Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr wasn't short of jokes after a 17-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, one that saw his former player, Omri Casspi, trot out a season-high 20 points in 21 minutes against his old team.
Dubbed as the “revenge game” — Casspi played the most minutes he's played this season since his first appearance of the year — and made use of every single one of them — going a sparkling 8-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from deep.
Kerr now possesses the top 3-point shooting bench percentage-wise — a radical change from last season, where the Warriors' bench ranked 28th, heavily leaning on the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant to connect from long-range. Asked what had sparked the sudden change, Kerr was pragmatically sarcastic in response.
“Well, if Omri had shot last year like he did tonight (laughs). He took four of them! I think he took eight all last year,” said Kerr with a smile. “No, Omri was great tonight, he had 20 points, he was killing us with his back cuts. For whatever reason, he didn't shoot the threes last year and this year we have some guys who are more willing to shoot.”
Steve Kerr on bench production and a clear joke on Omri Casspi pic.twitter.com/bnsL2PSh8a
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) December 18, 2018
Kerr clarified he wasn't taking a shot at Casspi, but with every joke, there is some truth sprinkled in it.
So here it is…
Casspi was largely bumped out of Kerr's rotation due to his untimely injuries, with the likes of Kevon Looney getting more run, given his new-found nose for the glass and all-around good play. While he still stood a chance to get back some playing time, he stopped shooting threes, which was one of the main appeals to his game as a capable stretch-four.
That lack of a trigger finger resulted in his exile from the day-to-day rotation, which caused some discontent, which eventually resulted in him being waived by the team in favor of Quinn Cook.
Cook had his two-way deal turned into a full-fledged contract, as the Warriors needed a viable point guard down the stretch, with Stephen Curry out for the remainder of the regular season.
Had Casspi shot the threes consistently, maybe it would have been a different story. Surprisingly, it was the Israeli that led the team in 3-point shooting field goal percentage with a 45.5 percent efficiency, trailed closely by Cook's impressive 44.2 percent clip.
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