You have to be able to make up with defense what you are losing on offense. If they put a heavily defense oriented team out there... I don't know.
I also don't really see a way, but I hope that if anyone can figure out how to keep two big men in the game, it's McHale. Howard shot a few jumpers last game. How great it would be if he could hit those. But it doesn't look likely. I feel like among Asik, Smith and Jones, one or two are on the way out. But Asik is so damn good. . . .
I realize that. But what I'm saying is that there weren't any situations where that is the case in those 5 minutes.
I disagree. I'm a fan of Casspi, but I don't think he can/should start in the Rockets YET. Casspi is versatile. I think it would be great if he can play as the special Ace-in-the-sleeve backup 4, for periods of lethal small-ball (15-20 minutes a game). Plus - he's our backup-Parsons at the 3, as injury-insurance, and/or for additional 5-10 minutes each game.
I dont know that the Rockets are really ever planning on starting Casspi. They've said all along that they envisioned a Delfino-like role for him this year, and Delfino wasn't a regular starter at the PF spot. I think they'll either try to start Asik or one of D-Mo/Jones to set the tempo defensively and then bring Casspi off the bench with the second unit. Who finishes the game though is anyone's guess. I would assume that if this past week isn't a fluke, he's a good bet to help them finish teams off when they go to Howard in the post or go Harden/Howard heavy pick and roll. Either way, they'll need his spacing at the PF spot in both of those lineups.
Delfino is a really, really good shooter from distance. Plus he has some toughness and ruggedness around him. Instills confidence. Casspi's shooting is a bit unknown yet. Is he in a hot stretch, can he sustain it? Plus, he looks still like a young guy, there is some level of excitability that makes me a bit uncomfortable as to how sustainable his good game is. Young players are very dependent on confidence, and right now he's certainly riding high... On the plus side for Casspi, his rebounding is not a fluke: according to David Thorpe, even in the years he struggled because of fit or whatever he was still rebounding at a high rate. The other plus over Delfino I see is that he makes decisions faster. There was some stickiness with Carlos, especially earlier last season. Casspi does not hold the ball at all, which is good for our system.
I think Casspi's shooting will be fine ala Delfino. However, the reason I think he'll stay on the floor will be his superior rebounding. I (among others) complained all year about the lack of rebounding effort at the 4-spot. It was appalling that last year there was multiple games where our leading rebounders outside of the 5-spot were the guards. As for defending the 4, Casspi has the length to at least defend stretch 4's plausibly (at least get a hand up), though I doubt you'd want to put him on a strong post up 4. However, strong post up 4's aren't that common, and if they're that good as post-up threats that's when you would switch to the Asik/Dwight combo. Unless Dmo's defense/rebounding and TJones shooting improves, I can see both of them ending up on the bench.
This is the key question with Casspi right now. No way he can sustain 80% but can he sustain 40+? He's longer than Carlos so he's going to have an easier time defensively on 4's than Carlos did. He's going to rebound better than Carlos. And I'm pretty sure he's faster up and down the floor than Carlos. The key question is can he sustain 40+% from distance? If he can...he'll be a consistent 30 minute rotation guy.
What I particularly like about Casspi is his fast break running. Have you guys seen his running? He is REALLY FAST for his size! Reminded me of LeBron's transition speed.
Delfino didn't "sustain 40+% from distance." He shot 37.5% from the arc last season, 36% the year before. While a higher % is better than a lower one, a player doesn't need to be an elite 3 point shooter to be effective. Hitting around the league average (35.9% last season) is enough to help space the court a lot, particularly from the PF spot.
He's sustained 44% in the corners for his career, but is less effective away from corners for career. If he gets opportunities equivalent to Delfino last year in the corners, he would hit about 37%. Based on observation, I would expect threes by Rockets this year will be a little easier than what Casspi has seen before so I'm guessing he will shoot 37%+.
I think Casspi has a chance to be better than Delfino on the percentages simply because Casspi isn't looking to create like Delfino was. Casspi either lines up the shot and takes it or he moves the basketball or he drives it to the rim. More definite movement. I question whether his stroke is as pure as Delfino's. Personally I like Delfino's form much better and it seems more trustworthy. But you can't argue with results so far. IF..Casspi winds up the starter at the 4...he's going to get better looks than Delfino got playing backup at the 4. Not to mention the Howard effect is going to magnify the outside shooters even more. I would be willing to bet that if Delfino was playing alongside Dwight and Harden with our starting unit that he would be 40% or better from 3 this year also.
Didn't want it to be impossible to tell who... No, strike that...um.. the size is representative of his importance to the team.... yeah, I'm going with that one.
I really don't want to look israeli fanatic COF from my first post here... but still have to say: if you take look on play starting ~4:10 left in 2nd qtr you'll see that one second before Howard do his move Casspi starts to run from the corner to the top of the key. West hesitates for moment - and follows him... But I agree that the important thing here - he was not liability.
I agree about the form, but what do the numbers show? Delfino has the edge in 3p%, but shoots worse from the field. Delfino career %: .401 fg% and .365 3p% vs Casspi: .421fg% and .353 3p% Where you can see the consistency in form pay off is at the free throw line (Delfino .758 ft% vs Casspi .663 ft%). That is also where Delfina gets a slight edge in the advanced stats, I think: TS% of .520 vs .515 by Casspi.
The biggest difference can be attributed to shot selection. Casspi (so far) has been more shot selective than Delfino is (was).
I would expect free throws actually help Casspi more as he has a free throw rate (FTA/FGA) over double that of Delfino. If the Rockets get Casspi in situations where he is shooting 3 pointers either open or in the corner or 2 pointers at the rim, he should have a TS% over 55% (low end).
