Olynyk & Sullinger

[DoverCeltic]

I think the Sully/Olynyk combo will be effective but take time to develop. I see Sully being the dominant post player out of the two due to his post-IQ, while Olynyk will draw out the bigger PF/C of the league to cover his jumper. This may be able to mask Sully's height disadvantage over the premier post-players (Duncan, Howard, M. Gasol) due to them coming out to cover the Olynyk jumper (assuming it is like Dirk's with its high release). This will leave Sully against the PF who may not be able to handle his IQ and ability to use his body to his advantage. If this happens, they would complement each other very well down on the offensive side. Defensively though, it will be a tough buy to see their value.

[Coach]

I'm not going to be hard on Olynyk,   got to give him a chance,  after all he is not a lottery pick ......what would you expect from 16th pick..

We were SPOILED a by with Sully,  a kid that could play from day one with a father for a coach and great instincts ......

I'm not expecting Olynyk to be this good.

Olynyk's father was a coach too.

Of course it was in Canada. You can decide for yourself whether that counts.

Wow, that's pretty arrogant. Nash, Bennett, Wiggins, etc...for a country that's 10% the size of the US, and with a population who views basketball as the second most popular sport...Canada must be doing something right.

[Evantime34]

I'm not going to be hard on Olynyk,   got to give him a chance,  after all he is not a lottery pick ......what would you expect from 16th pick..

We were SPOILED a by with Sully,  a kid that could play from day one with a father for a coach and great instincts ......

I'm not expecting Olynyk to be this good.

Olynyk's father was a coach too.

Of course it was in Canada. You can decide for yourself whether that counts.

Wow, that's pretty arrogant. Nash, Bennett, Wiggins, etc...for a country that's 10% the size of the US, and with a population who views basketball as the second most popular sport...Canada must be doing something right.

All you need to know about the current level of Canada basketball is that they are poised to have back to back number one picks from their country. Canada basketball is good now but they are improving every single year.

[Monkhouse]

I'm not going to be hard on Olynyk,   got to give him a chance,  after all he is not a lottery pick ......what would you expect from 16th pick..

We were SPOILED a by with Sully,  a kid that could play from day one with a father for a coach and great instincts ......

I'm not expecting Olynyk to be this good.

Olynyk's father was a coach too.

Of course it was in Canada. You can decide for yourself whether that counts.

Wow, that's pretty arrogant. Nash, Bennett, Wiggins, etc...for a country that's 10% the size of the US, and with a population who views basketball as the second most popular sport...Canada must be doing something right.

Agree it was kind of arrogant, but you can't deny the talent Canada is producing now.

I hope KO does pan out, it'll be a sight to see a dominant PF who can just wet 3's.

[kozlodoev]

Olynyk is nothing like mchale. Mchale is a true pf, long arms, tip in, power shots in. Olynyk is a stretch 4 in the mold of brad miller. In the nba he wont be effective any other way.

Brad Miller was anything but a stretch 4: legit size, strong, willing to do the dirty work around the hoop, great rebounding ability, decent defensive instincts around the hoop.

Did you miss the non-washed-up version of Brad Miller somehow?

[kozlodoev]

Fab Melo: 12.4 lane agility, 3.44 3/4 court sprint
Olynyk: 11.42 lane agility, 3.59 3/4 court sprint

The numbers say that your considerably comment is hyperbole.

No, it isn't. Consider the context.

However, note that Fab Melo, who is the same height and 20+ lbs heavier than Olynyk has a better lane agility drill by a nontrivial margin (a full second on a 11-12 second drill).

I think this is a strong illustration that when it comes to lateral mobility, Melo is leaps and bounds ahead.

I concede that Olynyk has surprisingly good straight-line speed, it's also evident when you watch him play (hence the good 3/4 court sprint). This has nothing to do with lateral movement/help defense, however.

[Tr1boy]

Olynyk is nothing like mchale. Mchale is a true pf, long arms, tip in, power shots in. Olynyk is a stretch 4 in the mold of brad miller. In the nba he wont be effective any other way.

Brad Miller was anything but a stretch 4: legit size, strong, willing to do the dirty work around the hoop, great rebounding ability, decent defensive instincts around the hoop.

Did you miss the non-washed-up version of Brad Miller somehow?

Are you serious? The guy while a better rebounder than olynyk or olynyk may ever be, was majority of the time a faceup player. He had only half the post moves olynyk has now and only spent 25 percent of the time initiating his offense from down low.

Watch more games

[kozlodoev]

Olynyk is nothing like mchale. Mchale is a true pf, long arms, tip in, power shots in. Olynyk is a stretch 4 in the mold of brad miller. In the nba he wont be effective any other way.

Brad Miller was anything but a stretch 4: legit size, strong, willing to do the dirty work around the hoop, great rebounding ability, decent defensive instincts around the hoop.

Did you miss the non-washed-up version of Brad Miller somehow?

Are you serious? The guy while a better rebounder than olynyk or olynyk may ever be, was majority of the time a faceup player. He had only half the post moves olynyk has now and only spent 25 percent of the time initiating his offense from down low.

Watch more games

In my book, a stretch 4 is someone who can't guard centers, and is limited to long jumpers offensively.

Brad Miller, in his prime, was decidedly not a stretch 4, given that he was fully capable of guarding most centers in the league, and took roughly half of his shots from within 10 feet (most said half were taken at the rim).

Also, the jury is still out on whether Olynyk really has any post moves that will work in the NBA at all.

edit: For a textbook definition of a stretch 4, check out Raef LaFrentz's 05-06 season with the Celtics (3/4 or so of his 500+ shots from outside 16 feet, 70% of shots at the rim were assisted).

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I'm not going to be hard on Olynyk,   got to give him a chance,  after all he is not a lottery pick ......what would you expect from 16th pick..

We were SPOILED a by with Sully,  a kid that could play from day one with a father for a coach and great instincts ......

I'm not expecting Olynyk to be this good.

Right now ....I'm wondering if the D league Redclaws couldn't beat the Celtics.

Danny what a flippin mess you've made.

dude, you would rather delay the inevitable? SMH.

[ScoobyDoo]

My McHale comparison wasn't that he had the post skills of Mchale but that he seems crafty like Mchale was.

When you watch his forays into the lane, he goes left sometimes, right sometimes, spins a little with his ball handling ability, pulls up for a jumper and goes left to the whole.

Sometimes that ability to do a bunch of things can make up for other shortcomings.

I think he is most likely and primarily a stretch four as people are saying.

That being said, I think we are all going to be surprised with his ability to score and draw contact in the post as well, particularly as he adds a little more weight and strength.

I think Ainge said he envisioned the Klynyk bulking up to the 255 to 260 range.

With that added strength and the way he aggressively vies for position in the post and then with an BB IQ comparable to Sully's...guys like that way think their way to the hole - makes them very tough wherever they are on the court.   

[Evantime34]

Fab Melo: 12.4 lane agility, 3.44 3/4 court sprint
Olynyk: 11.42 lane agility, 3.59 3/4 court sprint

The numbers say that your considerably comment is hyperbole.

No, it isn't. Consider the context.

However, note that Fab Melo, who is the same height and 20+ lbs heavier than Olynyk has a better lane agility drill by a nontrivial margin (a full second on a 11-12 second drill).

I think this is a strong illustration that when it comes to lateral mobility, Melo is leaps and bounds ahead.

I concede that Olynyk has surprisingly good straight-line speed, it's also evident when you watch him play (hence the good 3/4 court sprint). This has nothing to do with lateral movement/help defense, however.

Olynyk had the better lane agility by a second, not the other way around. I agree that Olynyk isn't that quick I just took issue with your point that Fab is considerably more fleet footed.

I think Sullinger and Olynyk can be fine defensively together just because they both have extremely high basketball intelligence. However, I realize having two slower than average big men produce a very good defense is far from the rule, but I am hopeful that it happens in this case.

In reality in order for the combination to really work they need to clean up the glass on both ends, pass efficiently from the high to low post and knock down jumpers to space the defense. Most importantly to survive as a pair on defense they need to beat the hell out of their opponents to convince them that the paint is off limits. I see the pairing of two extremely skilled, large but slow big men in Memphis and it gives me hope that they can work together.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I think Olynyk and Sullinger are going to be a very interesting combination on the floor together.

I believe if Sully is truly healthy now he has the legitimate potential to be a 15 & 10 guy, working in the post.

But even if he's not that as a starter and both he and Olynyk simply turn out to be a great backups I'm very interested to see the inside out game develop between the to of them.

Both have decent post games and both can also shoot from the outside, Olynyk to a greater degree...and both apparently with high basketball IQ's and good passing ability...

Very interesting to see if that develops into something nice off the bench or starting.

I'm with you. Looking forward to this.