Olynyk

[satch]

He is just not very good. The C's play so much better without him.

[byennie]

I don't know how good he'll be, or whether his defense will allow him to stay on the court, but the kid is already putting up 15-10-3 per 40 minutes. That's not exactly chopped liver 1/2 a season into your NBA career and 2 years separated from being a college backup with a growth spurt. It's also better than Cody Zeller, Anthony Bennett or Otto Porter have managed this year, and on par with Steven Adams.

[PhoSita]

Haven't you heard?  Olynyk is a bum.  He's pale and has that floppy hair; he's inherently infuriating. 

The verdict has already been passed that he's a stiff.  Case closed.  Everybody knows that finesse big men never improve after their first season.

[hwangjini_1]

I think Ainge is a very good GM, but his draft history has been below average for some time... certainly since the Rondo pick.

Other than Sully (who was a slam dunk when taken), the choices have been misses for the most part. Bradley was a solid choice, though not a reach at all.

Olynyk's limitations were very clear. It's what frustates me about not takign a shot at GA, as many of us hoped. When you know you're getting a 10th man, why trade up for him when you could take a prospect?

actually, using the concept of "ok nba player" as the criteria, for years ainge's drafts have been above the nba average for the location in the draft. no one bats 1.000 and the further down the draft you pick, the higher the odds of getting a player who does not make it in the nba.

given this and the celtics' drafting position, ainge has been above the nba averages. there was a thread some months ago that laid out all the percentages on this, and ainge was way above average.

[dreamgreen]

Seems many people expect rookies to be sure fire bets right out of the gates these days.

Tommy made a point that I have been saying for a couple weeks. Olynyk plays small and needs to learn how to play big, this is going to take some reprogramming. He also runs around out there playing college ball still. Once he becomes comfortable he will be fine.

AB was awful as a rookie, he couldn't hit a shot! This kid can already stroke the long ball and is a great passer, like every rookie he has a LOT to learn.

We do need to dump Bass and get him some more PT so he can get through the transition quicker.

[sofutomygaha]

AB was awful as a rookie, he couldn't hit a shot! This kid can already stroke the long ball and is a great passer, like every rookie he has a LOT to learn.

I hear this truism a lot, but it's pretty wrong. AB rehabbed a broken ankle, set the D-league on fire, and then came in and played amazing defense for the C's in a handful of games, even though he sucked running the point. He even had a 20 point game. At the end of the 2010-11 season, most of us were extremely psyched and thought Bradley was a steal.

I do think Olynyk will improve, but when players hit the ground running in the NBA, it tends to mean something. Olynyk is behind the curve for a future starter caliber player.

[vinnie]

I don't know how good he'll be, or whether his defense will allow him to stay on the court, but the kid is already putting up 15-10-3 per 40 minutes. That's not exactly chopped liver 1/2 a season into your NBA career and 2 years separated from being a college backup with a growth spurt. It's also better than Cody Zeller, Anthony Bennett or Otto Porter have managed this year, and on par with Steven Adams.

Check how many of his stats have been padded in garbage time and/or against teams in the league that have as little talent as the Celtics.

[fairweatherfan]

AB was awful as a rookie, he couldn't hit a shot! This kid can already stroke the long ball and is a great passer, like every rookie he has a LOT to learn.

I hear this truism a lot, but it's pretty wrong. AB rehabbed a broken ankle, set the D-league on fire, and then came in and played amazing defense for the C's in a handful of games, even though he sucked running the point. He even had a 20 point game. At the end of the 2010-11 season, most of us were extremely psyched and thought Bradley was a steal.

Olynyk has 2 20 point games, and hasn't played in the D-League. 

And there's usually a diverse set of opinions but I remember the consensus on AB being very different.  A few people were excited about his one decent game but he was generally regarded as a bust until midway through his second season.  He was much younger and on a much better team, though.

[clover]

AB was awful as a rookie, he couldn't hit a shot! This kid can already stroke the long ball and is a great passer, like every rookie he has a LOT to learn.

I hear this truism a lot, but it's pretty wrong. AB rehabbed a broken ankle, set the D-league on fire, and then came in and played amazing defense for the C's in a handful of games, even though he sucked running the point. He even had a 20 point game. At the end of the 2010-11 season, most of us were extremely psyched and thought Bradley was a steal.

I do think Olynyk will improve, but when players hit the ground running in the NBA, it tends to mean something. Olynyk is behind the curve for a future starter caliber player.

AB did a lot of running around like the proverbial headless chicken as a rook. To be fair, however, he was 20 years old and he had missed SL, TC and PS.

[BballTim]

I don't know how good he'll be, or whether his defense will allow him to stay on the court, but the kid is already putting up 15-10-3 per 40 minutes. That's not exactly chopped liver 1/2 a season into your NBA career and 2 years separated from being a college backup with a growth spurt. It's also better than Cody Zeller, Anthony Bennett or Otto Porter have managed this year, and on par with Steven Adams.

Check how many of his stats have been padded in garbage time and/or against teams in the league that have as little talent as the Celtics.

  Explain how that's different than the stats of other players he'd be compared to.

[Smitty77]

I think Ainge is a very good GM, but his draft history has been below average for some time... certainly since the Rondo pick.

Other than Sully (who was a slam dunk when taken), the choices have been misses for the most part. Bradley was a solid choice, though not a reach at all.

Olynyk's limitations were very clear. It's what frustates me about not takign a shot at GA, as many of us hoped. When you know you're getting a 10th man, why trade up for him when you could take a prospect?

People are focusing on how Ainge ""whiffed"" on Giannis.

It's too early to judge Olynyk. It's also too early to judge Giannis.

Again, perspective. People wanted Shabazz Muhammed. People wanted Dennis Shroeder. Some people were calling MCW a probable bust.

Sure. If you presume Olynyk won't improve one single bit he'd be a tenth man. So, at the very least you have an NBA player who can play minutes.

Looking at the list of 2013 draftees, I could imagine Olynyk potentially playing more minutes and contributing more than any of the draftees in his range and, hell, some picks in the top 10.






Ainge's biggest misses were also misses by other GMs. DeAndre Jordan (and General Zod on the Timberwolves?) wasn't drafted until several spots after Ainge drafted. Chandler Parsons was mid second.




And you were talking about AB? Some people wanted James Andersen, drafted immediately after AB.

Dominique Jones and Damion James were drafted after AB, too...who the hell are they!?

Giannis has an 11.7 efficiency rating and Oly has a 12.1!!!

Smitty77

[Snakehead]

Oops... don't look now but he has slightly better stats than Dirk had his rookie year.

Haven't you heard?  Olynyk is a bum.  He's pale and has that floppy hair; he's inherently infuriating. 

The verdict has already been passed that he's a stiff.  Case closed.  Everybody knows that finesse big men never improve after their first season.

TP.

You guys are nuts yo.  It's truly unbelievable how little perspective this board has on rookies.

[D.o.s.]

AB was awful as a rookie, he couldn't hit a shot! This kid can already stroke the long ball and is a great passer, like every rookie he has a LOT to learn.

I hear this truism a lot, but it's pretty wrong. AB rehabbed a broken ankle, set the D-league on fire, and then came in and played amazing defense for the C's in a handful of games, even though he sucked running the point. He even had a 20 point game. At the end of the 2010-11 season, most of us were extremely psyched and thought Bradley was a steal.

Olynyk has 2 20 point games, and hasn't played in the D-League. 

And there's usually a diverse set of opinions but I remember the consensus on AB being very different.  A few people were excited about his one decent game but he was generally regarded as a bust until midway through his second season.  He was much younger and on a much better team, though.

And when he saw the floor during his rookie year it was largely as a backup point, I think? Or at least a semi-prominent ball handler.

And his play was bad. Real bad.

[PhoSita]

The main similarity I can see with Bradley and Olynyk is that early on they both struggled when the onus was on them to create offensive opportunities for themselves.

Olynyk has had some good games when he's had chances within the offense and guys have been passing the ball around.  I think that, like Bradley, he could have a really good one to two month stretch where Rondo is finding him in good spots and setting him up to succeed.

[jaketwice]

Olynyk was clearly drafted to play with Rondo. When he's right, he'll pull the power forward off the block - or he won't, in which case he'll get lots of open looks. If he can shoot a high percentage from outside, he's going to create a lot of space for Rondo to create. Since Rondo will never be a knock down shooter, I think DA drafted him with Rondo in mind.

But Olynyk hasn't played with Rondo that much. Can we let the two of them play together a little before we judge?

Furthermore, the Celtics obviously need a slashing SF, or a center with something similar to a post game. Isn't that why we're tanking? Doesn't Olynyk at PF make much more sense with players like that on the floor? Players that could make use of the spacing he could potentially create.

Obviously, he's a defensive liability, but defense takes time, and effort. He clearly needs to get a lot stronger - give him time.