OAKLAND – Omri Casspi has been shooting the 3-point shot more often since he joined the Memphis Grizzlies following his stint with the Golden State Warriors, and his former coach can’t help but notice.
In his second game against his former team since joining Memphis, Casspi was fantastic. He lead his team in scoring with an efficient 20 points, only missing two of his 10 shot attempts. He drained a pair of long balls, going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc on the night, a statistic that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr keyed in on during his postgame interview.
This season the Warriors bench unit has produced at a higher level than it did last year. When Anthony Slater of the Athletic asked Kerr about this, he was quick with his response.
“Yeah well if Omri had shot last year like he did tonight (laughs) … he took four of em! I think he took eight all last year,” Kerr said, referencing Omri’s 3-point shot attempts. “No Omri was great tonight, had 20 points, was killing us on his back cuts. But for whatever reason he didn’t shoot 3s last year.”
Kerr was correct. Last year in 53 games Casspi took 22 attempts from beyond the arc. In less than half the games so far this season, Casspi has taken 21 shots from deep. What Steve Kerr may not know is that his Israeli friend hit from deep at a much higher rate (.455) during his time in Oakland than he has with Memphis (.333).
Regardless, there was no ill will from Kerr with his light-hearted jab.
“Everyone’s taking this as a shot and I know you’re all writing it as a shot.” Kerr said to the reporters in the room with a smile. “It was a joke.”