Rockets Implored to be Patient with Reed Sheppard

Reed Sheppard has had a bit of an up-and-down season.

Well, half season.

The Houston Rockets reserve guard and former third overall pick had a bit of a dud (to put it politely) in Houston's opening night loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and went on a tear afterwards.

His month of November was quite notable.

15.2 points, 52.9 percent from the field, 47.5 percent from long distance and 67 percent true shooting.

Through 13 games.

Sheppard was drawing comparisons to Steve Nash and Mark Price.

That's how impressive he was.

December was also a good month, although not as stellar as November.

Sheppard averaged 12.8 points, 41.3 percent from the field, 38.8 percent from long range and 55.2 percent true shooting in the same number of games.

The new year has seen him cool off quite considerably, averaging 10.3 points, 40 percent from the field, 26.1 percent from three and 48.6 percent true shooting.

Sheppard's 3-point point splits illustrate the biggest sign of regression, as he's averaged six attempts from deep each month, yet the proficiency has taken a significant downturn.

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey encourages the Rockets to give Sheppard a relatively long leash.

"For the season, six different Rockets have had 20-and-5 games, with Alperen Şengün and Kevin Durant leading the way with 15 and 13, respectively.

That kind of depth and the fact that Houston is currently second in the league in points per 100 possessions makes it tough to find fault with the offense, but there's a chance Reed Sheppard could supercharge it even further.

Houston is currently in the bottom 10 in threes per game while having the second worst turnover percentage in the league. Sheppard is averaging 3.8 threes and 1.7 turnovers per 75 possessions.

There may be a bit of a learning curve for both him and the starters left around him, but going through that a few months before the playoffs could pay off in a big spot."

Bailey was concocting his power rankings and listed the Rockets as his second-best team, which marks a steep incline.

Just last week, Bailey had the Rockets listed as the league's sixth-best team.

The only team ahead of the Rockets in Bailey's rankings is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have seemingly come back down to Earth from their start to the season, as they initially won 24 of their first 25 games and looked invincible.

There's even been chatter that the Rockets may have surpassed Oklahoma City, although the ultimate measure would be displayed during the postseason.