As the Houston Rockets have debuted their double-big lineup in their season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team has been slow to the ball on the defensive end from the start of the game and, overall, have looked sub-par defensively compared to their performance last season.
Yet, the ugliest wart so far for the Rockets has been Reed Sheppard's minutes on defense, as he came off the bench and was immediately targeted multiple times by some of the Thunder's quicker players.
While Sheppard projects to take on a larger role this season, his first regular season appearance has not yielded positive results so far.