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remember last year when casspi was number 1 on the rookie report... averaging 15 ppg, and wasnt just a 3 pt shooter? he used to drive, and play fearless. he wasnt even that bad of a defender. does anyone have any idea whats happened to him this year? it seems like all he wants to do is shoot jumpers. Last year, he showed so much more potential. am i imagining this? anyone else agree? wtf omri he could be so much better then hes on track to becoming.

I think he fell in love with his 3 point jumper and he lost confidence in his layup because he has been missing so many. Its just a sophomore slump imo but I think he got more minutes last year, not sure.

To me Casspi's game is entirely predicated on making 3's. When he's making his 3's he looks great, when he's not he looks terrible. It's not a coincidence that the weeks/months he looks best are the same ones where he's shooting +40% from range.

Honestly guys it is all based on what the coach has asked casspi to do this season. Last season the kings had nocioni and Hawes to help spread the floor so allowing Casspi to spend more time driving the lane was ok because it didn't kill our spacing. This season we have added 2 more guys to play in the post area in cousins and Dalembert and on top of that we have gotten rid of 2 of our shooters making floor spacing difficult. This means that casspi has to stay on the perimeter and shooter jumpers . If he doesn't our team falls apart. It's that simple we need casspi to stay on the perimeter weather it limits his game or not because we need that spacing or every team will just pack the paint and destroy us defensively because without respectable 3pt shooting it's easy to shut down our offense. Casspi is much more important to our team this year than he was last year. His 9-10ppg are more significant than they were last year.

Yeah quite honestly I put it down to coaching and the inconsistent PT that is happening.

I have to say that although I was still a supporter of Westphal in the earlier portion of the season, the manner in which games are being lost has me firmly convinced that coaching really is a major issue. I believe that he has gotten out of touch with the current style of the game and we are almost ready to go with a younger guy - or at least one who is established but younger enough - to be better in touch with these young players and the way they play the game. At the same time, it is benefical to have some VERY experienced assistants because those are the guys that do the teaching/skills work with the young players best.

longfellow44 wrote:Honestly guys it is all based on what the coach has asked casspi to do this season. Last season the kings had nocioni and Hawes to help spread the floor so allowing Casspi to spend more time driving the lane was ok because it didn't kill our spacing. This season we have added 2 more guys to play in the post area in cousins and Dalembert and on top of that we have gotten rid of 2 of our shooters making floor spacing difficult. This means that casspi has to stay on the perimeter and shooter jumpers . If he doesn't our team falls apart. It's that simple we need casspi to stay on the perimeter weather it limits his game or not because we need that spacing or every team will just pack the paint and destroy us defensively because without respectable 3pt shooting it's easy to shut down our offense. Casspi is much more important to our team this year than he was last year. His 9-10ppg are more significant than they were last year.

This.

Casspi is the same player, but coach described the '3' role in our team preety clear : Shoot the 3, and play D.

You're not needed to do anything else if you're Casspi according to coach, so he just follows orders and play like the coachs want/tell him to, add to the fact that his confidence is shut-down(half the teams is too) cause he could very possibly get DNPs in a heartbit, and you get current Casspi.

Casspi/Donte are being forced to be like Noc/Martin 2 NBA veteran dependable 3 point guys.

Which they are not quite ready for right now.

But both will have very good NBA careers.

If we add 1 more vet 3 point shooter it will take pressure off them to help more.

When we get a better shooter/Tyreke's JS improves Casspi can go back to driving. I totally agree with longfellow on this one.

We know Casspi is not a playmaker, and the way the ball HAS NOT moved this season within the offense has hurt Omri. He was in and out of the lineup last year, too.

Lightning Strike wrote:When we get a better shooter/Tyreke's JS improves Casspi can go back to driving. I totally agree with longfellow on this one.

Bingo. Omri hasn't changed. His roll has been more restricted to outside shooting because it's what we really need the most.

OGSactownballer wrote:Yeah quite honestly I put it down to coaching and the inconsistent PT that is happening.

I have to say that although I was still a supporter of Westphal in the earlier portion of the season, the manner in which games are being lost has me firmly convinced that coaching really is a major issue. I believe that he has gotten out of touch with the current style of the game and we are almost ready to go with a younger guy - or at least one who is established but younger enough - to be better in touch with these young players and the way they play the game. At the same time, it is benefical to have some VERY experienced assistants because those are the guys that do the teaching/skills work with the young players best.

That's really what the issue has been. It's why the ENTIRE team player to player wasn't performing well. I must say, since he's tightened his rotation and focused the offense around the ones it should be focused around things have indeed gotten better from a production standpoint. My main issue with Westphal was his inability to interact with his star players. That seemingly has simmered down, and go figure, it came just around the time he put together a consistent rotation and put lineups on the floor that complimented his star players.

Omri has the chance to be a really good to upper echelon role player. The type that on some nights they can carry you to a win. In order to produce though every player needs consistent minutes and a consistent role. You can't play a guy 35 minutes one night and then 3 the next. They're going to look like crap on paper.

Playing on a losing team and got benched happened.

reason i ask is cuz he started the rookie sophomore game last year, and now it seems apparent that he probably wont even make it this year

Evans Is King wrote:Playing on a losing team and got benched happened.

This is a load of BS and typical of "fans" who really know little to nothing about how BASKETBALL workd at that level.

There is so much more to the game to make a team a winner instead of a loser. That is the TRUE measure of a great coach.

Phil Jackson is not really some X's and O's magician. What he is is a GREAT personnel motivator and manager. He has great ASSISTANTS that come up with the X and O stuff. He gets those twelve guys working on the same page despite vast differences in personality, ability and style and meshes them together into a TEAM.

^^I'm with you. Jackson has instilled a system that dictates options for the players so Jackson doesn't need to coach X's and O's after the player has learned the system. After they learn the system he's coach attitudes and ego's, that's why he has so much success. He doesn't have to focus on a specific game plan, he just focuses on his players, he gets them ready and can trust in the fact that they will go out and do what they need to do.

It's actually the thing that I like the best about both the Triangle offense and the Princeton. Basically once the players have been taught the offense there isn't really any need to call a play, because the options always arise organically as the ball and the players shift around the floor. It's what makes them so difficult to handle. As difficult as it is for the players in these systems to learn the appropriate way to play, it is even more difficult for the coaches to stay out of it and trust in the system.

That's actually true. I watched that special awhile back that focused on Ron Artest getting integrated into the Lakers system and Jackson said one of the things people misunderstand about the triangle is how "unorganized" it really is. Just like the Princeton, it's all about seeing the floor and motion. That's why it can typically be harder for players to get acclimated with because it's not just about learning plays.

Maybe we should start using something like that. Hmmm....wonder where I heard that before.