Garcia's shot just hasn't looked right all year. He was shooting it in right in the face of defender last year and knocking them down. He's been the biggest disappointment for me this year. Maybe I was too high on him after the OKC series. Is this year's Garcia closer to his statistical norm? Casspi. Jeeze. I had high hopes for him after he lit it up in the preseason. I agree he needs to stick to looking for the jumper first. Every time he handles the rock or drives all I can think about is Ichabod Crane.
lmao Ichabod Crane is pretty close. This is close to Garcia's last few years in Sacramento. He was better before being injured, but the dude just can't finish at the rim now. Hopefully his 3pt shooting will tick up a bit. He barely takes any other shots than 3s so if that recovers, he'll be okay.
When all our playmakers get healthy again, the 3pt shooters (Casspi and Garcia) will get more open looks. Yes, you are right. Shooters don't shoot as well when the playmakers are hurt. Lin's absense has hurt their opportunities.
I agree, and I would say Asik's quitting has also been a factor. His rebounding and rim protection, and the transition opportunities they provide, are sorely missed on the second unit. It sucks that he is forcing this trade. With him and a healthy Lin, the Rockets have one of the best benches in the league.
His outlet passes have been missed. Some of the fastest/strongest in the league. However, although it sucks that he will get traded; the reports have been telling that the Rockets will get some good returns for him though.
I wonder who, though. I'm sure a decent player will come back, but will he fit with the second unit as well as Asik has (or, if it's a starter, who is relegated to the bench and how will they fit in)?
All players have ups and downs during the season. I think Casspi has done a pretty good job. Garcia has been ice cold lately. All I care about is will they hit those threes come playoff time.
Garcia seems to be off - could be the rotations and just not being in rhythm yet. I do expect him to turn it around. Casspi numbers are actually his best ever as a pro. He does seem to play out of control sometimes but overall he has been as expected. His preseason number were just that, preseason when no team plays D for real.
Did Asik ever really fit in? Not sure the Rockets are missing much there. In theory, it is a lot to miss, but haven't really seen it this year.
Seriously, Garcia hasn't proven himself yet. He did great against OKC last year during the playoffs especially guarding Durant but that is very small sample size. In saying that he is a bargain to sign and I hope he finds his strokes. Casspi hasn't done too bad.
How many games did we have that luxury though of him off the bench? Very few... I agree with you, it was quite awesome, and he was the main reason why the Rockets were top 10 in defensive efficiency when he was playing, and why they have dropped out of the top 10 recently. Edit: to clarify, my argument is "sample size": we never really saw him get established in the backup center role.
All I know is next season we need to pick up that sixth man SG/SF. Somone similar to Courtney lee. Eventually we should part ways with Garcia and see if casspi can take that short minutes role with high productivity when he does speacilly from the 3pt line.
I think the early experiment with TT showed that Casspi is a great complimentary piece in a lineup with good offensive weapons. When he came in early to replace Asik and played alongside Dwight, CP and Harden, he had room to shoot and room to slash to the hoop amd did great. Now, when he's playing with a bench unit minus Lin and Asik (or Asik playing uninspired), he assumes a role that doesn't fit him well. I don't know if the same applies for Garcia, but in general I feel we have to stagger our substitutions/rotations in a better way to get better production out of our bench. Running plays would help as well.
Garcia is a veteran role player. He defends and doesn't make mistakes. Casspi needs a good deep playoff run and an off season. If he can learn how to box out fours and get a rebound he'll be hell of a power 3 for stretch 3s to handle next season.
Do not forget that Casspi is a cheap trade, he was not supposed to be the 6-10 player and rockets had no expectations from him. Currently he plays above expectations, see his stats: 8.6 points, 4 Reb, 1.4 Ast He is only second to Harden in +/- score Call me a guy with European' basketball' understanding but ain't it great stats or what?
Cassipi has been repressing u guys nicely, but morey would be Insane to trade him since he has a team option on his second year. Love the cassipi love from you Ben
