Sullinger and Olynyk duo

[Interceptor]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

At least in Sully's case it was a good call tonight. KO passed up an open one that I think he should have taken, though.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

KO is too passive, makes me sick! Shoot the ball man!!!!

[BudweiserCeltic]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

At least in Sully's case it was a good call tonight. KO passed up an open one that I think he should have taken, though.

It's more like Stevens doesn't like players passing up good shots, and he considered rhythm 3s good shots. I think the other day he mentioned one of the most selfish things you can do as a basketball player is pass up a good shot or something along those lines.

[More Banners]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

At least in Sully's case it was a good call tonight. KO passed up an open one that I think he should have taken, though.

It's more like Stevens doesn't like players passing up good shots, and he considered rhythm 3s good shots. I think the other day he mentioned one of the most selfish things you can do as a basketball player is pass up a good shot or something along those lines.

If those two become lethal from 3 plus develop their passing 2-man game, they're going to be something special to watch, and not long from now, either.

[nickagneta]

I still have major doubts on Olynyk. He won't be a bust like I said but after one eighth of the season, I am also pretty sure he won't be a star in this league. Too weak. Poor defensively. Slow. And so far, his shot isn't falling and doesn't look as smooth in the form as I would expect a really good shooter to look.

As I have been saying since he was drafted, put him up against the better defensive bigs in this league and he would have major problems offensively and as we start to play some of those teams, we are starting to see that.

Sully has looked like a stud most of this year. Let's hope Olynyk can start to show some promise and shore up his areas of weakness.

[LooseCannon]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

Did anyone not think this was the case?  It's the smart thing to do and Stevens is a smart coach.

[Interceptor]

Did anyone not think this was the case?  It's the smart thing to do and Stevens is a smart coach.

Who knows? Not I.

It's the smart thing to do if they can hit them, and this appears to confirm that they can. KO had a rough start from three going back to preseason, but it's looking better now.

[kozlodoev]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

Did anyone not think this was the case?  It's the smart thing to do and Stevens is a smart coach.

Having sub-30% shooters take sub-30% shots with regularity is a smart thing?

[pokeKingCurtis]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

Did anyone not think this was the case?  It's the smart thing to do and Stevens is a smart coach.

Having sub-30% shooters take sub-30% shots with regularity is a smart thing?

Probably takes time to learn to shoot 3's in game.

I reckon it's smarter than basing your entire offense around long 2's, the worst shot in basketball.

The 3 seems to be a nice weapon to have.

[kozlodoev]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

Did anyone not think this was the case?  It's the smart thing to do and Stevens is a smart coach.

Having sub-30% shooters take sub-30% shots with regularity is a smart thing?

Probably takes time to learn to shoot 3's in game.

I reckon it's smarter than basing your entire offense around long 2's, the worst shot in basketball.

The 3 seems to be a nice weapon to have.

It's smarter to take a shot that you're going to make with regularity.

But I reckon you believe that everyone's bound to learn if they unload enough bricks in actual games, so there's no point convincing you?

[Celtics4ever]

The 3 seems to be a nice weapon to have.

Only if you have guys who can drain it.

KO is shooting a smoking .167%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2489663/

Sully is shooting .25%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/6624/

Neither of these guys should be shooting them.  Sully said he worked on it all summer.   Well, looks like he needs to work on it for about ten summers.   This is a league of specialists, Sully can score inside, hint stick to what your good at and play to your strengths.

Vitor on the other hand is .33%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3046453/

I am ok with him shooting them.  The other guys are shooting ourselves in the foot when they shoot them.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Interesting comment tonight on the telecast -- one of those "from the huddle" tidbits -- KO and Sully are apparently being told to take "in rhythm" three-pointers. That's interesting. I guess the directive is coming from the top.

Did anyone not think this was the case?  It's the smart thing to do and Stevens is a smart coach.

Having sub-30% shooters take sub-30% shots with regularity is a smart thing?

Probably takes time to learn to shoot 3's in game.

I reckon it's smarter than basing your entire offense around long 2's, the worst shot in basketball.

The 3 seems to be a nice weapon to have.

It's smarter to take a shot that you're going to make with regularity.

But I reckon you believe that everyone's bound to learn if they unload enough bricks in actual games, so there's no point convincing you?

It's not like Olynyk doesn't have the range. I'm sure you've read about this (as I myself found out about this in CB) but in case you haven't, Olynyk did very very well in a drill called the 'Jazz 100 drill'. Apparently he came in second best in the 3 point shooting drill, and the drill is usually reserved for non-big players.

Draftexpress noted Sullinger has range and has tried to expand to the 3 point line in college.

If it were bigs who have zero history and/or indication that they have any ability to shoot 3's, I would probably agree with you.

But I see 2 bigs with less than a year of NBA experience learning a new style of basketball.

This year being what it is, why the hell not.




I'm not just talking about the duo, though. Currently the team sits at 20th in 3's attempted versus finishing 27th last year.

I remember long 2's being the worst shot in basketball is pretty much proven to be factual (I think it might even have been explored in a front page article on CB).

Attempting less of those and more 3's with a team that doesn't have much firepower in the paint seems smart.

Not completely ignoring an entire facade of the game (which Doc seems to have done) that has a high payoff, that is very much used on many of the top teams of the NBA, is also smart.

[Surferdad]

The 3 seems to be a nice weapon to have.

Only if you have guys who can drain it.

KO is shooting a smoking .167%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2489663/

Sully is shooting .25%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/6624/

Neither of these guys should be shooting them.  Sully said he worked on it all summer.   Well, looks like he needs to work on it for about ten summers.   This is a league of specialists, Sully can score inside, hint stick to what your good at and play to your strengths.

Vitor on the other hand is .33%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3046453/

I am ok with him shooting them.  The other guys are shooting ourselves in the foot when they shoot them.

The only way to make them is to take them. I give both guys a pass on their 3-pt FG % at this stage.  Olynyk has the skills and will improve on that shot.  Sullinger should take that shot less, but mainly because he is more effective under the basket grabbing offensive rebounds, not because he can't develop a 3 pointer.

[pokeKingCurtis]

The 3 seems to be a nice weapon to have.

Only if you have guys who can drain it.

KO is shooting a smoking .167%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2489663/

Sully is shooting .25%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/6624/

Neither of these guys should be shooting them.  Sully said he worked on it all summer.   Well, looks like he needs to work on it for about ten summers.   This is a league of specialists, Sully can score inside, hint stick to what your good at and play to your strengths.

Vitor on the other hand is .33%

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3046453/

I am ok with him shooting them.  The other guys are shooting ourselves in the foot when they shoot them.

Sullinger is 4 of 16 from 3.

Olynyk is 2 of 18.

Apart from small sample sizes...

New coach, new team, new system, completely new roles (Olynyk didn't take 3's in college)...rookie coach, rookie player...unstable minutes...etc.

I still say it's too early to judge.

I don't think their 3's are killing us, though. Neither take more than 2 3's a game.

[Interceptor]

Having sub-30% shooters take sub-30% shots with regularity is a smart thing?

So, are you implying that Stevens is some kind of idiot? He's the one who wants them to take open threes, after all. From the huddle, we know it's not one of these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMcPTbzjF3E

Since we don't see Brandon Bass getting lit up for not taking open threes, I think that perhaps the deal here is that Stevens 1) is more aware of KO/Sully's real 3P shooting prowess than we are, and 2) thinks it might be useful to the team for them to shoot them when open.

I'd say that either they get to an acceptable percentage and it becomes something they do every so often, or they never get it going and the coach puts an end to it. I personally don't like seeing Sully shoot them (for positioning purposes), but there you go.