Sully and KO

[PhoSita]

TP

I don't get the impression people really understand Sully's potential. He had a 20/20 game against a top front court and now people are calling him fat. He's a throwback guy. Watch him be a top PF in the league in a year or two. He's that promising.

Sullinger is my favorite player currently on the Celtics.

You're right that he's an old school player.  I like that about him.  I think that kind of lowers his ceiling a bit, though.  In today's league, I don't think a player with Sully's physical profile can be a top big man unless he's got the ability to be an isolation scorer on the perimeter and down low.  Sully's got some range, but I don't think he's gonna be Love, Dirk, or even Aldridge.

I view Sullinger as a potential Carlos Boozer / David West type, which is nothing to look down on, if you ask me.  Especially when you consider that he has three point range (albeit hitting those shots at a Sheed-like rate at the moment).


I think Sullinger can be the #2 or #3 player on a really good Celtics team, depending on how good the #1 is.  That's great, because it means the Celtics are much closer to completing the rebuild than they easily could have been.  Imagine if Orlando had taken Sullinger and we had ended up with Andrew Nicholson, for example.

[henr1k]

I am not too worried about Sullinger but unfortunately I can't say the same about Kelly. I know Olynyk is a rookie but he is actually a year older than Sully.

I love the kid, nickname Sunshine really fits him, and I hope he can prove us all wrong. But, by spending 3 years at Gonzaga he was supposed to be NBA ready, yet he looks completely lost on the defensive end. To make things worse, his shot is not falling which makes him impossible to play.

When a 13th pick is not getting 25 mins a game regularly on a team that's not really trying to win, you have to be worried. Who thought that Hump is going to get playing time ahead of him before the season started? Certainly not me.

Despite all that, I am not ready to write him off. I just hope that Stevens will get him more playing time after the trade deadline. He needs to play through his mistakes and learn, no point in playing Hump 20 mins a game when he is clearly not in our future plans.

[PhoSita]

When a 13th pick is not getting 25 mins a game regularly on a team that's not really trying to win, you have to be worried. Who thought that Hump is going to get playing time ahead of him before the season started? Certainly not me.

You're really that surprised that a rookie big man is having trouble holding onto a spot in the rotation ahead of two guys -- Bass and Humphries -- who have been starters in the NBA for multiple seasons?

KO's jumper will fall eventually.  His form is fine and he's had games where he makes a bunch.  He just needs to get comfortable in a role with consistent playing time and a bit more offensive involvement, and teammates that find him in his spots.  So far, for the most part Kelly's had to play in lineups with shoot-first combo guards who only create shots for themselves, or other players who can't create any shot opportunities at all.

[BballTim]

you cant blame injuries... Sully has been back in action for many months while KO only missed a few weeks of action... They have both played the entire season... even light training and a proper diet will keep your body fat low... I bet (shirts off) they look fat...

  Have you ever seen nba players up close? It's like ragging on the heaviest supermodel. I doubt they look fat.

  Beyond that, if you've watched young bigs come up through the Celts (Perk and Al, for instance) they definitely change/improve their body types during the offseason after their first or second year. Olynyk hasn't reached that point yet and neither has Sully, who spent his summer recovering from back surgery. This isn't worth fretting over until at least next year.

[BballTim]

I am not too worried about Sullinger but unfortunately I can't say the same about Kelly. I know Olynyk is a rookie but he is actually a year older than Sully.

I love the kid, nickname Sunshine really fits him, and I hope he can prove us all wrong. But, by spending 3 years at Gonzaga he was supposed to be NBA ready, yet he looks completely lost on the defensive end. To make things worse, his shot is not falling which makes him impossible to play.

When a 13th pick is not getting 25 mins a game regularly on a team that's not really trying to win, you have to be worried. Who thought that Hump is going to get playing time ahead of him before the season started? Certainly not me.

Despite all that, I am not ready to write him off. I just hope that Stevens will get him more playing time after the trade deadline. He needs to play through his mistakes and learn, no point in playing Hump 20 mins a game when he is clearly not in our future plans.

  Humphries has had multiple seasons where he's averaged a double-double. I'm not really a fan of his but I don't see why people are surprised by his play. He's no star but he's a solid rotation player.

[PhoSita]

I am not too worried about Sullinger but unfortunately I can't say the same about Kelly. I know Olynyk is a rookie but he is actually a year older than Sully.

I love the kid, nickname Sunshine really fits him, and I hope he can prove us all wrong. But, by spending 3 years at Gonzaga he was supposed to be NBA ready, yet he looks completely lost on the defensive end. To make things worse, his shot is not falling which makes him impossible to play.

When a 13th pick is not getting 25 mins a game regularly on a team that's not really trying to win, you have to be worried. Who thought that Hump is going to get playing time ahead of him before the season started? Certainly not me.

Despite all that, I am not ready to write him off. I just hope that Stevens will get him more playing time after the trade deadline. He needs to play through his mistakes and learn, no point in playing Hump 20 mins a game when he is clearly not in our future plans.

  Humphries has had multiple seasons where he's averaged a double-double. I'm not really a fan of his but I don't see why people are surprised by his play. He's no star but he's a solid rotation player.

Keep seeing this happen -- first with Green, now with Humphries.


People are somehow surprised when established players bounce back after a season where they had a reduced role, even though their per-minute production stays virtually the same the whole time.

[NikoZea]

TP

I don't get the impression people really understand Sully's potential. He had a 20/20 game against a top front court and now people are calling him fat. He's a throwback guy. Watch him be a top PF in the league in a year or two. He's that promising.

Sullinger is my favorite player currently on the Celtics.

You're right that he's an old school player.  I like that about him.  I think that kind of lowers his ceiling a bit, though.  In today's league, I don't think a player with Sully's physical profile can be a top big man unless he's got the ability to be an isolation scorer on the perimeter and down low.  Sully's got some range, but I don't think he's gonna be Love, Dirk, or even Aldridge.

I view Sullinger as a potential Carlos Boozer / David West type, which is nothing to look down on, if you ask me.  Especially when you consider that he has three point range (albeit hitting those shots at a Sheed-like rate at the moment).


I think Sullinger can be the #2 or #3 player on a really good Celtics team, depending on how good the #1 is.  That's great, because it means the Celtics are much closer to completing the rebuild than they easily could have been.  Imagine if Orlando had taken Sullinger and we had ended up with Andrew Nicholson, for example.

I think I heard heinsohn saying something like that. He's a bruiser which limits him in certain areas.

Agree with everything except Goethe iso thing. Sully is smooth post scorer and a heads up passer out of that position. His ability to score efficiently and pass well out of the post makes him the #2 or #3 player on a contender, like you were saying.

[pokeKingCurtis]

I am not too worried about Sullinger but unfortunately I can't say the same about Kelly. I know Olynyk is a rookie but he is actually a year older than Sully.

I love the kid, nickname Sunshine really fits him, and I hope he can prove us all wrong. But, by spending 3 years at Gonzaga he was supposed to be NBA ready, yet he looks completely lost on the defensive end. To make things worse, his shot is not falling which makes him impossible to play.

When a 13th pick is not getting 25 mins a game regularly on a team that's not really trying to win, you have to be worried. Who thought that Hump is going to get playing time ahead of him before the season started? Certainly not me.

Despite all that, I am not ready to write him off. I just hope that Stevens will get him more playing time after the trade deadline. He needs to play through his mistakes and learn, no point in playing Hump 20 mins a game when he is clearly not in our future plans.

  Humphries has had multiple seasons where he's averaged a double-double. I'm not really a fan of his but I don't see why people are surprised by his play. He's no star but he's a solid rotation player.

Keep seeing this happen -- first with Green, now with Humphries.


People are somehow surprised when established players bounce back after a season where they had a reduced role, even though their per-minute production stays virtually the same the whole time.

I didn't expect the hustle.

I was expecting that he'd go out there and get his double double, if given the minutes, without truly impacting the game most of the time.

For that I'm very pleasantly surprised.

[BballTim]

I am not too worried about Sullinger but unfortunately I can't say the same about Kelly. I know Olynyk is a rookie but he is actually a year older than Sully.

I love the kid, nickname Sunshine really fits him, and I hope he can prove us all wrong. But, by spending 3 years at Gonzaga he was supposed to be NBA ready, yet he looks completely lost on the defensive end. To make things worse, his shot is not falling which makes him impossible to play.

When a 13th pick is not getting 25 mins a game regularly on a team that's not really trying to win, you have to be worried. Who thought that Hump is going to get playing time ahead of him before the season started? Certainly not me.

Despite all that, I am not ready to write him off. I just hope that Stevens will get him more playing time after the trade deadline. He needs to play through his mistakes and learn, no point in playing Hump 20 mins a game when he is clearly not in our future plans.

  Humphries has had multiple seasons where he's averaged a double-double. I'm not really a fan of his but I don't see why people are surprised by his play. He's no star but he's a solid rotation player.

Keep seeing this happen -- first with Green, now with Humphries.


People are somehow surprised when established players bounce back after a season where they had a reduced role, even though their per-minute production stays virtually the same the whole time.

I didn't expect the hustle.

I was expecting that he'd go out there and get his double double, if given the minutes, without truly impacting the game most of the time.

For that I'm very pleasantly surprised.

  I'd guess that hard work is the reason he's been as successful as he has, he's not the most talented player you'll see.

[BballTim]

  Food for thought: just for a little "meaningless perspective", I did a quick check on basketballreference to compare Sully and KO statistically to similar players. KO's averaging 6/4 in 18 mpg. Over the last 9 years 39 players 6'9 and over have hit those marks in their rookie years (http://bkref.com/tiny/S1WaD). Sully is going for 12/7 in 26 mpg, over the last 9 seasons 18 players 6'9 or over hit those marks in their second seasons (http://bkref.com/tiny/4k4bb).

  So, not so bad. Sully's numbers have dipped recently due to his hand injury and KO's will hopefully improve as the season progresses, so from a statistical perspective you can't really complain that much about either of them. KO's clearly had shooting issues but he hasn't really been that much of a bust considering his draft position.


  KO

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TP

I don't get the impression people really understand Sully's potential. He had a 20/20 game against a top front court and now people are calling him fat. He's a throwback guy. Watch him be a top PF in the league in a year or two. He's that promising.

Sullinger is my favorite player currently on the Celtics.

You're right that he's an old school player.  I like that about him.  I think that kind of lowers his ceiling a bit, though.  In today's league, I don't think a player with Sully's physical profile can be a top big man unless he's got the ability to be an isolation scorer on the perimeter and down low.  Sully's got some range, but I don't think he's gonna be Love, Dirk, or even Aldridge.

I view Sullinger as a potential Carlos Boozer / David West type, which is nothing to look down on, if you ask me.  Especially when you consider that he has three point range (albeit hitting those shots at a Sheed-like rate at the moment).


I think Sullinger can be the #2 or #3 player on a really good Celtics team, depending on how good the #1 is.  That's great, because it means the Celtics are much closer to completing the rebuild than they easily could have been.  Imagine if Orlando had taken Sullinger and we had ended up with Andrew Nicholson, for example.

I think I heard heinsohn saying something like that. He's a bruiser which limits him in certain areas.

Agree with everything except Goethe iso thing. Sully is smooth post scorer and a heads up passer out of that position. His ability to score efficiently and pass well out of the post makes him the #2 or #3 player on a contender, like you were saying.

Agree on Sully as a #2-3 guy.

So is Rondo.

That may be best case for KO as well.

Green also is a #3 as well.

Something's going to have to give.

[Tr1boy]

Sullinger was a gift pick. So he is exceeding expectations for 2 years now. He needs consistentcy to be a starter. But even if he never starts we should be happy

Dannys expectation or transformation of olynyks game from college to the nba was and is still a risk. He had to figure that KO cant really compete vs nba length, athleticism, quicness. But still is a fluid moving 7 ft pf , that can pass, handle the ball a little, set picks etc. However without a jump shot or ability to separate from length to score on the offensive end and also box out and improve on rebounding, KO becomes a player no better than jared jeffries. I still give two more years after this year. By then he will be a good player in the league or out of the league. Not much In between

[D.o.s.]

you cant blame injuries... Sully has been back in action for many months while KO only missed a few weeks of action... They have both played the entire season... even light training and a proper diet will keep your body fat low... I bet (shirts off) they look fat...

I may only be speaking for myself here, but I don't care if they look fat. I just want them to be good at basketball.

Few of the Celtics legends have been paragons of cut, muscled bodies. Pierce? Bird? McHale?

That's the real reason for the Big Three's enduring popularity. Not the rings. Not the play. But the simple fact that nothing says Boston like a slightly out of shape dude who's also kind of awkward looking.

[kozlodoev]

I don't get the impression people really understand Sully's potential. He had a 20/20 game against a top front court and now people are calling him fat. He's a throwback guy. Watch him be a top PF in the league in a year or two. He's that promising.

Olden Polynice, Ed Pinckney and JR Reid, among other notable nobodies, also had 20/20 games. What people don't understand is that one game is exactly what it says -- one game.

Also, he's fat. You may like to pretend that it doesn't matter and that "if you can play, you can play" -- but extra weight is the last thing a player with a chronic back condition what required surgery wants. Even if it doesn't impact his current performance, it surely impacts his longevity and his ability to stay on the court. And it shows an irresponsible attitude towards his professional career that I don't particularly like.

[Enzzo]

you cant blame injuries... Sully has been back in action for many months while KO only missed a few weeks of action... They have both played the entire season... even light training and a proper diet will keep your body fat low... I bet (shirts off) they look fat...

I may only be speaking for myself here, but I don't care if they look fat. I just want them to be good at basketball.

Few of the Celtics legends have been paragons of cut, muscled bodies. Pierce? Bird? McHale?

That's the real reason for the Big Three's enduring popularity. Not the rings. Not the play. But the simple fact that nothing says Boston like a slightly out of shape dude who's also kind of awkward looking.

Explains why we picked up Sam Cassell. Not enough awkward looking people on that roster.