I would go even further. Most people (myself included) thought he was a longshot to even make the team prior to preseason. He's definitely been a good surprise. If he keeps playing like this, he would be an early candidate for Most Improved and Sixth Man.
to add, Casspi - 3-pt shooting, periodic drives, some great passes as well Garcia - Amazing 3-pt shooting, death glare Lin - scoring efficiency, driving left successfully consistently, and excellent defense, this has been understated.
I think Parsons may be trying too hard to get Howard into the flow. After they work that out, his shot should return.
1. Casspi's - rebounding, driving. I though he was just a 3pt specialist, didn't know he can also rebound and drive to the basket. Casspi + Garcia = I already forgot about delfino... 2. Parsons 3pt slump - I didnt expect parsons to come out and be this bad in 3pt shooting... but I think once he get this going again, he should be ok. 3. Lin - he is now playing how he should be playing... 3pts up, FG% up, defense up, playing less risky... if he continues to play like this, would be very hard to keep him once his contract is up, but I hope he stays in houston... I also hope he embraces 6th man role... we really need someone who is a lesser harden off the bench... 48 mins offense + 48 mins defense = championship!
So you throw out the small sample size of the preseason because it was preseason(nevermind that the opponent was playing in the same game as the Rockets with similar effort) only to use his smaller sample size of the regular season as data to disparage his calling card??? Biggest surprise this season? The Great Casspi
Nothing. There were literally no surprises. You could see Casspi's success coming a mile away given how the Rockets played last year. Same with Garcia. Lin should be better since he had an offseason to work on his game. Dwight has been slightly disappointing on the offensive end, but defense is just where I expected. Parsons has always been a bit streaky because of the volume of his 3s. Harden, Beverley Asik are just who I thought they are. I guess my only true surprise, and it's only a mild one, is that neither DMo nor Jones stepped up. They look to be busts so far. If anything, this is the first season where I find myself predicting things fairly correctly. Which is good because I have the Rockets at 55+ wins on the year.
Eh, I'll go with Casspi's ability to finish dribble drives.... Not always with a layup or dunk, his floaters have been really sweet.
Some of you are really going to have to stop throwing temper tantrums anytime someone has something positive to say about Bev. Can't be good for your blood pressure.
Casspi emerges as one of the top names easily, followed by Lin and Garcia, and Howard (his FT). Harden's defense can be a very much wanted surprise, too, if he will put in more effort consistently. Whatever it is, I'm contented already just to see Asik manage to catch the ball and slam it in the basket. :grin:
cassipi's first step and ability to grab boards garcias confidence to throw up threes and that death stare our pg rotation has impressed the hell out of me, bev has obviosuly worked on his shot and ability to create, lin the same, and i have been quietly impressed with brooks defence compared to other years our superstars have impressed me in leading this team to 4-1 even though we should be more like 2-3 really. lastly Mchale aka McFail to some has really impressed me with his growth as a coach he always talks about his principles on both defence and offence and for the most part i have been ale to see the players adjusting to them. really really impressed in ol Mcfail morey im not impressed, whats up with him recently, i need more 2013-2014 version of the harden trade. he has been the lowlight of the year.
Same here. Casspi is nowhere near surprising for anyone who watched him in Sacramento and can project his role on this team. Whether it is him starting or finishing or what position he should play, I've talked about him on this board more than enough. Also saw Dmo/Jones struggling from a mile away. Followed both in Euroleague and Summerleague and saw absolutely zero improvements. And we all know from last year that they aren't close to contributing. Parsons will be fine, he started slow similarly last year, I remember many games where Delfino finished early in the season. Lin is shooting well but that should come down a bit, but as long as he keeps the aggressiveness he will be fine. Expecting Harden, Dwight and everyone else's chemistry to continue to improve throughout the season, and cut down on some of the TOs. The only mild surprise for me has been Garcia, someone you were high on I believe. I felt people over reacted a bit to his playoff success, a mirror of Lin. But so far his shooting has been a big boost, which should come back down to earth a bit as well. What I am looking for is how he contributes once his shot isn't as hot. He seems to do better against bigger SFs defensively using his length, while quicker guards give him problems.
Casspi, of course. I expect Morey to kick ass now. So not a surprise there. But most shocking is Harden's perimeter defense. I was expecting him to pick it up now that Dwight gives us a legit shot to contend and that he doesn't have to carry the offensive load. Hopefully he puts some effort into it though.
A tidbit: Casspi is the 8th 2009 first round draft pick that Morey has acquired. Beverley is the 4th second rounder from that draft to be acquired by the Rockets.
Cass playing great and garcia both raining down 3's from downtown. Lin having good field goal percentage!
