HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Late in the first quarter of the Rockets final preseason game, Reed Sheppard received a pass from Jalen Green while coming around a screen from Steven Adams. With Sandro Mamukelashvili back pedaling, he faked a pocket pass to the rolling Adams, which created a driving lane to the rim for an easy bucket.
"He plays at a different speed," Rockets forward Dillon Brooks said of Sheppard. "He's not usually the typical point guard that loves a bump or has a super handle. He finds angles. He understands the game differently than most."
The play against the Spurs was one Brooks identified as a move rookies don't typically make.
"He keeps the defense guessing on all his drives and all his shots, and he has great timing on the defensive end as well," Brooks said.
Sheppard, the third overall pick in June's draft, will start his NBA career as a reserve in the Rockets rotation, but if preseason is any indicator he'll play with incumbent point guard Fred VanVleet for a stretch, and then take over the Rockets offense when VanVleet goes to the bench.
"I think he's one of our better decision makers, passers, readers in the pick and rolls, and just setting the table in the offense," VanVleet said. "For a rookie, he's pretty advanced in terms of just knowing the game and having a feel for it."
VanVleet's job as the Rockets starting point guard is safe, but he averaged 36.8 minutes per game last season, sixth most in the NBA, and eclipsed the 40-minute mark in 19 games, matching a career-high.
Rockets head coach Ime Udoka doesn't have a number in mind for how many minutes he'd like VanVleet to average this season, but said he wants it to be "way less" than last season.
"That's second highest (minutes average) of his career," Udoka said. "But he's a guy that played a ton of minutes in Toronto if asked, so he took that on himself last year to really help us grow in those areas, and so we understood it, another coach on the floor, but we'd like to drop that number."
Udoka didn't have much of a choice. The Rockets were 1-6 in games VanVleet missed before winning their last two against teams that weren't trying to win at the end of the regular season. Houston outscored opponents by 3.0 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor, but the team was outscored by 3.2 points per 100 possessions when he was off the floor.
With Sheppard in tow and with another year of experience for other guards on the roster, Udoka is confident his team won't have to lean on VanVleet quite so much,
"We can do it by committee at times with Jalen (Green), Amen (Thompson), Reed and those guys all handling and initiating, whether it's transition or half court," Udoka said. "Moreso than relying on Fred, we want everybody to be able to get us into certain sets and initiate offense."
Brooks was on the floor Thursday when Sheppard ran the Rockets offense for the first five minutes and 27 seconds of the second quarter. They outscored the Spurs 12-8 in that span, and the Brooks said he "loved" the way the rookie handled his responsibilities.
"He's a mature guard, and I'm glad he's on our team," Brooks said.
