Shining on the court, Rockets Shepard played a preseason masterpiece. With him, the Rockets need to plan a big deal.

When the regular season is about to start in five days, many teams still strive to play with their main players. However, because the Rockets have an extremely deep bench strength, in the last preseason game, they chose to rest all the previous main players, and even among all the main rotations, only Shepard, a young man who has only played for one season, was left.

But their last opponent, the Hawks, still chose to play with the entire lineup, led by league superstar Trae Young, last year's No. 1 pick Lisa Shee, and new aid Porzingis and Alexander Walker. But even so, the remnant Rockets were able to suppress their opponents from the beginning of the game, and finally won the game with an 18-point advantage.

Judging from the process of this game, Uduka’s intention is also very simple. While resting the main players, last year’s top pick Sheppard can have the opportunity to lead the team alone, and the entire game ended At the end of the game, Sheppard did not live up to Uduka's trust. He made 12 of 22 shots from the field and 5 of 13 from beyond the three-point line. He scored 29 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks, making it his preseason masterpiece.

Previously, people had the biggest doubts about the Rockets' new season lineup in the backcourt. After VanVleet was injured, only Holiday, Shepard and a few others were available to the team. This will undoubtedly put great pressure on Shepard, who averaged only 4.4 points per game in last year's rookie season.

So from the first game of the preseason, Shepard's performance has touched the hearts of many fans. The first preseason game was still against the Hawks. Shepard had almost no performance during the time when Shen Jing, Durant, Amen and others were on the court. He hit 2 goals in 6 shots and only scored 7 points and 3 rebounds. He was completely outside the system.

However, starting from the second preseason game, Shepard has gradually adapted, and can switch at the 1st and 2nd positions at will. In two consecutive games, he scored 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists respectively, sharing a lot of pressure for the Rockets' main players. People are actually satisfied with Shepard's performance. After all, from the beginning, no one would think that Shepard could replace VanVleet in the short term.

But what people didn't expect was that in the last game when he led the team alone, Shepard was able to perform such an outstanding performance, suppressing the league's superstar Trae Young. Shepard played 29 minutes in the game, while Trae Young played 28 minutes. He only scored 12 points and 7 rebounds on 4 of 11 shots, and made 4 turnovers. Even in the many conversations between the two, Sheppard also completed a steal on Trae Young, allowing people to fully see the potential of the 24th overall pick.

After the game, a Rockets reporter wrote that Shepard was able to control the team with ease throughout the game, and perhaps he will get a starting position in the new season.

You must know that not long ago, due to VanVleet's injury, many media said that the Rockets should consider trading a backcourt star to supplement the integrity of the lineup, and Trae Young is the preferred trade target. But from this game, Sheppard is fully capable of helping the team's backcourt in the new season, and he still has a 3-year rookie contract, which is obviously more cost-effective than Trae Young, an All-Star with an annual salary of 40-50 million US dollars.

I have to say that Shepard's outburst is a bit surprising, but in fact, after understanding his training in the offseason, you may be able to understand that Shepard's outburst may not be accidental. Last season, due to his physical weakness, Shepard always became the team's shortcomings on the defensive end, which also affected his offensive performance to a certain extent.

This summer, Shepard has been training with VanVleet for a long time. His defensive skills have been significantly improved. At the same time, after focusing on improving his strength, when he comes on the court again, he will not be as stretched on the defensive end as before, which also provides key support for him to have stable playing time.

Although a preseason game cannot prove much, Shepard's ability to successfully prove himself before the start of the regular season will undoubtedly provide more possibilities for Uduka's formation in the new season. For the entire team, VanVleet's season reimbursement will weaken the team's overall strength, but for Shepard, this is definitely an opportunity. Maybe after a season of growth, the Rockets will once again gain a future star! Do you think Shepard's outburst was an accident or a real improvement in strength? Welcome to leave a message for discussion!