The issues with the Rockets’ offense became glaringly clear last night in their 94-101 loss to the Lakers in Game 2 of their first-round series. Amid all the frustrations that plagued the Rockets last night, one particular one was that their 21-year-old promising point guard, Reed Sheppard, a 39.4% shooter from the three-point range, played only 11 minutes last night and did not score a single point.
While the fans criticized Ime Udoka for not using the Sixth Man of the Year candidate to his full potential, former NBA players Iman Shumpert and Chandler Parsons seem to agree with him on why Reed Sheppard needed to be benched in Game 2.
They appeared on the latest episode of Run It Back with FanDuel and broke down why they believed it was the right decision to not give Sheppard significant minutes last night.
“In real time, if I were the coach, I would feel, too, that I should limit his minutes. It just didn’t feel like his movements and the things he was doing out there were with an aggressive mentality to score. A lot of the time, the Lakers’ scheme was letting anybody else beat [other than Kevin Durant] them. Hands down, running with a short closeout and accepting the drives.
“When you see a Reed Sheppard step into shots, you kind of know if somebody’s feeling it. Stepping in, letting it go with confidence, holding the follow-through. Rattlesnaked a shot or two, shot-fake, held the pump on a couple of them, going into the lane only to drive out unaggressively.”
“There wasn’t an aggressive mindset. If you can’t be aggressive on the floor with double teams flying around, you can’t trust somebody to be out there,” said Shumpert.
The former NBA champion believes that Ime Udoka may be right to not use the 21-year-old guard significantly in Game 2 after he struggled to score or contribute in the box score while also looking like a defensive liability.
Chandler Parsons, the former Rockets player who was also on the show, understood the fans’ frustrations about why they wanted Reed Sheppard to be out there, but also agreed with Udoka’s decision not to use Sheppard.
“He missed KD in transition, and KD got hot at him early for missing. But all I’m saying is, if I’m Houston and I’m doubling Kevin Durant, I would want my 40% shooter on the other side instead of a Tari Eason or a Josh Okogie.”
“Again, maybe he didn’t look great, or he was shy or whatever, I’d rather have him on the floor, especially if we’re playing four on three on the back side to have my 40% shooter out there. But then again, he just looked kind of shaky from the beginning last night,” said Parsons while adding to what Shumpert said.
The Rockets’ offense has been heavily focused on isolation basketball, which has essentially become their Achilles Heel with Kevin Durant. Kendrick Perkins, Durant’s former teammate, related that to the selfishness of the franchise’s players.
“The Rockets are the dumbest team, and the most selfish team, in the postseason,” said Perkins in his latest appearance on Get Up with ESPN.
“JJ Redick is coaching his a** off so hard that he’s running circles around Ime Udoka. We could blame Kevin Durant for those nine turnovers, but we could also blame Ime Udoka for having Kevin Durant in that position, knowing that they’re going to send two people at him every single time and double him.”
“How about Alperen Sengun? When are you going to get your big a** down and start playing some damn defense? You’re the center now. It’s no Steven Adams. You’re going to at least try to protect the basket. What is going on with you?”
“And then when you look across the board at Ime Udoka and his rotations, you have Finney-Smith on the sideline. You haven’t used him once. You’re one of the worst shooting three-point teams in the NBA. You shot 7-for-29 from three last night.”
“And then I saw one play, last thing, one play, and this is where you see that they lack togetherness. And I’m talking about the Rockets. It was in the first half.”
“They get on a fast break. They kick ahead to Reed Shepard. He’s pushing in transition. Kevin Durant is running the wing, and Reed Sheppard pulls up for a three, and he missed it.”
“They call a timeout. Kevin Durant is pissed off at Reed Shepard. He’s one of your best shooters. Let him shoot the damn ball!” yelled Perkins before he claimed that this series is as good as over.
Clearly, while some former players are conflicted over Udoka’s decision-making, most of them are unhappy with his player rotations and coaching decisions that have limited Kevin Durant’s contribution in Game 2.
Let’s not jump the gun to say this series is as good as over. The Lakers have won the two games at home, which they were expected to win, for this to be an exciting series. In order for this series to go to six or seven games, the Lakers had to win at least two games.
While I think the Rockets are no longer the betting favorites to win this series from here, there is still time to fix the ship and correct their mistakes. If the Rockets win both games (Game 3 and 4) at home, they can still steal this series in Game 6 or 7.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, LeBron James is 24-0 in his career whenever his team takes a 2-0 lead in a playoff series. At this point, it’s not about what JJ Redick is doing correctly but about what Ime Udoka and the Rockets have done incorrectly.
But whether or not they do that is fully on Ime Udoka and his coaching staff. Clearly, the Rockets’ head coaching seat is growing hotter in Houston.
Do you think they can fix their mistakes, dust off the two losses, and win four out of the next five games against the Lakers? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
