Great write up. I watched the Kings a lot that year and this is exactly what happened once they decided it was 20/5/5 or bust for Reke. Haven't seen Casspi play one time after his rookie season. He will never be a full season rotation player for the Rockets, but if Casspi can recapture some of his rookie shooting, he's a good addition as a 3rd stringer. Casspi is Novak-lite as a shooter but does everything else better (including moving without the ball to get open). ben_from_TLV, thanks for starting this thread.
Thanks for asking, it is 8 hours difference. I was so excited about Casspi HOU move that i could not sleep and answered all your questions..
He is the star of the Israeli national team. We are going to have this September the Eurobasket Tournament and although Israel is not going to win, Casspi and Mekel (Dallas) are setting new exceptions.
Do not forget, he is not a starter. Don't expect him to win games for Houston, at least not in the beginning. As the season goes by and if he feel good with the team, you might see Casspi of the R year that winning games and basically leading the team.
I didn't know that someone in Houston remember lior eliyahu... They played together in Maccabi Tel-Aviv and are good friends. Every season there is a talk about Lior Eliyahu joining the NBA but somehow it didnt happen. maybe this season.
There are some similarities, but the main difference is that Casspi's work ethic is far above and beyond what Eliyahu can ever dream of. Casspi believes in himself and is hungry to prove himself in the NBA, which is why he didn't go back to Europe, where he could've made 2-3 times as much money. Eliyahu is talented, moves extremely well without the ball and has one of the deadliest floaters on the planet, but his defense is extremely poor and he can't make a jumpshot to save his life. He can rebound, but doesn't always give consistent effort in that area. Casspi, otoh, is a very good shooter when his confidence is up, is an average 1on1 defender and good team defender, and also moves well without the ball. I've seen Casspi make the "Eliyahu floater" a few times with some success (they are good friends, so I'm sure they work on some of that stuff together), but if he could actually do it consistently, he wouldn't be signing contracts for the vet minimum... In general, with Casspi, it's mostly about confidence. If he feels comfortable in the system and confident, you guys will love him. He will run the floor, hit clutch shots, rebound, defend, the whole deal. If his confidence dwindles, he can just look lost out there. I'm optimistic because he has wanted to come to Houston for a while now because he thinks the system, and especially McHale, are a great fit for him. Let's hope he is right.
Depending what he is going to do.... If he plays above the rim, then McHale is the man for him. If he decides to play below the rim and small, then I guess it is easier to lose his confidence.
He can provide the occasional 3pt shot, rebound, assist and that's it in my opinion. The comparison to Delfino last year is selling Carlos short, he had proven in several seasons to be great shooter. He just shot too much like he did with us in more than a few games. I'm not expecting much from Casspi but I guess Morey saw something in him and just took a chance. With Dwight, we could really use a lot of shooters but my guess is Neal or Morrow would not accept the vet minimum.
thanks for filling us in...and way to support your guy...as long as he can hit the 3, he will be given chances to succeed
Almost 600 combined posts in 1 day about vet minimum Omri Casspi. Either Dwightomite as struck in a good way. Or "culturally signficant" players seem to draw extra interest on this site. Judging from Casspi's monthly split stats, he seems to start off the season shooting very good. And starts turning to crap as the season goes along. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/casspom01/splits/ 1st half stud/2nd half dud. That could indicate him not holding onto "confidence" as the season goes. Daryl Morey seems to value the wings that can either rebound or shoot well for their position. Casspi I see as a SF/PF version Chase Budinger.
