Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. analyze the prospects of the Houston Rockets and conclude that the two most important players in the postseason might be Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson.
Check out the full conversation on “The Dunker Spot” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Advertisement
View more
Video Transcript
The Houston Rockets currently in five.
Offense fourth in defense, sixth in net rating on the year.
And my biggest question surrounding the Houston Rockets evolves, revolves around their young guys or their most important young guys moving forward, I would say.
And simply, I have in my notes, are Reed Shepherd and Amen Thompson ready for this level of responsibility?
Okay.
Reed Shepherd’s been in the starting lineup as of late.
We know what he can do in pick and roll.
We know what his spacing can unlock, what his relocations can unlock whenever Alperen engn or Kevin Durant gets two on the ball.
Advertisement
I think not just his pass ability, but the audaciousness of his passes, I think gives the Houston Rockets half-court offense a little bit more of a ceiling.
It can unlock some cutters and some of the late rolls that they have to deal with against defenses.
Amen Thompson, one of the best defenders that we have in the league.
He’s taken on a lot more on-ball responsibility this year offensively, and I’ve just been kind of sprinkl– I’ve said some tweets, and I’ve said this in different areas, that I’ve been kind of keeping an eye.
Like the Amen Thompson that I’ve been watching in the calendar year of twenty twenty-six looks a lot more comfortable navigating inside the arc.
Advertisement
It’s not just the drives and the finishing.
It’s not just the dunker spot roaming and getting offensive rebounds.
Like some of the mid-range looks, some of the turnarounds, some of these floaters.
He’s getting to shots that may not always look aesthetically pleasing, but he’s getting to them consistently.
It’s the same footwork for him.
Like these are shots that he feels comfortable taking, and I think comparing that to what we saw during the first two or three games of the Golden State series last year, where he was very clearly searching for it.
Not necessarily do I need to be aggressive, but like within that aggression, what exactly are shots that I like?
Advertisement
Especially if I can’t get all the way to the rim.
I want to see him take the growth that we’ve seen from him this season, and again, just looking at twenty twenty-six onward in particular, I want to see him take that growth and carry that over into the postseason.
Because if he can do that, then you can get the on-ball, off-ball blend that I think Ro- the Rockets and Rocket fans ultimately want him to have.
To where he can do both versus being much better at one than the other.
And Reed gotta hold up defensively too, but we’ll get there.
Those That’s where I start with the Rockets.
Well, I, I mean, funnily enough, Reed Shepherd, I feel like, has done his job defensively, and that’s half the battle.
Advertisement
And for Reed Shepherd- Mm-hmm if we’re talking about him defensively in the playoffs, you just need to do it enough to where they’d be like, or they will be like, “Let’s do something else.”
That’s all he has to do.
Mm-hmm.
And so I think part of that, when you’re talking about the defense, when you’ve seen kinda what they’ve been doing recently, it’s not new for Houston.
But hey, Alperen engn, you guard wing or non-shooter.
Kevin Durant, you guard big.
And now that puts Kevin Durant in a position where he can kinda protect.
Now, teams are probably gonna put engn back in action, so it gets interesting there.
Advertisement
But they’re trying to find ways to insulate.
I think the biggest thing for Amen Thompson and/or Reed Shepherd is tied into Houston’s overall process that we’ve seen flashes and glimpses of during this stretch, where make quick decisions, get off the ball, push the ball up the court, throw it ahead, and let’s get into something.
And I think they’ve had positive growth as far as making quicker decisions, getting off the ball, getting to more off-ball screens.
We’ve seen Kevin Durant set flares from the corner for Reed Shepherd.
We’ve seen Amen Thompson as far as being able, to be comfortable not just in the dunker spot, but I can cut, I can set flares.
Advertisement
Playing through Alperen engn at the elbow gives them a level of movement and flow.
It can get a little sticky at times as far as timing goes.
But the benefit of it is, hey, we’re moving.
We have options, and now Alperen engn is closer to the basket- Yes!
when he wants to go tween, tween, hesy.
And it feels a little bit better when he’s at the elbow doing that than when he decides, “I would like to gather two feet behind the three-point line.
Let me cook.”