The last time Omri Casspi was a regular starter, Miley Cyrus was a role model.
It was the 2011-12 season and Casspi’s first year with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He shot an underwhelming 41.8 percent through 34 starts before shifting to the bench for good.
Casspi toiled as a reserve for another year in Cleveland and a season in Houston before joining the Sacramento Kings last summer. With the Kings in his first two years in the league, Casspi started 58 games, but this time around he would strictly come off the bench. At least that was the plan until George Karl arrived.
The sixth-year pro picked up two starts at the three in mid-March in place of an injured Rudy Gay, and became a mainstay in the starting five when Karl shifted Gay to power forward. Casspi has started 10 of the Kings’ last 12 games and is making the most of his promotion.
“I think he expects me to bring what I do to the game, bring high basketball IQ and pass the ball around and create shots for others, rebound and run,” Casspi told Cowbell Kingdom over the weekend. “He tells us to play hard obviously on a nightly basis, and if you run hard, you play hard, you can get his respect.”
Casspi’s offensive production as a starter has blown away his numbers as a backup. In 14 total starts this season, the 26-year-old is averaging 11.5 points on 51.6 percent shooting from the floor and 44.8 percent from behind the arc. As a reserve Casspi is scoring 6.7 points by 45.8 percent of his field goals and 27 percent of his 3-pointers.
“There’s a difference, playing (with) the starting unit or the backup unit,” Casspi explained. “But it’s fun. You get to start the game. You get a few more opportunities. You get the first stretch and then you get out, and you get back in right before the end of the second quarter, so you get two opportunities to compete and play, and it’s just fun. I like it a lot.”
The 23rd pick of the 2009 draft has reinvented himself since his last stint as a starter. Once predominantly a midrange shooter, Casspi has scrapped the inefficient looks in exchange for more shots in the paint and 3’s. He credits his lone year in Houston as a wakeup call to his outdated game.
“I think that (I now) know my strengths and weaknesses, knowing what I need to do out there and playing through my strengths like trying to get into the paint, shoot layups and open 3s,” Casspi said of his growth. “I feel like this stuff last year with Houston, playing in that system, I felt like that’s the direction that the league is going to now. Eliminating a little bit of the midrange game, the tough twos, and getting more into the paint and open 3s, and I tried to really work out in the summer with my coach.”
Casspi is taking a career-low 5.4 percent of his field goal attempts between 10 feet and the arc this year.
Nonetheless, the 6-foot-9, 225-pounder still has room for improvement on the defensive end. Since February 14, the wing has allowed opponents to shoot 9.9 percent higher than their normal field goal percentage. At times it seems Casspi tries to do too much, whether it’s trapping another player or reaching for steals he has no business with. But Karl has faith in the veteran turning it around.
“We don’t get enough defensive decision makers, defensive playmakers on the court,” Karl told the media on Sunday. “From a standpoint of the starters, I think Casspi, at least he understands the aggressive nature of what the game plan is and the possibility of being somewhat of a stopper.”
Gay is expected to return from a concussion later this week, so his return to either small or power forward is anyone’s guess. Casspi’s output as the starting three may leave Karl no choice.
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