Olynyk is one of the worst defenders in the league .

[rondohondo]

-Constantly lets his man set a pick and roll straight to the rim for the layup
- Can't keep guards in front of him on the switch
- can't defend in the low post
- gets pushed around much to easily when going for rebounds

It's like he has rollerskates on, once his momentum is going in one direction he can't react and slide his feet back to cut off the ball handler .
 
Really disappointing to see he hasn't improved at all on defense since he entered the league last year.

[Who]

Agreed -- One of the worst defenders in the league. Not quick enough to defend PFs and not big enough to defend Cs. Too passive on offense to make up for negatives he brings to the floor on defense. Not looking like part of Celtics' future.

[rondohondo]

And in the last minute of the game

Bonner rebounds over KO , Baynes give KO a facial dunk causing KO to fall down like a rag doll. So embarrassing how soft he is .

[LarBrd33]

He can't stay at Center.... and with how well Sully has played, it means Olynyk is going to the bench sooner rather than later.

[BleedGreen1989]

Agreed -- One of the worst defenders in the league. Not quick enough to defend PFs and not big enough to defend Cs. Too passive on offense to make up for negatives he brings to the floor on defense. Not looking like part of Celtics' future.

This is really the crux of it. He has the talent to make up for it on the offensive end, but continually looks away from the basket.

[rondohondo]

He can't stay at Center.... and with how well Sully has played, it means Olynyk is going to the bench sooner rather than later.

He already has been sent to the bench, Zellar started today. He's still soft against bench players on both sides of the ball

[Celtics4ever]

with how well Sully has played

Only offensively, his D is bad as well.

Our front line D save for Green is a deck of cards, not stabile and collapses under pressure.   Zeller is a slight upgrade.

[hwangjini_1]

this all this supposed to be a sudden revelation? this is exactly the point many posters have made since the draft.

in this way, olly is a bit like kevin love. love's value comes from his offense and rebounding. the only way he can justify his crappy defense is scoring, scoring, and then scoring some more while rebounding. now in cleveland, love is not longer the main scorer and therefore his defense is clearly eroding his value to the team. in minnesota he was an elite player, but he now is a very good scorer who lets in too many points.

with olly, he needs to put the ball in the basket to compensate for poor defense. simple. the trouble recently has been his inability or unwillingness to score. i dont know what the underlying reasons are for this slump, but he will snap out of it. i put the slump on him being unsure and inexperienced in the nba. he needs time to develop and gain a more aggressive mindset.

once olly starts scoring again, many of us will forgive his defense.

[KeepRondo]

I think Stevens has to be careful. There are players clearly out playing him and getting less minutes. Some how, even as good as Bass and Zeller played, Olynyk logged more minutes.

Maybe Olynyk becomes that player we see flashes of but he should earn those minutes. This is bad for the team imho.

[greece66]

Give the kid a break.
This is only his second year in the NBA.

[Kuberski33]

Give the kid a break.
This is only his second year in the NBA.

Except that the team can't defend and he's the worst defender on the team.  So its tough to ignore him.

[KeepRondo]

this all this supposed to be a sudden revelation? this is exactly the point many posters have made since the draft.

in this way, olly is a bit like kevin love. love's value comes from his offense and rebounding. the only way he can justify his crappy defense is scoring, scoring, and then scoring some more while rebounding. now in cleveland, love is not longer the main scorer and therefore his defense is clearly eroding his value to the team. in minnesota he was an elite player, but he now is a very good scorer who lets in too many points.

with olly, he needs to put the ball in the basket to compensate for poor defense. simple. the trouble recently has been his inability or unwillingness to score. i dont know what the underlying reasons are for this slump, but he will snap out of it. i put the slump on him being unsure and inexperienced in the nba. he needs time to develop and gain a more aggressive mindset.

once olly starts scoring again, many of us will forgive his defense.

I guess first thing, Love may not be the best defender but he doesn't play clunky defense like Olynyk. Second, what is wrong with making Olynyk earn his minutes? He has potential but he needs to get tougher out there and more agile if possible. There's also players out playing him and getting considerably less minutes.

[greece66]

Give the kid a break.
This is only his second year in the NBA.

Except that the team can't defend and he's the worst defender on the team.  So its tough to ignore him.

This team is simply too weak to compete in the NBA. This is not the mistake of any individual player. Finger pointing has been going on on this forum for quite some time (first it was Turner, then Rondo now KO) but it is not leading anywhere. This team needs time. All of it.

[hwangjini_1]

this all this supposed to be a sudden revelation? this is exactly the point many posters have made since the draft.

in this way, olly is a bit like kevin love. love's value comes from his offense and rebounding. the only way he can justify his crappy defense is scoring, scoring, and then scoring some more while rebounding. now in cleveland, love is not longer the main scorer and therefore his defense is clearly eroding his value to the team. in minnesota he was an elite player, but he now is a very good scorer who lets in too many points.

with olly, he needs to put the ball in the basket to compensate for poor defense. simple. the trouble recently has been his inability or unwillingness to score. i dont know what the underlying reasons are for this slump, but he will snap out of it. i put the slump on him being unsure and inexperienced in the nba. he needs time to develop and gain a more aggressive mindset.

once olly starts scoring again, many of us will forgive his defense.

I guess first thing, Love may not be the best defender but he doesn't play clunky defense like Olynyk. Second, what is wrong with making Olynyk earn his minutes? He has potential but he needs to get tougher out there and more agile if possible. There's also players out playing him and getting considerably less minutes.

so we basically agree. good.  the possible problem from our posts' ideas is how is olly to become more aggressive and gain confidence if he doesnt get minutes? and how is he to get minutes if he has to earn them by being more aggressive and confident?

this is stevens' dilemma as a coach. how to get olly to perform to his potential? for me, this is a player development year, so i would care about loses and wins as long as olly develops.

[Nerf DPOY]

Give the kid a break.
This is only his second year in the NBA.

Except that the team can't defend and he's the worst defender on the team.  So its tough to ignore him.

This team is simply too weak to compete in the NBA. This is not the mistake of any individual player. Finger pointing has been going on on this forum for quite some time (first it was Turner, then Rondo now KO) but it is not leading anywhere. This team needs time. All of it.

I blame the decline of spirograph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IYaftepO-s