Indiana Pacers guard/forward Ben Sheppard faces a very tough task in carving out minutes in his rookie campaign, but he has left a good impression of himself during preseason. "Sheppard is playing a mature game for a rookie," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said following Monday's 116-112 win over Atlanta. "He is older. He did play four years (of college basketball at Belmont) and it shows. But he understands what we need of him. He's a great runner. His shooting is on-the-come. He shoots it easy. He's really dialed in on a precision approach to shooting. He's going to be the kind of guy that's a pain in the (expletive) to guard. He's constantly running around. He's a little bit like Buddy. He's doing a lot of good things." Sheppard has logged 23.3 minutes in three preseason outings, scoring 11.7 points and posting 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
