Kelly Olynyk

[Gibbon]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/boston-celtics-kelly-olynyk-compete-nba-rookie-163700720.html

This article sees him as a favorite for rookie of the year based on summer ball. Seems a tad premature.

Nevertheless, it'd be nice to see some players a little more...ahem..."Bird-esque" up in my neck of the woods. Have to wonder too if the absence of a "Bird-esque" player inspired the trade because viewership must be down for this team. After all, I do occasionally talk to the "real (South) Bostonians".

Doesn't mean I'll watch...until maybe he's leading them deep into the playoffs and taking Lebron to the hole. It'd be a good thing for my nephew who is addicted to this stupid team.

 

[Gibbon]

Have to wonder too if the absence of a "Bird-esque" player inspired the trade because viewership must be down for this team. After all, I do occasionally talk to the "real (South) Bostonians".
[/QUOTE]

More likely: Ainge played with two of the best players of all time in Bird and McHale(and wasn't too shabby a player himself) hence may have less aversion to "taking a risk" with a white player.

Though that wouldn't explain the make up of the team under his guidance so far...

And he seems, at least officially, to view Olynyk as merely a complementary player:

http://nesn.com/2013/06/kelly-olyny...g-process-but-far-from-franchise-cornerstone/

He also held onto those has-beens Garnett and Pierce well past their sell date.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

last night against Detroit, Kelly had his first official double-digit scoring game as an NBA player, finishing with an efficient 15 points (on 6 of 11 shooting), 8 rebounds, and 2 steals in just 26 minutes. his scoring efficiency is particularly impressive when you realize that he is having to play through the (apparently league-mandated) White-man-are-soft bias of the NBA officials. he's also getting his points largely from offensive rebounding, running the floor, and generally working hard to be in the right place at the right time, because the Celtics aren't running any plays for him.

you can see for yourself in the video below.

[video=youtube;FvToX6WjBhg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvToX6WjBhg[/video]

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

he's looking good for a rookie, and he shined throughout the exhibition season despite coming off the plantar fasciatis (sp?) problem. here's a look at his game in mid-October against Toronto. you can see his efficient scoring prowess despite being a non-factor in the plays that the so-called "Celtics" are running.

[video=youtube;Ewq0mOu6LbI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewq0mOu6LbI[/video]

Olynyk clearly has the talent to be a legit pro, and it'll be even more evident when he's able to face up and go at people from the high post.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

here's a link to a fairly objective assessment of Olynyk's play through 3 games of the young NBA season: http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2013/11/kelly_olynyk_breaks_out_for_bo.html

Olynyk breaks out

Before Boston’s first regular season game, head coach Brad Stevens said he considered rookie Kelly Olynyk one of the team’s best players and would not be surprised to see Olynyk lead the team in minutes. That set expectations pretty high for the youngster from Gonzaga, but he did not immediately experience NBA success. His first two games came chock full of learning experiences, as he seemed a step slow and sometimes out of position.

But in Game 3 – against a fierce Detroit frontcourt – he started to play with more force. Olynyk continued to miss his jump shots as he’s done all year, including preseason, but was a real factor everywhere else. He came up with a couple of steals, slammed home a putback dunk, and finished 6-11 from the field despite an 0-4 mark on jump shots. His lone missed field goal on non-jumpers came after a nice move on Jonas Jerebko; he was blocked by Andre Drummond, helping from the weak side. Perhaps Olynyk’s best move came on the left wing in a face-up against Greg Monroe; the rookie beat the Pistons big man off the dribble, then finished at the rim with all-world athlete Josh Smith lurking. Or maybe it was when Olynyk worked in the post, sealing off Monroe for a relatively easy lay-in.

Finally, the young Celtics big man showed flashes of the skill that had people drooling in summer league. He also showed some decent defense, especially in pick and roll situations, when he was often tasked with staying in front of the quick Brandon Jennings (which Olynyk did with relative success). I assume the long-haired fella’s jump shots will start to go down at a better rate, and if he maintains the confidence he played with Sunday night, he should continue to earn plenty of minutes. One negative to note: Olynyk continued his error-prone way with three turnovers. Two of them were quite careless, including one on a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass in traffic to Faverani – an optimist would say that’s easily correctable; a pessimist would say it was really dumb.

Still: Sorry, Kris Humphries. Your stay on the bench could last for the foreseeable future. Stevens seems likely to stick with Olynyk, Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger and Vitor Faverani as his four-man frontcourt rotation.

 

[white lightning]

I love watching him dunk. With his hair flying in the wind he looks like a skinnier version of the hero Thor. He has some really nice all around skills. Glad to see the Celtics lightening up a little for the first time in around a decade.

 

[Gibbon]

With his hair flying in the wind he looks like a skinnier version of the hero Thor.

Haha. I am saying he looks more like shaggy in Scooby Doo. I bet, if he stays healthy, he'll be good. And, if he turns out well, they'll like him Boston. That's for sure.

 

[Gibbon]

The Celtics have won four straight after losing four straight. Olynyk is getting into a groove and the coach appears to have a great deal of faith in him.

The DWFs on the talk shows around here are all saying exactly the same thing. The Celtics should deliberately tank the season and go for a lottery pick. The thinking goes as follows: Boston is no longer a choice destination for elite basketball players (i.e. blacks), so desirable free agents will shun it. Therefore the draft is the only road to success. I am obviously just hoping Olynyk develops into another Nowitzki/Bird.

Brad Stevens coached Gordon Hayward at Butler and appears to be relatively white-friendly. His experience with an exceptional athlete like Hayward would only have made him more so. In fact a recent Globe article fantasized about the possibility of a Hayward/Stevens reunion next season when Hayward becomes a free agent.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...de-jump-nba/4YSUCH18gbridJ9ain5tXK/story.html