casspi looked terrible against cleveland. some of his bball decisions, you have to wonder if he's just trying to play for his next contract now. garcia's a proven and reliable performer over the course of his career, so i'd prefer to get him ready for the playoff run. hamilton's shown some flashes here and there, but both his defense and offense run hot & cold from one game to the next.
I rather see Hammy and Garcia play. Casspi been trying harder lately... but I take the first two off the bench.
I started to wonder about the stats involved in this comparison. These players are very, very close to each other in almost every comparison. However, Casspi seems to be strongest in the areas that should count (rebounds, PPG, PER, APG, SPG etc.). Their 3P% is just about the same with Garcia leading followed by Casspi and Hamilton (all within 1.5%, range 34.8-36.3%). Garcia has also the highest 3PT attempt rate per game (Casspi the lowest). Therefore, I don’t quite understand the big differences in the voting. PLAYER GP GS MIN PPG OFFR DEFR RPG APG SPG BPG TPG FPG A/TO PER Omri Casspi, SF 61 0 18.1 7.1 0.8 2.8 3.6 1.3 0.69 0.23 1.1 1.5 1.2 13.6 Jordan Hamilton, SF†14 1 17.4 7.0 0.4 2.8 3.1 0.7 0.64 0.43 0.9 1.9 0.8 12.8 Francisco Garcia, SG 46 4 19.4 5.8 0.4 1.8 2.2 1.1 0.54 0.63 0.6 2.0 1.8 10.1
Garcia is playoff proven. I really can't visualize Casspi and Hamilton stopping Durant, even if both of them tried to double.
Well, there are not that many players in the NBA who can stop Durant. Therefore, that may be a bit biased comparison to begin with. Kevin Durant is supposedly 6'9", but in my opinion more with a huge wingspan. Of the three players, only Casspi is 6'9" while Hamilton and Garcia are 6'7". In any case, all three are bench players and not likely to play when Durant is on the court. So keeping Durant is predominantly Parsons problem.
They're all pretty similar in overall talent level. It's true Cisco is more of a proven veteran, but it's not like he's ever been that great anyway. I would probably go with Hamilton just because he has the edge over the other two athletically while potentially being comparable in other facets of his game. The only exception being, I might go with Casspi if we're pretty far behind and need quick points--I think he's a little more likely to go off on a big hot streak than the other two, it's just that he's a big defensive liability. In games where we're really behind we might need to just hope the opposing team goes cold and misses shots. In that case, Casspi's probably the best option because he has shown an ability to have bigger hot streaks than the other two.
I would start from hoping that everybody stays healthy and you continue to have three options. I would not make any of these choices a default value. I would use them baseed on the game situation and the specific needs of the moment. Garcia is the most clear option. If the team as a whole goes cold from 3PT range, Garcia probably has the best nerves to provide. Casspi is a good all around player especially when he gets into his mood of being everywhere rebounding, stealing and passing. Hamilton is the most productive of them against weaker defensive teams, but in my mind he is way too trigger happy from 3PT range.
Garcia has actually shot very well recently when he has played, which isn't very often (13/25 52%) I like Garcia's intensity come playoff time. I like Hamilton too, but both are in the same boat, only useful when thier shots are falling. I would like McHale to cut back Parsons and Harden's minutes, and let Garcia and Hamilton play more, and duke it out for the playoff minutes. I just about seen enough of Casspi.
You do recall Garcia guarded Durant with some success in the playoffs last year? He wasn't even that bad on Durant a couple weeks ago. I don't think you watch much Rockets........
I would give Casspi another year. Casspi's problem is that he's a dense player. When he play competition and doesn't have to interpret what's he doing and what's going on around him he does well when he has to interpret he disappears. It's not his fault he came in the league with sacramento and cleveland and was around dense players like Tyreke Evans and Kyrie Irving that would disappear when the officials held the whistle.
Garcia parks for his 3s, Casspi has the best all around game of the 3, but is too inconsistent, Hamiton is the best athlete, but takes bad shots (aka his running fadeaway going right in the lane).
Actually I've seen most of the Rockets games (I have League Pass). I did not see the last OKC game due to travel and I did not have the time to watch it retrospectively.
My impression is that Casspi's biggest problem is between his ears. I recall that Dwight said it too. Casspi should just let the game flow and stop thinking about anything. Because of his head, it takes him a long time to recover from a bad night.
Not really. I started to watch Rockets games during the twin towers era (I mean Sampson ad Olajuwon). However, I specifically liked Robert Reid and Rodney McCray (with special sympathy to McCray). Mind you, this was in the middle of the Laker and Celtics rivalry. Still, the most enjoyable team to watch was the Rockets. Did that answer your question?
i haven't asked you any question. however oakdogg did ask one which you haven't clearly addressed: "You do recall Garcia guarded Durant with some success in the playoffs last year?" it wasn't clear from your response if you watched last year's rockets playoffs games. and if you had, then it becomes all the more puzzling how/why you would make a headscratching post like this: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=8802435&postcount=45
I see. Didn't notice that. I recall Garcia's great scoring but not stopping Durant. I have also been a believer in Garcia's scoring this season. Very few 3PT shooters are consistent and Garcia will score when it counts. I also can't recall that Durant had problems to score his regular numbers in the last season playoffs against the Rockets. Durant has his ups and downs like everybody, but his downs are pretty minimal. Basically he scores against any team in the NBA more or less at will. Memphis is probably the only team (maybe SA too) that can really cause him some problems. Therefore, I find stopping Durant to be a tough call for just about anybody. The best player to do that, in my understanding, would be Ibaka, but for the time being we can't evaluate that. If you think otherwise, that's fine with me.
alright, so then you didn't watch the rockets playoffs games last year. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/...-rockets-may-have-found-way-to-contain-durant
I did, but only after reading the your link did I understand what you are talking about. I thought that we are talking about Garcia being spicifically gifted defensive player. I always thought that he is primarily valuable as a 3PT shooter. If a player like Garcia can get himself ejected with Durant, he is a superb D-player. Sorry, that's not going to work over time. You can get away with it for 1-2 games, but that's it. Garcia knows probably better than many other players how to cause commotion. I can't forget how he stared at CP3. I never thought about that game (PO game 3) the way this writer did. Like the text said, Durant scored 27 points in the first half and 14 in the second. That's 41 points! What did you expect? 61 points? In that case he was clearly stopped by Garcia. Did he score more than 41 points in any of the 6 games?
no you didn't. this is what you've already posted here: the discussion till now has been about garcia having defended durant quite well in multiple games last playoffs (which you clearly did not watch) in addition to just a couple weeks ago, and NOT about garcia being a gifted defensive player in general. i hope casspi catches fire in the playoffs and helps us win some games, but if not there's a good chance the team chooses not to pick up his option for next season. i could imagine him getting a training camp invite for another nba team in october though.
