Omri Casspi Leads the Kings Past the Cavs

I had to stop blogging about the great Omri because I got a new job and no longer had the time to write about his exploits. However, when I was reading Yahoo! sports this morning and I saw that Omri was the Kings' star of the game. I knew that I had to mention this feat of greatness to the blogosphere.

Now, the Lebron-less Cavaliers are not an elite NBA team - but Omri still had a great night with 20 points on 7 for 10 shooting. You can see an Omri highlight at 54 seconds over at NBA.com. But unfortunately, there is also a potential goat moment when he missed two free-throws at the end of the game.

BTW - NBA.com no longer allows you to directly paste their highlight videos in a blog post :-(

Well, keep up the good work Omri and maybe I will have to keep the blog posts coming.

Photo Credit - By Chamber of Fear (File:Omri Casspi Courtney Lee.jpg) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Israel's Olympic Skier

Omri's last game was a real clunker, he only scored 3 points. So I needed a breath of fresh air. I decided to share a great article that I read article in Ha'aretz Online about Mikail Renzhin.

You don't know who Mikail Renzhin is? Well you should. He is only the greatest Israeli skier on the planet. And he is representing Israel in the Slalom and Giant Slalom at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Israel is blessed with many beautiful sights and wonderful outdoor activities. Skiing, is not one of them. So Mikail must spend most of his time outside of Israel, in order to maintain his Olympic level of skiing prowess. But he will be draped in the Israeli flag in Vancouver and that is what matters.

Go get 'em Mikail. We're rooting for you!

Photo Credits - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skier-carving-a-turn.jpg

Kings vs. Suns - Surprise! Omri Casspi has Strong Game in Losing Effort

Friday Feb. 5

The Suns scored 39 points in the first quarter. Nuff said. The Kings lost again and as a team, continue to play awful basketball.

The Kings were only in about 30 seconds of the NBA.com highlight clip and Omri was nowhere to be seen. The Kings stink and they are in a funk because everyone wants to know if Kevin Martin is going to be traded. Against the Suns, Martin only played 26 minutes to Omri's 35! BTW - Omri started again because Jason Thompson has yet to return to the team for personal reasons. NOTE - Omri was battling a stomach virus on Thursday and was questionable for the game. More proof of his grit and toughness.

Omri scored 17 points (2nd best on the team!) and grabbed 8 rebounds. His shooting was off as he was 6 for 14 from the floor. But wait, there is good shooting news too - he was 2 for 4 on three pointers and hit all 3 of his free throws!. Omri's free throw shooting has really improved, he has only missed one free throw in his last five games. Moreover, he is 31 for 39 (79.5%) on his free throws since the beginning of 2010. Now that is what I call improvement!

NBA.com also mentioned that Omri's nickname is OC. We should all work on coming up with a better one. Anyone have contacts with Chris Berman? I also like King Omri. Suggestions?

Omri - good luck against the Raptors on Sunday night.

Kings vs. Spurs - Omri Casspi Returns to the Starting Lineup

Wednesday Feb. 3

Omri Casspi returns to the starting lineup against the San Antonio Spurs. But don't get your hopes up - Jason Thompson missed the game because he had to attend a funeral. It is very likely that Omri will return to his sixth man role Friday night against the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, the outcome of the game was consistent - the Kings lost despite a valiant effort by Tyreke Evans in the last two minutes.

Omri had a decent game - 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and only 1 turnover. He was only 4 for 12 from the floor and 0 for 3 from three-point land. But we do have a nice post-game quote from Omri.

"It's pretty tough, man. I believe that we need only one good game, one win to get out of it. We've just got to play together more on offense, try to help more on defense, get more stops. … As far as I know, as far as I'm involved, we're all trying to stay together to get out of it, try to be positive and just try to win, I thought."

Pretty articulate - no? Only two weeks to go until the rookie All-Star game. Can't wait!

Omri Casspi the Human Highlight Reel

Monday Feb. 1

The Kings were so close to a win, and yet so far. The other star rookie for the Kings, Tyreke Evans, did not play because of a sore ankle and the Kings lost to the Denver Nuggets in overtime. Omri Casspi continued his solid production: 14 points and 4 rebounds. He also had a great shooting night, 80% from the floor and he made all six free-throws!

Moreover, Omri was practically a human highlight reel! The first 30 seconds of the NBA.com highlights show Omri's deft shooting touch. At the 1:30 mark, you can see a beautiful pass and assist from Casspi the King. If you are only going to take five shots from the floor and you still get over 30% of highlight time - that's showin' some serious NBA style! Keep it up Omri, we're lovin' it.