Scal says KO should play the three.

[mgent]

"IF" Scal was being serious, I'd believe him.

He said they discuss it all the time.

[kozlodoev]

You measure them by watching them play.  Of course you can measure balance and coordination visually.  Have you played basketball before?  It's something you can size up almost immediately.  Quickness, balance, coordination... and yes, Bird was superior in every way.

Bird was a much better athlete than people give him credit for.

Especially when he was young.

The same could be said for Olynyk.

Um, no, it can't. I don't think many people view him as anything different from what he is: a 7-footer who can't jump and has zero lateral speed. Just because you have above-average handling ability for your size doesn't mean you can spend an entire game matched up with the likes of LeBron, Durant, and Pierce. It just isn't happening.

[footey]

If Kelly sustains his career as a 20-35 MPG guy over the next few years, he won't need to be quicker, just smarter/ more experienced to be better (hopefully, he can grow to be an adequate team defender).  As far as playing at the '3', I guess it depends on the match-ups. Obviously, quick 3's will get by him like he's standing still.  The key to Kelly will be whether his offensive game can blossom -- an outcome I am not convinced will happen.   He definitely doesn't have a good feel for when he can get his shot off (defender distance), and this may come in time, but for now it makes him less comfortable shooting shots when guys are within five feet of him.  I think he doesn't realize that he is 7-feet tall and that with a slight fadeaway, most guys will not be able to impact his shot.  He has to learn to get his shot off quicker and once this happens, his fakes will cause all sorts of problems for defenders.  I do think he loses the ball too easily and I'm not sure his weak/slow hands can be improved.   This effects his drives and his rebounding in traffic.  He almost NEVER comes up with the ball in a contested rebound unless he is able to tip to an open area and get the ball off the bounce.

I probably root harder for Kelly than any other Celtic because I think if he becomes a serious offensive threat he will be a huge part of this team's future.  But he has been feast or famine and his inconsistency is concerning.

This excellently sums up how I feel about him. Thanks, NG

[Celtics18]

You measure them by watching them play.  Of course you can measure balance and coordination visually.  Have you played basketball before?  It's something you can size up almost immediately.  Quickness, balance, coordination... and yes, Bird was superior in every way.

Bird was a much better athlete than people give him credit for.

Especially when he was young.

The same could be said for Olynyk.

Um, no, it can't. I don't think many people view him as anything different from what he is: a 7-footer who can't jump and has zero lateral speed. Just because you have above-average handling ability for your size doesn't mean you can spend an entire game matched up with the likes of LeBron, Durant, and Pierce. It just isn't happening.

That amused me. 

This means that Kelly Olynyk literally can't move side to side?

[kozlodoev]

Call it the "proverbial zero" if you wish. Make a point to pay attention how much it actually takes him to rotate from one side of the paint to the other (that is, if he's actually aware that a rotation is necessary).

I love the skills, but the spatial awareness is lacking. Both offensively and defensively.

[footey]

Call it the "proverbial zero" if you wish. Make a point to pay attention how much it actually takes him to rotate from one side of the paint to the other (that is, if he's actually aware that a rotation is necessary).

I love the skills, but the spatial awareness is lacking. Both offensively and defensively.

Yeah, the best outside shooter on the team, statistically, somehow lacks spatial awareness. LOL.

[PickNRoll]

Call it the "proverbial zero" if you wish. Make a point to pay attention how much it actually takes him to rotate from one side of the paint to the other (that is, if he's actually aware that a rotation is necessary).

I love the skills, but the spatial awareness is lacking. Both offensively and defensively.

Yeah, the best outside shooter on the team, statistically, somehow lacks spatial awareness. LOL.

I think he meant positional awareness on the court.

[PickNRoll]

It's interesting looking at his draft combine results.  Including extreme players for reference.

Agility (lower is better)
Isaiah Thomas: 8.2
Kelly Olynyk: 11.42
Eddy Curry: 12.25

Sprint (lower is better)
Derrick Rose: 3.05
Kelly Olynyk: 3.59
Eddy Curry: 3.53
Kostas Popanikolau: 3.81
Ersan Ilyasova: 3.56

There were a lot of slower players who have participated in the draft combine's history, but none that actually made the NBA at first glance.  I wonder how they measure agility.  Is it just a cone or ladder drill?

[kozlodoev]

Call it the "proverbial zero" if you wish. Make a point to pay attention how much it actually takes him to rotate from one side of the paint to the other (that is, if he's actually aware that a rotation is necessary).

I love the skills, but the spatial awareness is lacking. Both offensively and defensively.

Yeah, the best outside shooter on the team, statistically, somehow lacks spatial awareness. LOL.

"Spatial awareness" -- as in, awareness of (three-dimentional) space -- in this case refers to having an idea where and when to be on a basketball court depending on the situation. Olynyk comes up short on both the offensive and the defensive end.

It's particularly glaring on the offensive end. He doesn't understand when to keep his defender away from the ball. In fact, he keeps drifting into the paint when someone tries to post up, effectively killing the play (and driving me mad in the process).

Defensively, he's either not being coached when to shift to the strong side, or just can't react quickly enough to the situation. Either way, the result is a late rotation, foul, or a wide open layup/offensive board.

I guess you can pin this on a combination of poor athleticism, poor anticipation, and poor coaching. But in any case it's should be abundantly clear at this point that the athleticism is below average.

[kozlodoev]

There were a lot of slower players who have participated in the draft combine's history, but none that actually made the NBA at first glance.  I wonder how they measure agility.  Is it just a cone or ladder drill?

It's a lane agility drill, I believe. So, cones.

[Celtics18]

It's interesting looking at his draft combine results.  Including extreme players for reference.

Agility (lower is better)
Isaiah Thomas: 8.2
Kelly Olynyk: 11.42
Eddy Curry: 12.25

Sprint (lower is better)
Derrick Rose: 3.05
Kelly Olynyk: 3.59
Eddy Curry: 3.53
Kostas Popanikolau: 3.81
Ersan Ilyasova: 3.56

There were a lot of slower players who have participated in the draft combine's history, but none that actually made the NBA at first glance.  I wonder how they measure agility.  Is it just a cone or ladder drill?

Despite his poor combine numbers, I think it's hard to dispute that Kelly Olynyk runs the floor well. 

[PickNRoll]

I feel like he does run the floor in a straight line pretty well.  Mostly, I appreciate the way he sprints back on defense.  I don't feel like he's finishing a lot of fast breaks though.  Probably because we don't get stops.  I don't have any numbers to support this.

[dysgenic]

Interesting player.

When I first saw watching him play, I thought he was a straight up stiff.  I really didn't think he could play in the league, never mind be a winning player.

Then I watched him get a lot better at the end of his rookie year.  That's almost always a good sign in my experience.  So I started rooting for the guy.

He hasn't progressed as much as I'd like this year.

I don't dispute that he sucks on defense, but it is still very early.  If he could somehow figure it out, we could have a really good player in time.

Offensively, he has a chance to be very good.  He can pass, he can shoot, he's got some good moves, and he can run the floor.

He rebounds better than I thought he would.

He is a better athlete than people are giving him credit for. 

He plays hard.


Is he a starter in this league?
Maybe not, but he could be a really good bench player.   Maybe even a 6th man type. 

[PickNRoll]

We could open a small business offering "6th man types".  We have a slew of guys who simply aren't good enough to be starters on a contender. 

[Celtics18]

I love how folks want us to be a team that focuses on "development," but, predictably, don't have the patience to go through the development process.