Small Forward Newcomer: Omri Casspi

I have especially follwed him in the last three years, at Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the Israeli national team and with the Kings.

I know I am biased, but I try to be objective.

Let’s start with his D. I believe that Omri is not as bad a defender as people make him out to be. Don’t get me wrong, he is no Battier, but I think the fact that he was on a bad defensive team with a lack of team defense and communication hurt him. The Kings were awful at defending the pick & roll last year, until Sammy Dalembert asserted himself later in the season, and the defense picked up a notch. At that time, Omri had found himself mysterioulsy in Westphal’s doghouse, and didn’t get to benefit much from the overall improved play, triggered by Dalembert and the arrival of Marcus Thornton.

Omri has some troubles on D, since he is not particularly strong, especially in the upper body, and although he is fast from coast to coast, his lateral quickness is lagging. He also needs to find a better, lower stance at D. He had trouble fighting through screens and with the pick & roll, but part of that can be attributed to bad team defense and especially a lack of communicaion on the court.

When he plays his man tight, and doesn’t lose his focus (and his man) when he’s trying to play too much team D, he is actually pretty good. This article at Sactown Royalty shows that according to Synergy, in his rookie year, he was 30th in the NBA in allowing points per possesion, and even tenth in iso defense. He has the ability, but still a lot to learn. With someone like Varejao coaching on the floor, and a coach who emphasises defense and teaches it, Casspi could develop nicely at that end of the floor.

His defensive rebounding is not bad; he averaged 6.5 rebounds per 34 minutes in both NBA seasons.

He seems to thrive sometimes when playing the better players in the lague. He had some solid D on Kobe in a win at the Forum, and I think in his rookie year he didn’t embarras himself against LBJ. He doesn’t lack confidence, and is not afraid to mix it up, dive for loose balls and get a bit physial, despite his lack of strength. The guy is intense, tenacious and energetic.

I hope his injury this summer won’t set him back too much. Given the lock-out, the timing could have been much worse.

But here goes:

Omri’s consistent strengths on offense are his play in transition and 3 point shooting. he showed that in both seasons in the NBA.

Another strength, which got lost past season, is his ability to get points from his movement without the ball. In his rookie year, he was very active, and by good spacing got plenty of easy buckets. This past season, that ability almost evaporated. I believe that this was largely because of the way the Kings were playing and Westphal was coaching. Omri was demanded to be threat from the 3 point line, and because of the stagnant offense and a very ball-dominant guard (Tyreke), he often stood rooted in one corner. When he got the ball, it was often late in the shot clock with a defender converging on him.

I feel Omri can be much more efficient on offense when he is part of a motion offense, because he has a pretty good feeling for spacing. This will allow him more easy baskets, opportunities at offensive rebounds and his ability to show his passing skills.

Casspi is not a bad passer. Not spectacular either, but in Israel he has learned to make the extra pass and find the open man. He showed some of that in the NBA, but again, the Kings brand of play did not help much. he also knows how to make the entry pass fto the post player on the block. It’s not a spectacular pass, nor does it often result in an assist, but it is important and Omri knows how to feed a post player.

Like I stated regarding D, he is not afraid to mix it up, but he lacks the strength to be an exceptional offensive rebounder. But if he will be able to roam around the paint, he should be able to improve his offensive rebounding.

His main weaknesses are his midrange game and his dribbling abilities. More than one or two dribbles, and he is in trouble. Changing direction with the ball in his hands is also a problem. But as a slasher with one big step and a single dribble, he can be effective. His shot needs work from midrange. If he can develop a consistent 18 footer (I may be wrong here, always mixing up US measurements), it will help him a lot.

Omri is not very good at setting picks, on of my pet peeves. he has one nice move where he seems to settle for a pick, but at the last moment changes it from a quick turn towards the hoop (a sort of blitz P&R). It will work once or twice, but he does it too often to mask the fact that his picks are not good.

Overall, I think Cleveland can be a good spot for Omri to develop his game further, and learn from people like Byron Scott and Antawn Jamison (if he’ll be around). He is still young, and can improve further. This last season was a disappointment in that regard, since he did not improve much and was in a situation where he didn’t learn much either.

Ideally, I see Omri as a sixth man candidate. He can start on a bad team, as the Cavs are right now, but I think his grit, energy and toughness, together with his ability to score, makes him ideally suited to be a sparkplug of the bench. He is the type of guy that can light a fire under a unit that got of to a slow start, get the crowd going with some 3-pointers, transition dunks and/or hustle plays. If he continues to develop, I think he can be a crowd favorite.