Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome into the show, everybody.
Chapter 2: What was the outcome of the Rockets vs. Wizards game?
Rockets get a 123-118 win on the road, finish out their road trip 2-1 by knocking off the Wizards. Yes, this was very much a tanking team, and this was an L.A. fitness baller type of event, let's say. But all of the Rockets, for the most part, played well.
Chapter 3: How is Reed Sheppard performing and what are his stats?
Shangoon, KD... Each scored over 30 points. Amand Thompson, before exiting with an injury, we'll talk about that, had, I believe, 22 points, 10 boards, or excuse me, 12 boards. And really, the guy who stole the show was Reed Shepard, getting probably his final start for a while. We shall find out.
Chapter 4: What are the implications of injury management for the Rockets?
Post 19 points, 10 assists. Seven boards. He racked those up kind of early and six steals. And I believe led the team. Well, no, he did not. Tari ended up having the highest plus minus a plus 13. But Tari or excuse me, but Reed was plus 10 and was in the plus 20s for a while in this game. So Rockets do not fall in a game that they, you know, needed to win for sure. And knock off the Wizards.
It's you'll take it. Right, Ben?
Yeah, absolutely. And to me, Reid is the big story because I don't think that you should really take anything out of this game overall against a tanking Wizards team. You mentioned the LA Fitness analogy.
Chapter 5: What role does Reed Sheppard play in the Rockets' lineup?
It felt like that with the lack of officiating as well. If you hoop on a pickup court, you're not going to have officials. And for a lot of tonight, you know, Tari Easton might object. But other than that, it felt like the officials didn't want to be there either. Yeah. And so the game was very choppy.
And against this type of opponent, you know, guys like Kevin Durant and Alperin Shungun should be able to put up points. But I do think that in the big picture, Reid is the story because it continues a trend that we've seen for really 10 games now. His last 10, Reid is shooting 48% overall, 46% on threes. And his true shooting is 64%. So this is not a one-off. He's been playing well for a while.
And I think, you know, it feels like, especially on social media, we've always got to find something to debate in terms of does he start, does he close, exactly how many minutes does he play.
Chapter 6: How does the buyout market affect the Rockets' roster decisions?
And the grand scheme to get this level of production year two, 21 years old, that's the most important thing. Because, you know, he started this season playing that type of basketball in October and November. And then it fell off. In January, he shot just 38% overall and 33% from three. And I don't know if Reid will admit to it.
Michael, you know how guarded he is in his interviews with the media. He's very well media coached, let's say. But I do wonder if maybe he hits something of a rookie wall. Because even though he did have a season last year, he didn't play a lot. So this was his first season to actually get real NBA minutes.
Chapter 7: What challenges do the Rockets face in their upcoming schedule?
And I think he started off so hot. And then when the schedule got compressed late December after the NBA Cup leading into the All-Star break, I wonder if the legs just weren't there. And that's why the shooting fell off. And like a lot of young players, when the shots aren't dropping, they have more lapses defensively. They turn the ball over more defensively.
Well, now the shots are falling again. And Dave, you mentioned it. He did so many things defensively tonight as well with the steals, the rebounds. It just feels like his entire game is coming around. And yeah, we can quibble over exactly how many minutes does he start as you come off the bench.
But in the big picture, the fact that a 21-year-old Reed Shepard is playing this well, that's the most important thing. I think it's a game that even if the result against a bad Wizards team shouldn't make you feel that proud. I only did the fist pump because somebody got mad at me the other night for not doing it. I do think you should be pretty proud and read shepherd.
I think that's the big takeaway.
Chapter 8: How are the Rockets managing player minutes amidst injuries?
I think we're seeing a lot more comfort from Reed as much more than just a long range shooter or a guy just making kind of the most simple play. We saw him a lot in recent nights, rejecting the first screen, taking the second one, he's sneaking in and out better. He's become kind of not an expert, but pretty proficient in that skip pass all the way across with two hands.
So we started to make the reads that you saw of like, oh, this is a real NBA point guard that we didn't really see as much in December or January, right? So It's not just the shots that are falling, although I think that's a big part of it for his energy and rhythm and bounce, so to speak.
But the reads we've seen in the past few nights from Reed, no pun intended there, that's been some of the better stuff we've seen, I think.
Yeah, I would agree with that. It's so hard to tell with Ree, right? Because obviously against the Kings, for example, at home, another team that has a lot of injuries, let's say, just, you know, he went lights out, shot six to 12 in the first half. And you're like, wow, this is, you know, Steph and all of this stuff.
Obviously, the competition does matter, but I would agree with what Michael's saying. I thought in this particular game, he didn't look like any kind of defensive liability today. He was very aggressive. Obviously, his sort of M.O. on defense is to gamble, and a lot of times it pays off.
Sometimes not so much, but he did a great job, I think, of that today, and he ran the show quite a bit, which... In a lot of these other games where people are, you know, he's thriving. He's thrown a lot of, you know, catch and shoot playing off of somebody else. But tonight I thought he facilitated well and looked the part of a point guard tonight.
And I think they've also got to use Reid in this way, especially over the next couple of weeks with the injuries starting to pile up elsewhere. Amin Thompson left early. It looked like, you know, he went in with a tight quad that we know he missed a game with last week.
And it looked like that on the bench, we're still waiting to hear from Ine Udoka postgame, but he was grabbing at his right ankle. Didn't look too serious, was walking without assistance, but was a little bit of a limp. Went to the locker room early. And so you've had two lower leg issues for men. Javari Smith Jr.
is supposed to be back Thursday, but he's missed the last two games with the ankle sprain. And you've got a really tough schedule next week with three games and four nights, all against teams that are 10 or more games above 500, the Spurs, the Raptors, the Nuggets. The Spurs and Nuggets, those games are on the road, and that's the two teams right around you in the Western Conference standings.
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