Reed Sheppard reminding Rockets critics of fundamental truth they choose to ignore

As the Houston Rockets have begun the season with a 6-3 record, the preeminent storyline surrounding the team has been their ability to account for the loss of starting point guard Fred VanVleet, who suffered an ACL tear in a team mini-camp late this past offseason.

In fact, a large part of their ability to evolve around his absence has fallen to second-year guard Reed Sheppard, and, although critics will constantly compare him to VanVleet's two-way effectiveness, the moderate success that Sheppard has found so far should remind us that he is driving toward a different set of goal posts.

If Sheppard can become a viable two-way player this season, that will be a massive development for the Rockets, even if he doesn't reach VanVleet's level.

Reed Sheppard is not operating under the VanVleet-or-bust timeline

In his rookie season with Houston, Sheppard's role was limited in part as a result of his own struggles acclimating to the NBA and in part the organization's rapidly developing timeline. He spent time between the main squad and the G-League in his first season, averaging just 12.6 minutes per night at the NBA level.

Yet, with the injury to VanVleet, his expected role for this season increased exponentially. With the general lack of backcourt depth that Houston has, they now need Sheppard to take on the starting point guard role, both hitting his perimeter shots and playing point-of-attack defense at a high level, right?

Not necessarily.

This team, so far, has shown its ability to be dynamic offensively with Amen Thompson at the point, and, despite the warts he has shown through the team's first nine games, Sheppard has started to find his footing as a bench sharpshooter and even a pesky defender in his own right.

So far this season, he is averaging 11.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting a blistering 47.9% from beyond the arc.

Admittedly, his lateral movement on defense still looks rough, and he will be a target at times for opposing offenses, making it difficult to play him in closing lineups. However, is this really the metric we want to measure a second-year guard by?

VanVleet, as people will come to notice in his absence if they haven't already, is one of the best leaders and two-way guards in the NBA despite his height. Sheppard cannot be expected to fill his shoes, and constructing a set of expectations that lofty for him in his second season will only lead failure.

Houston has proven, so far, that they will benefit immensely from Sheppard simply being a reliable perimeter shooter and a dependable ball-handler, and he has taken on that mantle in the earliest portions of the season.

If the wheels fall off, who knows what will happen. For now, however, Sheppard has filled his role tremendously, and he should be judged as such.