Thanks for all the good information. With respects I have a slightly different opinion. While I think the stats generally show he is a scrub it's possible a different picture would have occurred had he been on a decent team at some point. The teams were so amazingly bad that is dragged everyone down in some cases far below their actual skill level. Bad organizations DO have effects on their players and Casspi hardly could have found 2 worse situations. On the other hand great organizations often cause players to play ABOVE their baseline skill level. I think I'll reserve judgement until we get some clue how he meshes with teammates and his organization in general. Clearly the situation will be like night and day for him.
Yeah... I totally remember when things started to go south in Sacramento. all of a sudden news sites and papers in Israel started bring stories from "people around Casspi" who say the player is not happy playing along side Tyreke Evans (and yes I remember the absurd 20/5/5 chase). by the end of the year Evans was a persona non grata in Israel. Casspi fans just hated him. and then when he got traded to Cavs they all started saying how now he'll get to play with a pass first PG. And the coach thing? Scott may not be phil jackson but he was good enough to bring a terrible Nets team to the NBA finals twice. he knows coaching. you should stop making lame excuses about the weather (it's freaking Ohio, not alaska) and the dull nightlife in Cleveland.
Honestly, you sound like Casspi stole your lunch money (or your gf) in school. I'm a semi-COF (I came here because I follow his career and support him as an Israeli, but there are other players I follow more closely such as Rondo and Manu), and I think my assessment of him and his situation in the "Questions about Casspi" thread was fair and balanced. You come off very arrogant by calling us "cheerleaders" and implying we are leeching on this forum and spreading lies. You wear your un-patriotism like a badge of honor in some childish attempt to gain more credibility to your opinion, and for someone who proclaimed that he wasn't about to leech on the forum, you sure do seem intent on "correcting" anyone who might express a glimmer of hope that Casspi will succeed on this team. I don't normally attack posters personally, but since you started your first post with a personal attack on a bunch of us, I felt it deserved a proper response. Since I do not wish to hijack this thread, this will be my last post itt. I said what I had to say and I have no intention of getting dragged into an ugly back and forth.
By the way after posting I did a quick analysis of Casspi's stats and can see what Morey was looking for. Defensively he has improved considerably while in the NBA. His defensive rebound rate increased from 16.7% to 22.7%, total rebound rate from 10% to 13.1%, his block rate increased from .6% to 1.9%, his assist rate move from 7.7% to 8.8%, steals from 1.4% to 2.6% of each play. His DRTG also improved consistently each year. Turnover rate declined from 11.6% to 11. Offensive touch sample is low so hard to make predictions there. These stats only show that he might be able to contribute positively but time will tell.
Again things went south in Sac-town not just because of Tyreke Evans,but also because of Casspi mentality,he was not used playing 82 games a season,he faced the what so-called "Rookie Wall" a bit after the all-star if I'm not mistaken,he struggled,and it's legitimate,NBA is a whole new world. Now of course it's changed,he is well-aware of the mentality,though his regression is still occuring. Coach Scott obviously had something against Casspi,he totally rejected him in his second year in Cleveland,and again I can understand why basing on his disappointing performance in his first season,but coach Scott isn't a coach he will give another chance to correct and to impress after you disappointed him before. I guess he wasn't that good of a coach if Cleveland decided to fire him and hire Mike Brown again.
He is signed for the VETERAN MINIMUM with the 2nd year being a team option. Anyone who thinks this was a bad pickup is just r****ded.
no Casspi never stole my lunch money nor stole my gf. im quite older than he is. are we really sinking to that level? I too have my own NBA preferences. trust me, Casspi is not the center of my universe. In regards to your assessment of Casspi in your thread I respectfully think it was hilariously misguided. I never called you other Israeli users Leeches. I said that I'm not gonna leech on this forum, and thus I contained myself into this one thread, although I do admit I think of starting a movie journal thread in the hangout section. I hope you'll find it to your liking. Yes I do wear an unpatriotic badge of honor as you said. And %99 of the time it has nothing to do with sports. Anyway believe it or not it DOES help my credibility because not being patriotic means I CAN be objective, while you obviously can't.
If there is anything I partially agree with you is the fact that gaining weight has not been a good thing for him thus far,I don't agree he just added "fat" because it is a stupid statement,he was working with trainers to gain weight so therefore, what are possibly the odds that they let him just gain fat,it's just an ignorant saying in my opinion,of course he added muscles if he worked out and recieved suitable nutrition designed for his body. The problem I sensed after Casspi gained weight,since I've been watching him playing is the fact that he turned out to be a bit slower and I also reckon it affected the rhythm of his shot,this is just the way I see it,I believe he played better before he gained weight.
look, Im not saying he is Oliver Miller or Priest Lauderdale but he is chubby now. I'm also not saying it's all his fault, because the Cavs did as him to put on some pounds, but that doesn't matter because that's his frame now (at least when I saw him last a couple of months ago). you are right, it did make him slower so he's having trouble keeping up with quick SF's, but it also did nothing for his ability's to bang down with the power forwards of the league. he usually either push forwards with his chest when he's being backed down low(9 out of ten it ends with a foul), or he steps back and giving his man an open look at a jumper. and in today's league power forward love that mid range jumper.
As someone who doesn't know JACK about Casspi (apart from the fact that he was the worst player of those who participated in the All Star HORSE game) it's nice to hear both sides of the argument for him. All the Rocket's fans are hoping from him is a bit of effort defensively and some sharp shooting from range. I mean, we'd probably even accept moderate levels of defense (about Harden level) if he becomes a reliable spot up guy. All in all, it's a low risk, high reward gamble. It's a 'MOREY MOVE' which can be EXTREMELY beneficial if it all works out! All we can do is hope for the best
I look at it this way: - If he performs, the deal was a steal - If he doesn't perform, at worst he is our Ryan Bowen and we get rid of him the next year with a vet min hit as our only hit
Look it's obvious that Casspi isn't strong enough to face these really "healthy" Power Forwards,it's not his role as a player,he is a small forward,I disagree with you saying that this guy has terrible defense or whatever they way you expressed yourself in the thread,I remember reading few comments about him on Cavs forum,and one thing they agreed on is that when he played he defended pretty well (I'm regarding to his second season in Cleveland),look you can't expect from Casspi to present superstar's skills,because he simply won't,he is a mediocre defender. I'm standing behind my statements,I think that he was decent when he played his minutes for the Cavs in the second season,but it was too late because Scott had already gave up on him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEmWWYc_iH8 I think that he will fit just fine in our system. It's just a matter of staying consistent with his play.
As I know ,Morey was interested Casspi long time ago there was also rumors about him last season.the contact is not very risky, let's see.
actually i did need the op to tell me some of those things if morey wanted a 3rd string sf why go after casspi? i hope he's not our 2nd backup wingman.
He's on a minimum contract, we are risking nothing, if he doesn't work out, he doesn't work out. Let's be serious though, he might not be anything more than an insurance signing for practices, garbage time (expect to see a lot of that) and injuries.
