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HEADER OMRI CASSPI Small Forward/Shooting Guard Maccabi Electra Tel-Aviv, Israel #11 6:07.5214 Elitzur Yavne, Israel OVERVIEW A developing role player, Casspi made great strides to become one of the elite wing players on the international circuit. A high-energy scorer, he was his team's "jack of all trades." Casspi can play point forward and his developing frame and leaping ability make him a horse on the glass. He scored a good portion of his points on putbacks. Casspi grew up in Elitzur Yavne, Israel, moving to Maccabi Rishon before joining the Maccabi Tel Aviv junior squad at age 15. Playing for Gimnasia Realit and the Boys U-18 National Team during the 2005 season, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in 10 games. The following season, Casspi played for the Maccabi junior squad and also competed on the Boys U-18 National Team. In a total of 36 contests, he scored 271 points (7.5 points per game), grabbed 105 rebounds (2.9 rebounds per game) and dished out 32 assists. He was a 54.2% shooter from two-point range, but made just 20% of his 3-pointers and 59.7% of his free throws. In 2006-07, Casspi was loaned by Maccabi Tel Aviv to Galil Elyon. He also competed for the Men's U-21 National Team. In 45 combined contests, he tallied 13.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He was credited with 54 assists, 61 steals and 16 blocked shots. After a stellar junior competition career, Casspi joined the parent Maccabi Tel Aviv club for 2007-08 competition, but had a rocky relationship with team management. Casspi's family had sought his release from his contract due to erratic playing time afforded him by the team's new coach, Omar Katash. Casspi's father openly criticized management for the way they were using his son. After a meeting of the minds, the small forward began seeing more consistent playing time before he announced his intentions to leave Israel to play in the NBA in 2008. In an interview with Walla!Sport, Shimon Casspi asked for his son to get released from Maccabi Tel Aviv. The pressure move by Shimon Casspi not only pressured Zvi Sherf, he also approached David Federman who is the chairman of Maccabi's Main Sponsor Elite and also Vice Chairman of the Maccabi Tel Aviv board. Immediately after Katash's appointment as Maccabi coach, Omri's parents wanted him to play at Bnei Hasharon, but Maccabi Tel Aviv chairman Shimon Mizrahi insisted on keeping the player another two years as per his contract. The two sides agreed that if Casspi wouldn't be among the top eight in the rotation, he would be released from his contract at season's end. Maccabi didn't feel a need to respond to Casspi's father and rarely did. The turmoil subsided as Casspi began to play more in the rotation, as he ended up playing in a total of 52 of the team's 54 games in D-I, Israeli Cup, Euroleague and Winner Cup competition. Combined, he amassed 417 points (8.0 per game), averaging 3.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and shot 59.4% from two-point range. He made 30.1% of his 3-point shots and was successful on 70.7% of his chances from the foul line. The 2008-09 season saw Casspi play up to his ability, as he saw regular minutes in the rotation instituted by new head coach Gershon Pini. He appeared in 16 games in the Euroleague, averaging 8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 steals in just 17.2 minutes per game. In the European Championships, he scored 33 points (5.5 per game) with 18 boards (3.0 rebounds per game) in six contests. He saw considerably more action in the Israeli Premier League, averaging 25 .3 minutes in 27 games. He increased his scoring average to 13.0 points per game, shooting 65.5% from two-point range while making 27-of-70 treys to go with 130 rebounds (4.8 rpg). 2008-09 SEASON Casspi appeared in a total of 49 games, logging 1,022 minutes of action in European Championships (six games), Euroleague (16 games) and Israeli Premier League (27 games) action...Scored a total of 523 points (10.7 ppg), as he shot 60.4% from two-point range (165-of-273), 38.7% from 3-point range (36-of-93) and 73.3% from the foul line (85-of-116)...Grabbed 198 rebounds (4.0 rpg) with fourteen blocked shots (0.3 bpg), 62 assists (1.3 apg) and 37 steals (0.8 spg)...Also had 54 turnovers...Scored in double figures 29 times, including for 20-plus point performances. 2007-08 SEASON Played in a total of 52 games, including three contests in the Winner Cup series, four in the Israeli Cup, 20 in Euroleague competition and 25 during the D-I level regular season...Appeared in a total of 837 minutes, hitting on 123-of-207 field goals from two-point range (59.4%), 28-of-93 3-pointers (30.1%) and 87-of-123 free throws (70.7%) for a total of 417 points (8.0 ppg)...Grabbed 158 rebounds (3.0 rpg), including 50 from the offensive glass, as he was credited with 57 assists (1.1 apg), 19 steals and 15 blocked shots...Charged with 56 turnovers and 94 personal fouls...Scored in double digits in 16 contests. 2006-07 SEASON Casspi was loaned by Maccabi Tel Aviv to Galil Elyon, playing 37 games with that team and eight more with the Men's Under 21 National Team...Combined for 1,028 minutes of action and 607 points (13.5 points per game)...Pulled down 159 rebounds (3.5 rebounds per game), including 46 from the offensive glass...Added 54 assists (1.2 assists per game) with 61 steals (1.4 spg) and 16 blocked shots...Had 89 turnovers and 122 personal fouls...Made 145-of-269 two-point field goals (53.9%), 59-of-126 3-point attempts (46.8%) and shot 70.0% from the free throw line (140-of-200). 2005-06 SEASON Played for the Macabi Tel Aviv junior team for 26 games and in eight contests with the Boys U-18 National team...Combined for 271 points (7.5 points per game), shooting 54.2% from two-point range (142-of-262), 26.7% from 3-point area (9-of-45) and 59.7% from the foul line (71-of-119)...Credited with 105 rebounds (2.9 rpg), 32 assists, 27 steals and seven blocked shots. 2004-05 SEASON Played in two games for Gimnasia Realit in the Boys Hish School League and eight more with the Boys U-18 National team...Totaled 175 points (17.5 ppg), 58 rebounds (5.8 rpg), 13 assists, 17 steals and one blocked shot. CAREER NOTES In 46 games during his junior career, Casspi scored 446 points (9.7 points per game) with 163 rebounds (3.5 rebounds per game), 45 assists, 44 steals and eight blocked shots, turning the ball over 72 times while making 205-of-384 two-point field goals (53.4%), adding 17-of-75 3-pointers (22.7%) and 96-of-161 free throws (59.6%)...In men's competition, Casspi appeared in 146 games (2006-09), shooting 57.8% from two-point range (433-of-749), 39.4% from 3-point range (123-of-312) and 71.1% from the foul line (312-of-439), scoring 1,547 points (10.6 points per game)...Grabbed 515 rebounds (3.5 rebounds per game) with 173 assists (1.2 assists per game), 117 steals (0.8 spg) and 45 blocked shots (0.3 bpg), as he was charged with 199 turnovers. INJURY REPORT No injuries reported. PERSONAL Son of Shimon Casspi...Born 6/22/88 in Rehovot, Israel...Resides in Elitzur Yavne, Israel. SCOUTING REPORT Positives: Quick perimeter player whose lanky frame might not be strong enough yet to play the "three" spot in the NBA, but he shows the athleticism and quickness to be capable of running the floor well as a shooting guard...Might lack the blazing speed to be a lead guard spot, but has good balance and quickness to start the fast break and is very assertive getting to the basket...Shows excellent off-ball movement and uses his body well to draw contact around the basket...Has the wingspan and athleticism to be quite effective getting down the floor on the fast break...Plays with great passion and is a crowd favorite with his work ethic, leaving slower forwards in his wake when he slashes to the rim...As he has matured, the biggest developments in his game were becoming more effective creating his own shot and NBA-ready low post moves...Smart player with good shot selection...Takes proper angles going to the hoop from his array of cuts...Uses his long arms effectively in attempts to steal the ball or alter shots...Better facing up than with his back to the basket, as he has enough of a functional first step to drive past slower power forwards...Really explodes behind his leaps, showing the vertical skills and reach to rise above the rim...Shows very good balance playing on the fast break...Has enough leg drive to penetrate and take the ball inside, but gets most of his points pulling up to execute his mid-range jumper...Needs to improve his accuracy to make NBA-caliber 3-pointers, but has the range to make those shots, once he develops a higher release point...Has good balance and body control slashing to the basket, getting the defender to commit to leave the ground too early with a nifty pump fake...Ideal product to play in transition, as he can run the court well...Strong dribbling the ball with either hand, doing a nice job using his left hand to put the ball on the floor and dish it out to an open man...When forced to play in the frontcourt (saw action at the four- and five-spots this year), he has the foot quickness to be active in the low post and slip past slower defenders...Shows good hands to catch passes and rare do you see him lose it off the dribble when driving to the basket...Has a quick mid-range jumper that he uses as a pull-up shot...Can handle more than a few minutes at the point, as he's an efficient ball-handler with a nice touch, passing out of double teams nicely when locating an open outlet...Shows good intensity taking the ball to the hoop and finishing with a powerful dunk, getting good elevation while drawing contact along the way...Has some low post moves, but is better when fading away from the basket to put in a soft jumper from mid range...Shows good footwork pushing the ball in transition...Has the vision to locate cutters that might have a better shot...Alert to drawing out the defensive rotations, holding on to the ball to bait out those opponents before firing the ball out to an open perimeter shooter...Reads the passing lanes well when working back for the ball on defense...Not as comfortable on the pick-and-roll as you would expect from him, but is a good finisher on isolation plays. Negatives: Like most European combo forwards, he's not held back by his athleticism as a defender but poor awareness and instincts can lead to defensive breakdowns...Better defending on the back-door cut because of his long arms, but needs to face up to the opponent more consistently...Can draw contact on the way to the rim, but will immediately back off when boxed out or challenged by more physical opponents...Decent rebounder, but prefers not to battle for the ball, especially loose balls...When a defender gets physical, he will complain to the refs and disappear for long stretches...Will yield too much space when asked to defend vs. big men...When he loses his concentration and is taken out of his game, it can carry over to offense...Streaky shooter who doesn't repeat his release...When he is pushed out of the inside action, he bounces outside to attempt a spot-up shot...Played often at power forward in 2007-08, but would quickly back away from contact in the paint (has become much more aggressive now that he has moved out to the wing)...Even when handling smaller defenders, he is not the type that will get in the shooter's face for long...Has good court speed for a big man (not great), but his lack of lateral range has seen slashers have good success penetrating on him, as it is rare to see him close on his man, relying on his length in attempts to get to the ball...Needs to improve his perimeter shot...While a decent passer, he goes through long stretches where he feels he should take every shot...Had a disturbing family situation, bordering on them being a nuisance, as his father caused some serious relationship problems for the player and his present club (both his youth coach and 2008 Maccabi coach fired while his father took his disagreements directly to the press, but he had a relatively calm and productive 2008-09 campaign under new coach Gershon Pini). Compares To: MATT HARPING, Utah -- Harping has more bulk, but both are streaky shooters capable of big scoring nights. Casspi has good athleticism for the European game, but while he has played mostly in the front court, he lacks the bulk to handle the 4 or 5 spot in the NBA. He seemed to mature, physically and emotionally, in the past year and showed a much better team-first attitude and no longer shied away from the dirty work. He is good playing without the ball in his hands and can score off the dribble. He is a high-energy type who can finish around the rim. --Report by Dave-Te' Thomas

Scouting report provided by The Sports Xchange.