Rockets' Udoka impressed by Sheppard's competitiveness

HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- On Monday night Reed Sheppard and his family had dinner with Ime Udoka and other members of the Rockets brass as the two sides become better acquainted with one another in the wake of the Rockets selecting Sheppard with the third pick of last week’s draft.

“You can’t be soft,” Sheppard’s mother Stacey, who like his father, Jeff, starred at Kentucky said multiple times during the meal.

So, when Reed repeated that line during his introductory press conference with the Rockets on Tuesday, Udoka couldn’t help himself to a chuckle.

“I heard it about five times last night,” Udoka said. “Something that I know I don’t have to say to him, and if I think he’s being soft, I just got to call mom.”

The Rockets had Sheppard at the top of their draft board for more than just his shooting ability.

"He has a special set of skills,” Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said last week. “His shooting was historically great, and his feel for the game, his passing, his ability to get deflections, and he's an NBA athlete. He's not somebody who's under-athletic."

Udoka saw those skills, both on film and in workouts, but he also took note of Sheppard’s competitiveness.

“When he came in, he didn’t just want to work out, he wanted to compete and go at some other guys, so that stood out for somebody in his position that’s gonna go as high (in the draft) as he was. Usually guys just work out 1-on-0, he wanted to compete.”

Sheppard joins a Rockets team that returns its top-12 minutes getters from last season’s team that won 41 games in the Western Conference, so there’s no guarantee he’ll play a lot.

“You’ll earn what you get,” Udoka said. “I think you saw that last year, for the most part, but we understand we're in a winning situation, but also developing young guys. and they'll get a chance to get out there.

“I do want him to make it tougher on others. I want him to make it tougher on myself and the coaching staff to make decisions, and so you’re gonna come and play and get the playing time that you earn.”

“I want to come in and play my role and do whatever it takes to help the team,” Sheppard said. “Whether that's shooting, whether that's getting in the paint and kicking it out, just getting some movement. Whatever it is, just being that guy that that will do whatever it takes to win, and whatever the team needs.”

Sheppard will play for the Rockets summer league team in Las Vegas when it plays against the Lakers on July 12.