Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson are the perfect complement to each other’s games,
Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson have opposite strengths and weaknesses. Thompson is high-flying, a great scorer around the basket, and possibly an elite defender in the future. Sheppard is an elite shooter with point guard skills. Next season, we will see how well those skills mesh on the court.
Thompson had a slow start to last season, dealing with injuries that sidelined him for most of the beginning of his rookie campaign for the Houston Rockets. As the season went on, Thompson slowly started to show everyone why he was a top-four draft pick. After missing time from November to December, Thompson returned on December 20th versus the Atlanta Hawks.
With more reps came better results for Thompson, and he started to take off during the Rockets winning streak in March when Thompson moved to the forward position with the injury to Alperen Sengun. Thompson finished the season averaging 9.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists, and a second team All NBA team spot. Of course, being a rookie means you still have parts of your game to improve on going forward.
Thompson excels in the open court, around the basket, and as a rebounder. However, he still struggles with his shot outside the paint, shooting under 14 percent from 3-point range. Teams have started incorporating that into their game plans by putting their center on Thompson to keep him out of the paint. This is where Reed Sheppard comes into the picture, as shooting is the number one reason he went number three in this year’s draft.
How Reed and Amen are the perfect complement to each other
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Sheppard and the Rockets played their first Summer League game in Vegas vs. the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. It was billed as Bronny James’s first Vegas game, and most media attention went to the 55th overall pick. By the time the game was over, Sheppard showed everyone why he was seen as the number one pick by many inside the Rockets organization. Sheppard finished with a team-high 23 points and shot 4-6 from beyond the arc. Sheppard showed a quick release, the ability to move without the ball, and above-average defense. It was a successful debut for Sheppard and a great start to his career.
Just as I talked about Thompson and what part of his game he has to approve, Sheppard has parts of his game that will need work. Sheppard will have to get stronger to score in the paint vs bigger defenders. He will have to work on his one-on-one defense, especially once he starts to face NBA-level speed, something he won’t face in Summer League.
This is how Sheppard and Thompson complement each other. Sheppard’s ability to shoot from anywhere on the court, as evidenced by his 52 percent shooting in college and 4-6 shooting last night, and Thompson’s ability to get to the basket make up for each other’s liabilities. With both of them more than likely to come off the bench, we will see them together on the court this season.
Thompson’s ability to play point guard or either forward position is a perfect complement to Sheppard’s ability to play either guard position. At times, we may see Thompson at point guard, Sheppard at shooting guard, or even Sheppard at point guard and Thompson at power forward. We will see plenty of one/two pick-and-rolls where Sheppard sets a pick for Thompson, and Sheppard floats out to the 3-point line with his ability to play off-ball. You may also see Sheppard as the ball handler and Thompson with his ability to score around the bucket, sprinting to the basket.
As you can see, there are multiple ways Thompson and Sheppard can play off each other and complement each other in games. Sheppard shooting opens the court for the entire team and gives Thompson even more room to get to the basket. It will be interesting to see how Ime Udoka utilizes both players this upcoming season.
Check out my latest podcast, where I gave a quick breakdown of Reed Sheppard’s first game over at the Rocket Fuel Pod on YouTube.