Coachie and Omri

[=LarryLegend=]

I think Omri going to IMG and with the help of Coachie, Omri will be a top 15 player in this draft. seeing first hand how Kmart works out will be huge.

Omri to me can be our next doug christe with the help of coachie a better scoring Doug.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I dont know about top 15...

Im not as high on Omri as a lot of people here are. I like him, I think he is a valuable player, but I'll be pretty surprised if he is ever a starter in the NBA. I think if he can develope into what Nocioni was in his prime than thats good for him and us. I just dont expect a whole lot from him.

 

[apollo916]

We can all hope for the best but realistically he wont have alot of oppurtunities rite away, He has to knock off Garcia, Greene, Nocioni and company to even be considered a starter on this team, but you know what, I think he can beat them all 1 on 1.


A top 15 rookie at the end of the season is possible, Im thinking he will have his moments each game where he hits a 3, blocks a shot and gets a dunk and so on. Im expecting 7 & 5 season. Is that good enough for top 15? possible.

 

[Prince_XY]

I think Omri going to IMG and with the help of Coachie, Omri will be a top 15 player in this draft. seeing first hand how Kmart works out will be huge.

Omri to me can be our next doug christe with the help of coachie a better scoring Doug.

And where do you think he'll get the playing time minutes to showcase himself as the top 15 player of this draft?

 

[TaxMan]

And where do you think he'll get the playing time minutes to showcase himself as the top 15 player of this draft?

Well, I suspect he means long term he'll turn out to be top 15 in this draft, which doesn't seem like that lofty of expectations. It's not like he was second round pick or undrafted....He was picked 20 something in the draft (I can't remember the exact pick number). To think he'll turn out better than a handful of players picked ahead of him doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

[=LarryLegend=]

I think he can become our Manu Ginobili. with passing like hedo/christie.

I like his game alot. I think his shot is a little bit ugly but... I think he would make a great 6th man.

Sergio, Cisco, Omri, Donte will be a nice bench mob. very fun to watch next year.

 

[SacTownKid]

I think the Nocioni comparisons are the most exact, except in summer league I was a little surprised at Omri's IQ and potential playmaking ability.

 

[King Baller]

I expect to see Noc and Greene log plenty of minutes at the 4 spot. With only 3 bigs currently on the roster its gonna be small ball lots of nights. Garcia is backing up KMart. So suddenly the log jam at the 3 is a mirage and Omri sees 10 to 20 minutes a night.

KB

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

I think he's the type who uses aggression more than skill, but he does seem to have a platform of scoring ability to build off of. I keep thinking Nocioni with him, really, at his peak. Not sure if he has what it takes to be fundamentally sound and disciplined defensively as Christie was with us.

 

[Jespher]

I think he's the type who uses aggression more than skill, but he does seem to have a platform of scoring ability to build off of. I keep thinking Nocioni with him, really, at his peak. Not sure if he has what it takes to be fundamentally sound and disciplined defensively as Christie was with us.

Hopefully he can be a Hedo/Nocioni hybrid with his length and skill set. A tough defender/rebounder, and offensive facilitator/jack-of-all-trades .

 

[gunks]

I'm have my doubts he'll ever be a starter as well, but I like his game. He definately has grit, and could develop into a great 6th man for us.

No doubt will be a fan favorite as well. After so many seasons of soft and uninspired play from vets, I think us King fans are going to be enamored with Omri and Brockman. Even if they both only get 10mpg and rarely score more than 5 pts.

Better scoring Doug is a kind of lofty bar to set, but I'm enthused that we have Coachie working with all our young guys....Well, at least the wing players. I dont trust the man around bigs.

 

[bajaden]

For starters, I don't see the comparison of Casspi to Nocioni. Other than both are considered tough competitors and both are considered small forwards. Casspi is two inches taller and more athletic than Noc. Whereas I can see Noc guarding the SF and PF positions, I see Casspi mostly guarding the SF position and on occasion the SG position, depending on the matchups.

Other than the height differencial, and based on style of play, especially when he came into the league, I think the Ginobili comparison is closer. When Ginobili came into the league, he wasn't as good a shooter as he is today, and he was known for his tenacity and thowing his body all over the floor. He made a lot of mistakes, but he certainly disrupted things. I can see Casspi becoming that type of player. No guarantee's of course.

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

Other than the height differencial, and based on style of play, especially when he came into the league, I think the Ginobili comparison is closer. When Ginobili came into the league, he wasn't as good a shooter as he is today, and he was known for his tenacity and thowing his body all over the floor. He made a lot of mistakes, but he certainly disrupted things. I can see Casspi becoming that type of player. No guarantee's of course.

Ginobili came into the league quite old (age 25) with loads of international experience, and he did show flashes of passing ability in EuroLeagues that were harsh in crediting players with assists. Most significantly, he could really get to the line even back then, a credit to his ballhandling ability and his nose for slashing. You're right about the three point shooting--he really developed great consistency with it in the NBA, but it helped that he took over a third of his shots as threes during his last three years in Europe, helping him gain more ease with the transition.

Casspi's still very young (21), and obviously we'll get a better read when we see the actual games, but right now I see him more as a hustle player. I'd like to fantasize about 6'8" SG/SF with PG abilities because it sounds innately more appealing than a 6'8" SF/PF, but he's sort of lacking in those three markers Ginobili had. He's really poor in passing the ball (even if it's a product of the team dynamic, it's still very poor), and while he did show he could shoot threes he only took 1/5th of his shots from there, so the transition might be less easier, and he's only shown ordinary ability to get to the line--he doesn't seem to possess great ballhandling skills.

Passing, ballhandling, and shooting from long range are three major elements of guards, and right now he seems mediocre to poor in them--granted he's only 21 and he's had Turk comparisons bandied about him, and if developed properly he could be primed for a huge upswing, but based on what I'm seeing right now it's very Harpring/Nocioni-esque.

P.S. The team construct will also come into play--when Ginobili came into the league he played quite a bit backing up only Stephen Jackson; Jackson left the following year and he basically got his chance to shine afterwards. Omri has to fight Jason Thompson, Sean May and Donte Greene at PF and Andres Nocioni and Francisco Garcia at SG. By midseason however there could be a chance to get minutes--if Noc gets traded or if Sean May gets injured/Donte doesn't produce, then he will really get more of a chance. Of course many variables will come into play there, but we'll see.

 

[bajaden]

Ginobili came into the league quite old (age 25) with loads of international experience, and he did show flashes of passing ability in EuroLeagues that were harsh in crediting players with assists. Most significantly, he could really get to the line even back then, a credit to his ballhandling ability and his nose for slashing. You're right about the three point shooting--he really developed great consistency with it in the NBA, but it helped that he took over a third of his shots as threes during his last three years in Europe, helping him gain more ease with the transition.

Casspi's still very young (21), and obviously we'll get a better read when we see the actual games, but right now I see him more as a hustle player. I'd like to fantasize about 6'8" SG/SF with PG abilities because it sounds innately more appealing than a 6'8" SF/PF, but he's sort of lacking in those three markers Ginobili had. He's really poor in passing the ball (even if it's a product of the team dynamic, it's still very poor), and while he did show he could shoot threes he only took 1/5th of his shots from there, so the transition might be less easier, and he's only shown ordinary ability to get to the line--he doesn't seem to possess great ballhandling skills.

Passing, ballhandling, and shooting from long range are three major elements of guards, and right now he seems mediocre to poor in them--granted he's only 21 and he's had Turk comparisons bandied about him, and if developed properly he could be primed for a huge upswing, but based on what I'm seeing right now it's very Harpring/Nocioni-esque.

P.S. The team construct will also come into play--when Ginobili came into the league he played quite a bit backing up only Stephen Jackson; Jackson left the following year and he basically got his chance to shine afterwards. Omri has to fight Jason Thompson, Sean May and Donte Greene at PF and Andres Nocioni and Francisco Garcia at SG. By midseason however there could be a chance to get minutes--if Noc gets traded or if Sean May gets injured/Donte doesn't produce, then he will really get more of a chance. Of course many variables will come into play there, but we'll see.

Having seen only a little of his play in the european league I have to go on what I saw in the summer league. Not a real good measuring stick but it is all I have. I hate to go on just stats. Especially stats from across the pond. Their approach to basketball is quite different than ours. Where a star player here might get 38 minutes a game, over there he might only get 20 minutes a game. They play a more unselfish game, sometimes asking a player to sacrifice his strengths to the needs of the team. Thus stats can be skewed.

In the summer league he was obviously rusty, but in the last two games every time I looked he was around the ball on defense. Thats why I made the comparison to Manu. One is a two guard and the other is a small forward. Casspi also appeared to have a pretty good basketball IQ. Something that I think Greene lacks at the moment. But I can see the Harpring comparison, and thats not a bad thing.

My son pointed out to me that Pop's once said the Ginobili gave him more grey hair in one season than anything else in his life. He said that he's the only player that could make two or three bonehead plays that make you want to pull your hair out, and then make a play that changes the game in your favor. I remember the first time I saw Ginobili play. I thought of a bull in a china shop, and wondered if he would ever be able to correct what appeared to be instinctive. But he did. He's certainly a fun player to watch...

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

I just can't wait till training camp in a couple weeks to see all these guys play together finally!!

 

[Merdiesel]

If there is one thing this team excels at its picking sleepers in the draft, especially foreign players. I'm not expecting much out of Omri this season, but I do have high hopes for him in the coming years.

 

[CruzDude]

I tend to go along with most of this thread with one exception: Donte Greene. For all his upside we have yet to see what he brings. In one year in the league not really very much. I think he has a make-or-break situation coming and if Casspi plays to his potential early on, you will see Omri coming off the bench first. The reason is Casspi has 3-4 years of Euro pro experience, of course not the NBA but Greene has only one year of college under his belt.