The son who returned from the NBA is the most interesting issue at Maccabi Tel Aviv. The future until the tank top is hung
Omri Caspi.
Returned or not?
Photography:
Alan Shiver
Returned or not returned?
Maccabi Tel Aviv has held 19 games since November 23, the date of Omri Caspi's return to the pitches after almost a year. In how many partners is the veteran forward? In 14 games. Due to a stomach virus, like in the game against Real Madrid last week, he will not be involved in tonight's game against Fenerbahce for the same reason.
In the attached table you can see the full numbers of season money, and these are really not data to tell about at home, not even after a year off the pitches.
The frustration on the face of the former NBA player was hard to miss in recent games, when nothing went his way.
How much does it affect the group?
On players like Caspi it is common to say that when they are on the field the whole team is better, even if you do not see it in the statistics columns of points, rebounds, assists and shooting percentages.
We dived into the depths of the data with the help of the recommended Facebook page Pick and Roll and discovered that Maccabi is indeed better when it comes to money.
With him, the Yellows' balance is 2: 6 (75 percent success) compared to 9: 4 without him (30.7 percent), Caspi's defensive rating (points that the team absorbs per 100 shooting situations when he is on the floor) is the best in the team (89.9), and the offensive rating (Points that the team scores per 100 shooting situations when it is on the floor) is the third best in the team (98.7).
So why is he not playing anymore?
This is actually the most important question, and even after checking and talking to many factors, we still have not received a satisfactory answer to all the questions.
People close to the player say that physically he feels great and has no health problems.
We saw the best proof of this in the Winner's Cup final exactly one month ago, when it exploded on Hapoel Holon with 14 points (4 from 5 to 3) in 15 minutes.
Maccabi claims that Caspi needs more time to return to full playing fitness and so that he can show his abilities.
The same factors explain that only when all the medical (and maybe even mental) problems are behind him and he creates consistency in the minutes of the game, will he return to fitness.
As long as this does not happen and when the forward plays under a minute limit, the team understands that they need additional solutions, especially in the Israeli staff, so among other things, TJ was signed this week.
Small.
What does he do in his free time?
It is hard to ignore the fact that Caspi is already preparing for the day after and branding himself as a cultural anchor beyond the boundaries of the sports world.
His popular podcast featured political figures such as Naftali Bennett, Amir Ohana, Yair Netanyahu and Ofer Shelach, artists and singers.
At the same time, Caspi has recently increased his investments and efforts in economic and social ventures in which he is a partner in Israel and overseas.
It is likely that Maccabi, which maintains the club's reputation and ensures maximum concentration of its basketball players - especially in the great intensity of the Euroleague - would not allow other players to engage in all of Caspi's major ventures, but according to sources involved in the details in the summer 2019 negotiations Caspi will have some independence in non-sports projects, as is customary with stars from the league in America where he played until a year and a half ago.
And what next?
Both Maccabi and the player's environment make it clear that if nothing special happens, Caspi will end the season as a series and try to contribute as much as he can.
However, if the current situation, in which he plays little and has difficulty expressing himself and in fact serves as a fringe player in rotation, continues, it is clear that as a player with a past ten seasons in the NBA, he will have a hard time accepting the situation.
Maccabi, which pays him more than a million dollars a season, will not be able to afford to continue in a situation where a large part of its budget goes to a player who contributes almost nothing professionally.
A.