What do you mean? Since George Karl took over the Kings, Karl has made Casspi a starter and Casspi has been in an upward trend ever since. Casspi averages 20 PPG in April. How does that make a "Worse-As-He-Goes"?
Casspi's April stats: 35.3 MPG, 57.1 FG%, 45.5 3PT%, 64.7 FT%, 5.0 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.3 BPG, 1.3 SPG, 2.8 FPG, 2.0 TOPG, 20.0 PPG. Those are good NBA stats by any criterion. He is doing very good late in the season.
Casspi needs to have the ball in his hands a lot for him to thrive and even then he's kind of a wild card. He can have 20pts one game, then 1pt game the next (Jeremy Lin type of deal). He didn't prove anything with us other than forcing shots, too selfish at times to pass it off and just did not fit our free flow system. He obviously could not handle the freedom, kind of like Israel..
I've watched a few Kings games this season and was really impressed how Casspi has improved. He's always had the talent before but wasn't quite sure of himself. His lack of confidence often caused him to rush his moves. Not so anymore. "He knows who he is" (as McHale calls it) now. Wish we kept him while he was cheap.
Really? I had a quick look at his stats. Of the 12 games that he has started since mid-March, he has scored in double figures in 10 of them. This season Casspi has the highest FG%, 3PT%, FT% and APG during his 6 year career. He seems to be improving. His FG% and 3PT% are the highest in the Kings as is his points per shot per game (1.346). However, his shot attempts are fewer (also per minutes played) than the higher scorers (DMC, Gay, Collison and McLemore) and the two coming after him (Williams and McCallum). That's being selfish?? Your last sentence speaks for itself. Not really worth of reply.
This is why I favored him over both Terrence and DMo last year. I knew if given the minutes he would thrive. He's very talented, has a very good NBA skill set, and he's got very high basketball iq. All he needed was the minutes to prove it.
Casspi Is averaging 19.0 points on 56.3 fg% 11-21 3p over the past seven games. Last game against Denver, he had 22 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds 8-13 shooting.
In his 8 games in April Casspi averages 19.9 PPG, 55,4 FG%, 50.0 3PT%, 68 FT%, 5.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, 0.9 SPG. Quite amazing numbers. The 19.9 PPG average is, therefore, not a result of volume shooting. He is a very effective scorer who rebounds and passes the ball. Well done!
Good for the guy, but still this thread reeks of Rockets messed up / McHale should've played him more etc. Truth is, Casspi did nothing beyond the pre-season to prove he deserved minutes. So what I said pertained to his time in Houston, not now. It seems he's grown, but I still think in our freedom system he would not thrive as well as he does with the Kings.
I don't think it is the freedom. Casspi started to thrive right after George Karl took over and instituted a free flowing system in SAC. Never mind. The point, however, is this: Casspi played in Houston on a vet minimum contract and had one more year left of it. It would have been great for the salary structure to keep him. The production/salary ratio was great. He could have contributed now for the Rockets playoff run. By the way Casspi played well for the Rockets in the beginning of the last season, when he was the 6th man in rotation. When the DMo, Asik, Garcia etc. experimentation started, Casspi dissapeared.
Alright, did not know that. Still, if he would've produced at least somewhat like he does now, he would've received minutes. It's probably also though that he had to play PF for us and playing D-Mo has paid off big time so I don't blame the decision of the Rockets. Casspi is doing well with the Kings and that's great.
Casspi must have felt really good after Byron Scott more or less destroyed Casspi in Cleveland, Casspi had the opportunity to crown Byron Scott's miserable season in LA. I think Scott should pay his green fee again. He will probably play mostly golf when the next season comes around. I can't see Kobe wanting to play his last season with him.
Casspi proving again tonight he's a better basketball player than Terrence. He'd be a great stretch-4 for this team if we ever could re-acquire him. I'd trade Terrence for Casspi in a hot second.
