offense should run through KO as much as possible

[nickagneta]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

[Tr1boy]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

Is he also too tall? Too good of a passer and ball handler to fail??

You got to be serious nick lol

I dont think you have watched one game of this kid play yet. He is a very good player on both ends of the court. He needs time to build a better body no doubt but once he does he will be that much better.

[nickagneta]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

Is he also too tall? Too good of a passer and ball handler to fail??

You got to be serious nick lol

I dont think you have watched one game of this kid play yet. He is a very good player on both ends of the court. He needs time to build a better body no doubt but once he does he will be that much better.

I have watched three pre season games, what's that a third of their games in the preseason, and in all three, including yesterday's game, Olynyl showed me nothing...and I mean nothing...that would convince me he will still be in the league after his rookie contract.

I have read this garbage that the Gonzaga media people played up about him redshirting for a year to get into shape to contribute at the college level and he went out and came back a year plus later to be one of the best college basketball players in 2012.

So he took over a year to get himself into the great shape he is in now and you still admit him weak and in need if strengthening. He's what, 21-22 years old now. He took time off from basketball to do nothing but work out to get better at basketball and he's pretty significantly weak now. How is he going to do everything he has to to get stronger while playing and practicing an 82 game schedule?

He's years away from being strong enough to be adequate enough to do anything in this league. Watch what happens to him when Lebron, KG, Chris Bosh, Serge Ibaka, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, David West, Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and guys of this ilk play against him. He will foul out in seconds, or get destroyed.

[snively]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

Is he also too tall? Too good of a passer and ball handler to fail??

You got to be serious nick lol

I dont think you have watched one game of this kid play yet. He is a very good player on both ends of the court. He needs time to build a better body no doubt but once he does he will be that much better.

I have watched three pre season games, what's that a third of their games in the preseason, and in all three, including yesterday's game, Olynyl showed me nothing...and I mean nothing...that would convince me he will still be in the league after his rookie contract.

I have read this garbage that the Gonzaga media people played up about him redshirting for a year to get into shape to contribute at the college level and he went out and came back a year plus later to be one of the best college basketball players in 2012.

So he took over a year to get himself into the great shape he is in now and you still admit him weak and in need if strengthening. He's what, 21-22 years old now. He took time off from basketball to do nothing but work out to get better at basketball and he's pretty significantly weak now. How is he going to do everything he has to to get stronger while playing and practicing an 82 game schedule?

He's years away from being strong enough to be adequate enough to do anything in this league. Watch what happens to him when Lebron, KG, Chris Bosh, Serge Ibaka, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, David West, Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and guys of this ilk play against him. He will foul out in seconds, or get destroyed.

Nothing to indicate he'll outlast his rookie contract? He's shooting better than anyone else on the team across 7 preseason games.  He's shown shooting range, finishing ability in the paint and in transition, and excellent passing.

Sure he's weak on the boards and weak in general, but he's shown plenty of NBA skills too. And it's not like he's JJJ weak - just garden variety college weak.

I remain very optimistic about KO.

[fitzhickey]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

Is he also too tall? Too good of a passer and ball handler to fail??

You got to be serious nick lol

I dont think you have watched one game of this kid play yet. He is a very good player on both ends of the court. He needs time to build a better body no doubt but once he does he will be that much better.

I have watched three pre season games, what's that a third of their games in the preseason, and in all three, including yesterday's game, Olynyl showed me nothing...and I mean nothing...that would convince me he will still be in the league after his rookie contract.

I have read this garbage that the Gonzaga media people played up about him redshirting for a year to get into shape to contribute at the college level and he went out and came back a year plus later to be one of the best college basketball players in 2012.

So he took over a year to get himself into the great shape he is in now and you still admit him weak and in need if strengthening. He's what, 21-22 years old now. He took time off from basketball to do nothing but work out to get better at basketball and he's pretty significantly weak now. How is he going to do everything he has to to get stronger while playing and practicing an 82 game schedule?

He's years away from being strong enough to be adequate enough to do anything in this league. Watch what happens to him when Lebron, KG, Chris Bosh, Serge Ibaka, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, David West, Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and guys of this ilk play against him. He will foul out in seconds, or get destroyed.

Seeing warnings about our rookies getting man-handled by KG on another team makes me sad 

[clover]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

Is he also too tall? Too good of a passer and ball handler to fail??

You got to be serious nick lol

I dont think you have watched one game of this kid play yet. He is a very good player on both ends of the court. He needs time to build a better body no doubt but once he does he will be that much better.

I have watched three pre season games, what's that a third of their games in the preseason, and in all three, including yesterday's game, Olynyl showed me nothing...and I mean nothing...that would convince me he will still be in the league after his rookie contract.

I have read this garbage that the Gonzaga media people played up about him redshirting for a year to get into shape to contribute at the college level and he went out and came back a year plus later to be one of the best college basketball players in 2012.

So he took over a year to get himself into the great shape he is in now and you still admit him weak and in need if strengthening. He's what, 21-22 years old now. He took time off from basketball to do nothing but work out to get better at basketball and he's pretty significantly weak now. How is he going to do everything he has to to get stronger while playing and practicing an 82 game schedule?

He's years away from being strong enough to be adequate enough to do anything in this league. Watch what happens to him when Lebron, KG, Chris Bosh, Serge Ibaka, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, David West, Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and guys of this ilk play against him. He will foul out in seconds, or get destroyed.

Nothing to indicate he'll outlast his rookie contract? He's shooting better than anyone else on the team across 7 preseason games.  He's shown shooting range, finishing ability in the paint and in transition, and excellent passing.

Sure he's weak on the boards and weak in general, but he's shown plenty of NBA skills too. And it's not like he's JJJ weak - just garden variety college weak.

I remain very optimistic about KO.

KO's not actually been particularly weak on the boards in college, summer league, or even in the preseason. He's rebounded at a slightly lower rate than Sully, and Sully's rebounded at a slightly lower rate than Fav--who's been a preseason stud.

But you can see there's still room for improvement with KO's rebounding technique, which means he can still get better at it.

His year of red-shirting brought him more skill and agility more than it did raw strength, and it's not surprising that a 22-year-old 7-footer still needs to get stronger.

Nick, I think your trademark negativity will meet its match with Olynyk's results in the NBA, but we will see. A rookie 7-footer who doesn't shy away from aggressive play almost always gets a quick whistle and has to make adjustments upon reaching the NBA, and three-quarters of a pre-season is too soon to expect KO to have surpassed that. I think he's a smart basketball player who will get it pretty quickly, but he needs a quarter of an actual NBA season before this can really be evaluated as a possible issue.

We will see, but I expect him to average at least 25 minutes a game during the season, because as Stevens has said, the C's are a better team with him on the court.

With that playing time I expect him to make the rookie All-Star game and then probably end up with first-team rookie honors.

But again, we will see.

[crimson_stallion]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

Have you seen Kevin Love play lately?

I saw some footage of him against in recent preseason play and heard commentators saying that he is in much better shape and looks "much more agile" this year.  That's saying something, because he moves like he's stuck in quick-sand.

Weak?  Yep, Love is that too.  He has a horrendous post game.

Poor defense?  Yep, Love is a horrendous defensive player too.

In fact Love has a very similar style of game to Olynyk in that he is not very athletic, not very good defensively, and plays more on the perimeter.  Like Love, Olynyk is a nice jumpshooter for a big man and has very good hands and passing skills.

The only difference physically is that Love is very undersized at barely 6'9" while Olynyk has legit 7'0" height.  That height gives him the ability to shoot over smaller PF's which is exactly what makes someone like Dirk (another perimeter oriented big who sucks defensively and is not very athletic) so hard to defend.

Unlike Love Olynyk isn't an Elite rebounder, but unlike Love Olynyk is a very good scorer in the post. 

I can see Olynyk eventually being a poor man's Dirk, good for about 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists per night.  I doubt he'll ever be a star, but I think he could be a very good starter on a playoff contender.  I'm thinking a Keith Van Horn / Al Harrington / Clifford Robinson type player.

[crimson_stallion]

I am not seeing the Olynyk love. Still think the kid will be a bust. He's not physical, not a good rebounder and a poor defender. His offensive skills, the little he has displayed, will be swallowed up by starting caliber power forwards in this league.

Has he played long stretches without piling up fouls? What about long stretches against high quality defensive PFs? What about long stretches versus very good to great offensive PFs?

Once the regular season starts and he starts playing some games and some pro film on him gets out, he is going to struggle massively and many on this site are going to be disappointed big time.

My expectations are that he gets stronger and tougher and learns to play the system this year. I wouldn't expect anything more than 5-6 quality minutes out of him a game, even if he is playing 20-25. He just is too weak and too slow to be a factor this year.

Is he also too tall? Too good of a passer and ball handler to fail??

You got to be serious nick lol

I dont think you have watched one game of this kid play yet. He is a very good player on both ends of the court. He needs time to build a better body no doubt but once he does he will be that much better.

I have watched three pre season games, what's that a third of their games in the preseason, and in all three, including yesterday's game, Olynyl showed me nothing...and I mean nothing...that would convince me he will still be in the league after his rookie contract.

I have read this garbage that the Gonzaga media people played up about him redshirting for a year to get into shape to contribute at the college level and he went out and came back a year plus later to be one of the best college basketball players in 2012.

So he took over a year to get himself into the great shape he is in now and you still admit him weak and in need if strengthening. He's what, 21-22 years old now. He took time off from basketball to do nothing but work out to get better at basketball and he's pretty significantly weak now. How is he going to do everything he has to to get stronger while playing and practicing an 82 game schedule?

He's years away from being strong enough to be adequate enough to do anything in this league. Watch what happens to him when Lebron, KG, Chris Bosh, Serge Ibaka, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony, David West, Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge and guys of this ilk play against him. He will foul out in seconds, or get destroyed.

Nothing to indicate he'll outlast his rookie contract? He's shooting better than anyone else on the team across 7 preseason games.  He's shown shooting range, finishing ability in the paint and in transition, and excellent passing.

Sure he's weak on the boards and weak in general, but he's shown plenty of NBA skills too. And it's not like he's JJJ weak - just garden variety college weak.

I remain very optimistic about KO.

KO's not actually been particularly weak on the boards in college, summer league, or even in the preseason. He's rebounded at a slightly lower rate than Sully, and Sully's rebounded at a slightly lower rate than Fav--who's been a preseason stud.

But you can see there's still room for improvement with KO's rebounding technique, which means he can still get better at it.

His year of red-shirting brought him more skill and agility more than it did raw strength, and it's not surprising that a 22-year-old 7-footer still needs to get stronger.

Nick, I think your trademark negativity will meet its match with Olynyk's results in the NBA, but we will see. A rookie 7-footer who doesn't shy away from aggressive play almost always gets a quick whistle and has to make adjustments upon reaching the NBA, and three-quarters of a pre-season is too soon to expect KO to have surpassed that. I think he's a smart basketball player who will get it pretty quickly, but he needs a quarter of an actual NBA season before this can really be evaluated as a possible issue.

We will see, but I expect him to average at least 25 minutes a game during the season, because as Stevens has said, the C's are a better team with him on the court.

With that playing time I expect him to make the rookie All-Star game and then probably end up with first-team rookie honors.

But again, we will see.

I have to agree.

As stated above Olynyk is not ruler thin, he's just normal size and a bit lacking in strength.  Certanly no skinnier than Anthony Davis was last season, yet Davis has come back must stronger this season.  Can't see any reason why Olynyk couldn't do the same.

As for the refinement, do people not recall how much Sully struggled defensively in the preseason last year?  He was horrendous.  He's a high IQ guy though, and as the season went on he became (statistically) one of the best individual defensive players in the league (top 10 in the league in fewest points allowed). 

It takes rookies time to adjust to the NBA game.  Everyone is talking about Oladipo but I think he's overrated, and I think Olynyk may prove a more productive rookie.  Oladipo didn't look anywhere near as smart or instinctive as Olynyk from what I've seen, he's just purely athletic and that's about it.

[Section301]

If he can make it to the Keith Van Horn level (16/8 for his career with one 20 ppg season) that would be more than acceptable.  I have my doubts that he's capable of sustaining a career at that level, but he should certainly make it past his rookie contract - Travis Knight was in the league seven years.  He's got to be at least as good as that. 

[Celtics4ever]

Strength is very easy to build.   Jumping ability, Basketball IQ and Speed are not not.   But he will get stronger  very quickly.  A year or two at most, I would say.