Scouting Report: Kasey Shepherd

Marko Turk
5 min readMay 24, 2021

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Design: pirtzdesign (@pirtzdesign)

Kasey Shepherd had a really great season. He was the second best scorer in Basketball Champions league and was named as the MVP in the competition. He also set some records this season like 26 points in one quarter in VTB league and shot 8/9 for three in one match in Champions League.

BACKGROUND INFO

Position: G
Height: 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Date of Birth: 5/6/1994
Nationality: American

Previous clubs:
2017–18 BC Ulcinjska Rivijera
2018–19 Kaposvari
2019 Batumi
2019–20 BC Kyiv

Played for the Lousiana Ragin’ Cajuns but his stats weren’t that impressive. In his Senior year he averaged 11.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in about 23 minutes per game. Started his professional career in Montenegro where he was amongst the best scorers in the league. Later he played in Hungary (Kaposvari) but left after just four games and went to Georgia (Batumi). Last season in Kyiv he played for a club that plays in international competition (FIBA Europe Cup) but this year in Nizhny Novgorod he stepped up his game to an even higher level.

VIDEO REPORT:

OFFENSE

Shooting: His shooting percentages through his career were always above average. This season in both competitions combined he was shooting around 42 % behind the three point line which is very good especially if we take in account that he was on average taking a little less than 5 three point shots per game. His release looks fine and has a really high shooting arc. Very efficient in his spot up shots and should not be left open at the three point line even for a second.

Shepherds shot distribution in this season (Source: Synergy)

Slashing: Another big strength from Kasey is also his quick change of pace on his drives. Great accelerator that can blow by defenders easily. He has decent handles too but sometimes has a hard time throwing the defender out of balance but due to his explosiveness, he manages to create some separation. Attacks with both hands in both directions and is a good finisher at the rim. Also showing some good touch on his runners a few feet away from the rim.

Pick & Rolls: Kasey plays a lot as a ball handler and runs a lot of pick & rolls. I think there is some room for growth in his pick & roll game, especially in his decision making. Sometimes making bad reads and losing the ball too easily or being not patient enough and taking a shot too early. When he decides to attack the rim after getting a step of advantage it is hard to stop him but if the defender goes under the screen, he takes the semi-open shot with confidence. Can punish the defense in many ways in pick & roll actions just not efficient enough on many occasions and I’m not sure how this would work out on a higher level.

Playmaking: Playmaking is not the main forte from Kasey but he is showing some good passing game, especially in pick & roll actions. Likes to dish an assist to the roller, a strong and sharp pass that is usually also precise. Scans the floor well but as said, more scoring oriented than looking for teammates. From time to time there are some bad passes that resulted in a turnover and he needs to limit those unnecessary mistakes.

Transition: I see the most reserves in his offensive game in transition. With his quickness he should be able to score a lot more points in transition than he is doing at the moment. On some occasions he pushed forward and was hard to stop but I would love to see that more often. Also needs to take care of the ball better and there were just too many sloppy mistakes when he was handling the ball in transition or in high speed situations.

DEFENSE

Perimeter Defense: There is a lot to improve on the defensive end. He has the quickness to be at least a decent defender but I’m not seeing too much effort from him in defense. Usually not aggressive enough and gives up soon after he is beaten. His lateral movements and reactions could be better too because the offensive player can get by him too easily. He hasn’t bought me as a perimeter defender and he will need to improve if he wants to play serious minutes on a higher level.

Pick & Roll Defense: Similar story with his pick & roll defense. Not initiating the contact and doing his job in defending the ball handler. Usually goes under the screen and leaves too much space to the operator. Not sure if this are team tactics or his own decisions but on a higher level, he will need to play a little better defense in pick & rolls.

Steals: Kasey uses his quick hands very well in going for steals. Averaging around 1.3 steals per game in both competitions and he is amongst the top10 in this category in both leagues. Making some deflections and has the quickness to go for pocket steals. This is one of the few areas in his defensive game that he gets a very good grade from me.

SUMMARY

Kasey Shepherd could be an interesting name for some teams in international competitions. His scoring game is on a high level, be it from distance or getting to the rim and also showing some good passing game. His defense on the other hand is pretty bad and would need to improve by a lot on that side of the court.

If a team is looking just for a guard that can score points in many different ways then he is a good choice but if they are looking for a two-way guard then, in my opinion, there should be some better options on the market.

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Marko Turk
Marko Turk

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