Exactly. Amare was (and still is) an amazing player. Unfortunately, his knees gave up. Casspi clearly isn't playing for money. He could have made a much better deal in Europe. That shows that the guy is hungry and is dying to show his trade. That's good for any player, but for a guy playing for the minimum, it's terrific. For his salary I would say he is a no risk/high reward deal for the Rockets. In any case I don't see any reason to be pessimistic. He played well in the LA meeting, he's playing well in the EuroBasket and after the training camp and the preseason games things will be pretty much clear. If he turns out to be a serious contributor for the Rockets, that'll be great for the Rockets campaign.
Casspi is bench material... I can see him getting time at the the four because of the style the Rockets play but him getting the start over TJ and D-Mo is ridiculous...
Casspi at the 4 is an intriguing idea. Of course, every candidate we currently have for the position is "an intriguing idea." Absent a move by Morey prior to the beginning of the season to bring in a starting caliber veteran 4, someone is going to have to step up and grab the starting spot. One of them has to not only make that leap, but show he is good enough to have a winning impact on a contending team, game in and game out. We can't have a fellow at the position who has it because he was "the best option out of a bad lot." The Rocks need a player who has that winning impact, who makes a difference, who not only fills the void at power forward, but clearly is the logical one to have that position, no questions asked. A guy we look at playing the 4 the way we look at Chandler Parsons playing the 3... that's our starting 4, and thank god we finally have to position covered, and covered well. In my humble opinion, at any rate. That's what I want, and I'll be happy if one of Donatas Motiejunas, Terrence Jones, Greg Smith, and Omri Casspi can manage that. I might have a guy or guys I lean towards, but I really don't care which one gets it. Just that he can handle the starting job with aplomb.
I'd rather go with the Howard/parsons/harden/lin/bev line up if Howard/asik costarring doesn't work. Casspi at the PF would be a last resort, like Delfine-o guarding Nene.
Same way we forgot about him during the regular season. Guy had 3 very good out of character games, he's no sure thing either.
Yet another in a long linage of "Morey brought him in therefore he must be able to preform at some previously unsuspected fabulous level, maybe even at a position he does not normally play" articles. Sorry, it does not happen like that. Morey exploits marketplace inefficiencies, and occasionally finds a diamond in the rough, but overall he picks players that come to Houston and perform at a somewhat higher level than expected. In all likelihood Caspi has been brought in to fill a bench with players that can contribute more than the salary they are paid. Nothing more. If he greatly exceeds expectations he might actually begin to see some rotation minutes. Great. And here are Caspi's per 36 career numbers:
I'd rather start Omer at PF and have a brutish defensive lineup kick-start everything. Better offense always follow a very good defense and not the other way around. Defense almost always win championships so it's better to start it right. And yes it's the same argument with Bev as it might be better to start Bev if only due to his defense but you'd want to kick-start your offense also in some ways.
This view has been discussed in great depth and it is fairly unlikely that Asik and Howard play more than situational minutes together.
Yup and it's still a fairly 2-sided argument since it has its pros and cons. It will still entirely depend on McHale and his staff. We haven't seen the works yet right? You can't just summarize that it's a fairly "unlikely" situation. We aren't coaches and the coaching staff might have some better plan/idea than whatever argument we can bring on the table. Who knows better than them?
A good thread and a good idea! (but...) Even as one of Casspi's long term fans (Not a COF, but a CITRUS - Casspi-In-The-Rockets Unbiased Supporter) I think he's neither a PF fit, nor starting material - at least not yet, coming into the team. Both ideas are refreshing and I like their potential as appealing exceptions, but certainly not as feasible expectations. I'm quite sure Casspi will fit our game very well, but it wouldn't be fair to expect anyone to make 3 leaps at once: From a bad team to a contender. From a bench player to a starter. From a SF to a new position of PF. Don't get me wrong - I believe Omri can achieve that and be a great starting PF/stretch-4 (especially in our current roster), and I really hope he can get there straight away... but if he does all that (or even 2 of the 3, really) - :grin: we should regard it as a stroke of brilliance (from the staff) and a surprise performance by a talented player (in Casspi), and a great told-you-so moment (for some of us fans here) - NOT as a natural matter-of-fact development.
I hope for the best but the fact that its being discussed means was still have a huge hole at this position. We might have another year of small ball.
lol..god no.. he was a bench warmer in Cleveland for crying out loud.. no way he sees serious minutes..
i‘ve watched some of their summer video clips, and i don't think any of them have made enough improvement to claim that position yet.
Good point! When someone is benched, especially in a lousy team, that certainly means he's no good for anything! (Like Jeremy Lin in the Knicks)
Don't think he can be a starter.....at least not yet. He's going to have to spend time coming off the bench. I also think that D.H. in Orlando is not the best comparison - Orlando did not have the kind of dribble penetrating guards (Jameer Nelson????) that we have in Harden, and to a lesser degree Lin. Plus Parsons can also drive. I think Houston has two offensives really - the PnR attack the basket - which features D.H. as the roller, and post-up offense for Dwight. When you post-up Dwight - then yes, you need a "stretch 4" or a dominating PF that you can't double off of. Honestly, they still are going to double off of a stretch 4 anyway because Howard won't be able to pass the ball out there once it is in the post. He will kick it out but not to the opposite corner but rather to the near corner or top of the key. Then they would have to swing it to the corner....That additional pass will make the stretch 4 a bit moot in my opinion. Nevertheless, when he is posted up you use a stretch 4, but when he is being used more with Harden and PnR's - I say playing him along side Asik will be more effective for the overall +/-
