His stats are much better at the road and when the team is losing. when there's the pressure of the home crowd, and the advantage need to be kept - he can't' perform.
Hey CasspiFan, most people would say the opposite. They wouldn't call it the pressure of the home crowd (rather the safety and comfort of playing at home); they'd call the hostile, away crowd the pressure situation. that said, McGrady was much better on the road, too. :grin:
The difference in offense, in terms of win-loss, can be (somewhat) explained: Spoiler Casspi averages the most playing time when we are blowing teams out or losing by 11-15 pts. In addition, he averages his most 3PA, FTA and FGA when we are behind 11-15pts. What I take this to mean is that McHale goes to Casspi primarily to score, but only after we are down by double digits. Translation: damn the defense, let's try shooting our way back! Unfortunately, we are 0-2 in such situations. --------------------------------------------------- Another thing to note is that Casspi sees a fair chunk of minutes when we are ahead in a close game (1-5, 6-10, 11-15pts), but not behind. In those minutes, Casspi seems to take less shots and likely defer.
His Defense on P n R is horrific. He kept messing up the switch or late at getting back to his man. Same thing can be said to all of our wing players and guard tho, with exception to Beverley.
I can never figure out how somebody who can shoot 3s at such a high clip and be horrid at free throws.
I think coming to the conclusion that he is better with less defensive pressure is an accurate statement. He's very good during blowout situations (on both sides), and was exceptional during the preseason. Of course this is true about most players who perform better when the defense is relaxed, but it could just be that Casspi hasn't yet found his groove playing alongside his teamates. Could just be that he's not finding ways to score within the offense. That being said, I think its safe to say that Casspi isn't "the answer" to all of the Rockets problem nor should he ever have been considered that to begin with. Here in the next few games I wouldn't be shocked at all if McHale decided to go with D-Mo/Asik off the bench instead of Casspi/Asik to at least try out a few different combinations. That unit at least has the ability to be a little bit better defensively on the front line. Still... Casspi is still more than capable of having some very big moments for this Rockets team this year. I'd rather him be on the team than not thats for sure.
He needs to stop being a PG. WTH was he taking taking the ball coast to coast. If Parson cannot do it, he cannot do it.
Casspi's biggest problem is his decision making when he has the ball. 1. PASS the damn ball to Harden or Lin on a fastbreak. Both are faster and better passers than he is. I cringe when he gets the rebound, and instead of passing, he leads the fastbreak. He is NOT a point forward he thinks he is. 2. Stop forcing plays or dribbling in traffic. 3. Stop taking early in the clock semi-contested shots. Other than that, he has been great!
I miss Delfino more. Casspi I think is trying to come into his own to prove that he is better than what he was on the Kings - unfortunately this may cause him to take some bad shots once in awhile
Casspi is a good player. He's fine dribbling the ball a couple of times to the hoop but horrible at playing pg. As long as he doesn't run full court offense, he's positive on the court (except his defense rotation). His free throws will come through (he hasn't had enough this season to judge).
i've been impressed with his ability to attack the rim and score. unfortunately most of the time it's difficult and contested shots.
I can see from where this is coming. I have also noticed that Casspi is "sensitive" to the home crowd. You can see that in reduced free throw % as well as lower 3pt %. That is a clear sign of mental pressure. Probably direct outcome of what he went through in Cleveland. It is also true that Casspi tends to get hot when the rest of the team plays bad. It is probably only then when he feels free and at ease to shoot. A sort of nothing to loose atmosphere. It is also clear that in every NBA team there is a hierarchy. The top players eat first (=take the shots). I think Lin was ejected from the Knicks because Melo was not going to have that kind of distraction from his status. Surely Casspi is not "the player" of the Rockets and probably will never be. However, I think he has a lot more potential than what his season stats show. In the preseason, when the star players are not demanding their scoring options and quotas, Casspi was able to show some of his potential. If McHale is patient, as he appears to be with Casspi, he will probably gain a truly significant bench player that can be used even as a starter if there is an injury or a like. The best part of it is that the Rockets got him basically for free. Therefore, I still think that signing Casspi was a brilliant move from Morey.
I'm hoping McHale instills some Parsons/Casspi/Jones pump-fake and drive centered plays. All it would take is shooters to spread the defense and a surreptitious pick by Dwight/Asik on the rim protector to create a lane. Result: easy buckets or trip to the line.
Casspi has been a good player off the bench and I like it that when him and Garcia enter the game, they always look to shoot it when they are open. Their aggressive play fits well with the 2nd unit. I do not like it when he plays the power forward on defense. Other than that he's fine with me.
