Should Alonzo Gee start?

by johnf34 on Jan 9, 2012 7:34 PM CST in Fear My Opinion

New Cavaliers small forward Omri Casspi has been a mild disaster to begin his time as a Dan Gilbert employee. The season sure is young still but his play has been passionless thus far and Byron Scott likely is concerned.

It looks like Casspi is really struggling to get comfortable on the team and just can't get much to go positively.

His numbers so far have been truly terrible so I'm beginning to get concerned now. His shooting percentage, rebounding rate and turnover numbers have all taken significant spikes for the worst. It's actually baffling to see how bad those things have been compared to the first two years of his career.

It seems like Scott has lost some faith in him as Alonzo Gee has had some nice moments of late and often is the first sub into the game.

Gee has essentially taken the majority of the minutes at the position from Casspi and has played some of the best hoops of his brief NBA career. He has been efficient in his scoring and has been a solid passer from the games I have watched.

I definitely do not believe it's time to get Gee into the starting five. I feel Casspi is so low on confidence these days and he's taken the transition to Cleveland harder than we realized he would. Seeing Gee play so well has really been surprising and I don't really expect him to keep it up.

In studying Casspi he has regressed a bit each season in his young career. It's imperative that he adjusts mentally and physically to the game so he doesn't continue to get lost out there on the court.

Also I just don't think it will make a huge difference who starts as the team will probably play pretty similar regardless.

Are you ready to get Gee in the lineup or would you give Casspi even more minutes to get his much needed rhythm back?

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I didn’t think anyone could look as awkward on the court than JJ Hickson did. Then, Omri Casspi arrived. Start Gee.

by Sakman on Jan 10, 2012 6:22 AM CST reply actions

Good Question

I agree with almost everything you said, including that Gee should remain on the bench at the moment. Omri is clearly better than what he has been playing, but that doesn’t mean his head will ever get back on straight. But to put him on the second team now, might hurt him mentally to point of no return for our team.

The only point I disagree with is Gee. I DO think he is playing at his level. He worked all summer and played abroad, and Coach said early in training camp that the second year player is easily the most improved from last year. That is what development is all about. He was a rookie last year, and has taken a good step in his development. He IS this good, and will get better. But he still needs to be coming off the bench…probably for the entire year, if Omri can play AT ALL. Manu is the prime example of coming off the bench, but being in the game at the end, when it’s on the line. We don’t want to rush Gee’s development.

And those are my two cents! :)

by naveh on Jan 10, 2012 10:25 AM CST reply actions

i agree. i dont think gees performance is a fluke. the guy clearly has the physical tools to be a successful player.

by FrenchToast979 on Jan 10, 2012 1:15 PM CST via Android app up reply actions

No, for another 3-4 games he shouldn't

Though – I just don’t get what Omri is trying to achieve :
Look at his better games in Sacramento – Even when the 3’s didn’t fall, Even when layups rolled off the iron, even then – he gave 110% effort every second. The 2nd season he had many many games in which he collected 7-8 rebounds or more.
I don’t get it – just from standing on the 3pt line and waiting to throw it, you won’t get your game flow back…
I’d like him to get in there, cut inside, sprint, fight, run the screens… shoot 5-14 if he must, it is a price worth paying for him to get back into relevancy… get those boards, and those assists for god sake!

by cats&shoes on Jan 10, 2012 12:41 PM CST reply actions

I think part of the "waiting on the 3 point line" thing

is that Westphal basically drilled it into his head for a year that he wanted him to sit on the three point line and shoot when people passed to him. I think he’s having trouble adjusting to what Byron wants from him. He looks like he’s still trying to play like he did last season with the Kings, and it’s not gelling because the teams and offenses are totally different, and Byron wants more from him.

I’m impressed with Omri’s defense, though. He sucked at D with the Kings, probably just because Westphal didn’t particularly care about it, and so far with the Cavs his D looks ten times better, even though his offense is pretty awful.

In these times, you have to be an optimist to open your eyes when you awake in the morning.
~Carl Sandburg

by PurpleLoco on Jan 10, 2012 10:36 PM CST up reply actions