European Prospects

I have talked already about the story that Omri Casspi’s dad was threatening Maccabi Tel Aviv about his son’s playing time. At least, he has seen the floor in this week’s Euroleague action. But apparently, he did quite well.

According to Haaretz, he could have been considered as the MVP of the second quarter of the game against Unicaja Malaga.

Casspi took over the last two minutes with Maccabi holding onto a one-point edge. At the 1:42 mark, he put back an errant shot by Will Bynum to make it 39-36. After getting the ball back on the next possession, he drew a shooting foul and made one of his free throws.

Malaga’s Davor Kus cut the lead back to one with a long-range three-pointer, but Casspi responded by rescuing a garbage shot by Alex Garcia and sticking it back in the hoop. He closed out the half with a defensive gem, stuffing Kus who drove to the baseline and took an otherwise easy shot. Consequently, Maccabi was able to walk off the court with a 44-39 halftime lead.

Casspi finished the game with 11pts and 6rebs and it was not only Haaretz that was raving about his game. The official Euroleague report also came up with some good words about Omri Casspi.

Casspi checked in with a long jumper, before Carlos Cabezas muscled his way to an offensive rebound and basket. Will Bynum went coast-to-coast for a layup and Esteban Batista converted in transition to make it 37-31, leading to an Unicaja timeout. Kus hit a triple and German Gabriel scored inside to close the gap to 1. Casspi continued his spirited play with a pair of offensive rebounds leading to a basket and a free throw. Kus countered by drilling a triple from the top of the key, but Casspi was there again for a tip-in. Bynum added a pair of free throws and Casspi swatted Kus in the closing seconds of the half to give Maccabi a 44-39 halftime lead.