Olynyk: Question for the 'experts'

[cltc5]

Does olynyk not have any arm between His shoulder and wrists?  Because that's what it sounds like people are complaining about.  Big deal his arms don't touch the floor.  He can ball!!

[guava_wrench]

Olynyk does not have average wingspan. He has below average wingspan for a human being in proportion to his height.

Standing reach is probably a lot more valuable than just height since people aren't shooting or blocking shots with their head. So the 7'0" should not get anyone excite since that is not what is significant.

On the other hand, I would expect that height is proportional to overall bulk, which could be beneficial. Of course, Olynyk doesn't have that either.

I wouldn't want to exaggerate the significance of this. Perhaps the only reason this is coming up is because people are prematurely getting very excited over Olynyk.

[lightspeed5]

I think part of the reason olynyk is a good shooter is because he has less moving parts... smaller arms.

[guava_wrench]

I think part of the reason olynyk is a good shooter is because he has less moving parts... smaller arms.

I disagree. The reason he is a good shooter is practice. It helped that he was a PG until his growth spurt.

There are too many guys with long arms who can shoot the lights out to take that logic seriously.

[CelticD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvPJpgF4q6Q&feature=c4-overview&playnext=1&list=TLOBLhaBz5lWU

kelly olynyk summer league highlights

[danglertx]

Shooting and ball handling have nothing to do with arm length or hand size.

Most of your jump shot is elbow through fingertips.  It is mechanics, making your shot simple and repeatable, and practice.

The dribbling is probably a remnant of being a guard growing up.  Big kids get stuck as centers and don't have to dribble, therefore they don't get good at it.

I have no concerns about arm length.  I do have some mechanical concerns.  Olynyk doesn't shoot the ball from an especially high position, has little arc on his shot, and has it out in front of him a little.  Those are the jumpers that are easy to block so I do expect him to struggle with that when guarded by really quick long leapers on the perimeter. They are also the jumpers that are most consistent.  A good example of this is Matt Bonner of San Antonio.  Very good, consistent three point shooter, but he has to be wide open to get his shot off.  He is much more extreme than Olynyk however.

His footwork is really good down low and he seems to be able to get space for his shots so I don't see it being an issue in the post, especially because he can shoot so well with his left hand.

[jambr380]

Does olynyk not have any arm between His shoulder and wrists?  Because that's what it sounds like people are complaining about.  Big deal his arms don't touch the floor.  He can ball!!

I like this, tp...honestly, people are just jumping on the bandwagon by getting all over his absolutely, incredibly short arms 

[guava_wrench]

I don't know why this is controversial.

The reason why people mention the short arms is because the 7'0" can have its importance exaggerated. The stats all matter. If it makes sense to know someone's height before drafting them, it also makes sense to know their reach because reach matters. The guys arms are disproportionally short for his height. Just like being a few inches taller helps, so does having a longer reach. So does being faster. So does jumping higher. So does being stronger.

[clover]

Olynyk does not have average wingspan. He has below average wingspan for a human being in proportion to his height.

Standing reach is probably a lot more valuable than just height since people aren't shooting or blocking shots with their head. So the 7'0" should not get anyone excite since that is not what is significant.

On the other hand, I would expect that height is proportional to overall bulk, which could be beneficial. Of course, Olynyk doesn't have that either.

I wouldn't want to exaggerate the significance of this. Perhaps the only reason this is coming up is because people are prematurely getting very excited over Olynyk.

His arm span is all of one inch less than his height, which means when he reaches his arms up his finger tips top out all of a half inch less than they would did his arm span equal his height.  African Americans have on average longer limbs than whites (and Asians, I believe, a bit shorter), so there's a little more differential compared to average professional basketball players of his height, but really he's not in any significant way proportionally below average in arm span for a man in general.

[86MaxwellSmart]

if they would have held the Summer League BEFORE the NBA Draft----Olynyk would have gone Top 5 for sure...I don't care about Measurements at all.

[hwangjini_1]

Olynyk does not have average wingspan. He has below average wingspan for a human being in proportion to his height.

Standing reach is probably a lot more valuable than just height since people aren't shooting or blocking shots with their head. So the 7'0" should not get anyone excite since that is not what is significant.

On the other hand, I would expect that height is proportional to overall bulk, which could be beneficial. Of course, Olynyk doesn't have that either.

I wouldn't want to exaggerate the significance of this. Perhaps the only reason this is coming up is because people are prematurely getting very excited over Olynyk.

good call on the height, though it might have some importance since for many people the shoulders, and hence the start of one's upward reach, are usually located somewhere in the vicinity of the head. 

[guava_wrench]

Olynyk does not have average wingspan. He has below average wingspan for a human being in proportion to his height.

Standing reach is probably a lot more valuable than just height since people aren't shooting or blocking shots with their head. So the 7'0" should not get anyone excite since that is not what is significant.

On the other hand, I would expect that height is proportional to overall bulk, which could be beneficial. Of course, Olynyk doesn't have that either.

I wouldn't want to exaggerate the significance of this. Perhaps the only reason this is coming up is because people are prematurely getting very excited over Olynyk.

good call on the height, though it might have some importance since for many people the shoulders, and hence the start of one's upward reach, are usually located somewhere in the vicinity of the head. 

Then there are the people with really long necks and heads. Not much help there.

[erisred]

His short wingspan has a little more to do with his narrow shoulders than his arm length.  He has a solid standing reach of 9 ft.  His poor shot blocking has more to do with his vertical.

And the narrow shoulders might limit the amount of upper body strength he is going to be able to pack on.

Oly has a long way to go before he can guard as a 5, but he should be capable of guarding most 4's and some 3's. It's going to take time for him to learn the schemes and develop better anticipation, but I think his guard background might help him there.

[erisred]

I wonder if shorter wing span is the more important factor, or smaller hand size. I hear more about how big men can't shoot because of their large hands. Does Olynyk have smaller hands than normal for a 7 footer?

The shorter wing span I'm sure helps with ball handling, mainly because the higher the ball has to go to reach the hands, the more room for error, and steals. The hand size imo is more important for shooting though.

From memory, 9" width 10" length...that's big to me, but I don't know how it relates to 7 ft'rs.

[LilRip]

much has been said about Kelly's wing span caused by his regular arm length. I have watched him so I cannot say that his arms are short, they are regular and not extraordinarily long. This obviously makes him a less than stellar shot blocker and maybe rebounder.

The question I have is do his regular length arms make him such a good ball handler and shooter? I think it is a possibility maybe we can get some body mechanics experts to chime in.

He is very well coordinated for a 7 footer.

I don't think his arm size makes him a better ball handler or shooter. However, I do have a theory that having smaller hands can lead to more nimble fingers which can positively contribute to ball handling and a deft touch. So if having shorter arms means his hands are smaller the argument could be made through several leaps of logic that his shorter arms make him a better shooter/ball handler.

i disagree. i think his shooting and coordination have nothing to do with his hands/arms. Yao Ming shot free throws particularly well and he was 7'6". Dirk Nowitzki (i don't know his wingspan but i assume it's at least as wide as his height) also comes to mind. Even bench players like Troy Murphy shot the ball well. So imo, some players are just better coordinated or have better mechanics than others. Maybe it's something you develop at a young age? i don't know. but i don't think "hand size" has anything to do with it.

Those guys are exceptions to the rule though, in general I think it's safe to say that larger people on average are less coordinated than smaller people.

But there are so many "stretch" 4's or 5's these days. Bosh, KG, Frye, Bonner, Rashard, Turkoglu, Odom, LMA, etc. and even guys like Lebron, Melo, Durant ad Jeff Green (who are around 6'8" but might have 6'9" wingspan like Olynyk. Again, just assuming because I'm no wingspan savant) can be considered.

But yes, agreed that on average, big people are less coordinated than smaller people. I just don't think wingspan or handsize has anything to do with it. It might be weight? It might be what position they grew up playing? It might be genetic? I don't know.