting point guard and eventuallymove on from Fred van Vliet, move
Ami and Thompson, who was thoughtto be occupyed in that space as the
future point move him maybe to asmall forward situation. So it's interesting they've
got some versatility there. Frank onthe north side, get this last Rockets
comment. Then we'll pivot back intowell, get Texans pivot back into strows.
(11:39):
Go ahead, Frank Fellas, Ihear what you're talking about about Red
Sheppard, but amre Thompson what we'regonna do with him. I mean cause
we got three. We got threeof the same people at every position almost
Okay, I don't see that.Yeah, okay, where you're gonna play.
(12:05):
Whitmore is gonna come off the benchas a two or three and in
some cases four, depending on whatthe matchups are, you would agree,
Yeah, I think yeah, Camand Jayalen are gonna be competing for minutes.
Cam's not beating out Jalen, notthis year. I just all right,
so go ahead, Frank, SoJalen Greens, you're starting to That's
just that's happening until he's moved.Jalen Green's the two. All right,
(12:26):
you're not taking him off the floor. Where where else do you see some
redundancy? Uh? The full position? I mean gonna be back and then
what you're gonna play? Jar Smithat three? Yav no, no,
(12:46):
no, no, no, no, we got we got the big one
coming. Steve Hadams is not gonnastart what Oh my bad, Frank on
the north side. I apologize.I see where you're going. Frank is
under the pinch. Steven Handams wasnot brought here to start machine gun when
healthy is going to be the five? Well, I thought he was talking
about Shangoon coming back because he missedthe last twenty games. But to circle
back to his original point on amen, what I would point out is
(13:07):
his best play as a rookie camewhen he entered the starting lineup in place
of Shangoon and he was playing inthe front court. So I know he
was drafted as a point guard,but he has showed enough off the ball.
Maybe he ends up being like theShawn Murray and our generation. When
he was in the dunker spot.Yeah, I thought he was excellent,
Like it allowed his true athleticism.The shooting was a big of an issue.
He could play even more help sidedefense. Well, like when the
(13:31):
ball's in your hand, you're doinga different thing. Yeah, from a
point guard standpoint, So I likea man off the ball. There's a
world where they move on from DylanBrooks and now he becomes your three,
and don't worry about having too manygood players. That's like saying, you
know, my diamond shoes are tootight. I mean, look at the
Timberwolves we saw in the playoffs andthey went pretty deep. They've got three
guys in the front court between Gobert, Karl, Anthony Towns, and nas
(13:52):
Reed. You can't play those threeguys six. The NBA doesn't work that
way. But if you can plugand play over forty eight minutes, every
minute counts the same. And soeven though they all can't be in the
closing lineup, I don't think anybodyin Minnesota saying, oh, we should
have invested in Nasried because we've gotKarl, Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.
No, you make it work.So even if I know what he's saying
with this point is how can youplay all these guys down in the strutch
(14:13):
of a close game. No,No, he's saying there's too much like
too much of the same guys.I'm saying, yeah, because and so
it's tough to fit them in.But my point is, look, there's
a lot of minutes to so cupforty eight minutes a game, eighty two
games a season, playoff series arebest of seven. You'll figure this thing
out. You would rather have toomany good players, and for me,
Fred got tired down the stretch.They leaned on Fred and Dylan. Also
(14:35):
true the injuries and the fatigue,Like you can't run dudes in the ground
like that. So again I'm notconcerned about that part when it comes to
the rockets.
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