Olynyk 34pts. 13reb. 2 ass. in loss at buzzer to Venezuela.

[Rosco917]

Very confident and aggressive within the team structure, I even saw an actual jump shot in his game. Wouldn't it be nice to get this KO consistently this year.

So has every shot he's taken the last two years been fake jump shots?

LOL No I meant I saw him take a shot where his feet actually left the ground and pointed while he released the shot at the top of his jump, as opposed to flat footed set shot he normally takes.
It would be nice to see Kelly jump shoot more often, so he wouldn't have to be so concerned about getting his shot blocked.
Maybe cut down on the up fakes.

[Celtics18]

Olynyk has been playing against vastly inferior competition and should have been dominating in this tournament from the start. That he finally had a dominating game against the unbelievably bad front line of Venezuela means exactly squat about how he will play next year. Its the equivalent of a top 2 pick in the NBA Draft having a good summer league game after playing bad to okay for a bunch of summer league games before that.

How about Wiggins? 

Wiggins won Rookie of the Year and has been hailed as the next big star, yet from what I've seen Olynyk has easily outplayed him in this tournament.

Did he?  That's not what I have read.  I read that Wiggins was one of the best players in the entire tournament.  I read Wiggins made the all-tournament team.  BTW, Canada had more NBA talent on their team than any team participating.

Wiggins averaged 15 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, with 49% shooting (52% from three) in 25.5mpg.   Olynyk was good as well... 11.9 ppg, 7.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists in 21.6mpg

I don't get the point in comparing them.  Olynyk is 4 years older than Wiggins.  Kelly has 3 years of College ball and 2 years of NBA basketball under his belt.   Wiggins is coming off a rookie season after a single season of College basketball and he's already clearly vastly superior to Kelly Olynyk.  Wiggins projects as an all-star talent.  Olynyk might not project as a long-term starter.   I like Kelly though.  Good to see him playing well.   

Kelly's skillset makes sense in that style of basketball.   For those that care... Looks like Nik Stauskas (on the same team as Wiggins/Olynyk) played well too.  12.3 points 4 rebounds 3 assists in 23.1mpg with 54% shooting, 50% from three and 100% from the line.   Isn't it known that Euro ball favors shooters?  Stauskas was probably more impressive than Olynyk in that tourney.  FWIW, part of the reason they lost to Venezuela (the losing effort Kelly played well in) was due to Stauskas dealing with food poisoning:

Stauskas finished the event on the sidelines after a bout with food poisoning. He was hospitalized before the semifinals and scored just 2 points and played 15 minutes in the devastating loss to Venezuela and sat out the bronze medal game

It also sounds like Anthony Bennett (also on team Canada) was impressive for most of the tournament.

Aahhh ehhhh, Nik didn't have a better tournament than Olynyk. You had to watch the games. Wiggins and Olynyk were clearly the two best players on the team for them. I don't see the point in comparing Wiggins and Olynyk either FYI. Anyway the offense was pretty much run through Olynyk in all of the "must-win" games for Canada. Much higher responsibility than Nik even if the stats don't show it.

I think the point of the other poster, however, was that it is kind of grating that people love to make excuses to demean a Celtics player performance but love to prop up players of other teams. It's a grass isn't always greener on the other side comment.

you must have been seeing something different than the writers I've read because they made it seem like the three most important players on Canada were wiggins, stauskas and Bennett.

You got links to those articles?

[littleteapot]

What? When did I compare Olynyk to Wiggins? I was agreeing that it was weird to compare the two players in the first place considering the age difference.

It's not weird to compare them. It's easy to compare them - Wiggins is better. The fact that he's younger and has more potential is just icing to the fact that he's better against NBA competition right now.

[Alleyoopster]

I'm looking at the 13 rebound stat and I'm thinking that sounds plausible because he does grab a fair number of rebounds. 

Then, I reflect on having watched Olynyk grabbing rebounds for the Celtics.  I saw him collect a good number of them last year.  At the end of a lot of games his rebounding stats looked good (not great). 

Yet, it appears to me (at least when I watched) that he didn't need to put much effort into getting many of them.  The ball simply fell off the rim from an opposing player's shot from outside and he grabbed the ball practically uncontested.   

I never gave it much thought as to why he has so many uncontested rebounds until tonight. Could it be that he often guards the weaker shooting forward?  Thus, he's often not in the middle of the defensive fray where the action takes place. Thus, in a better position got grab defensive rebounds.  Or, maybe he boxes out really well? 

I guess it really doesn't matter where or how he gets them as long as he gets the job done.

[littleteapot]

According to nba player tracking, Olynyk gets 1.7 contested rebounded and 3.1 uncontested rebounds per game (at 22.2 minutes per game). He also got 53.5% of his total rebounding chances and 35.2% of his contested rebounding chances. By comparison, Zeller got 42.8% of his contested chances, Amir Johnson got 49% and Sullinger got 44.9%.

There may be some truth to what you say - Dwight Howard 42.3% of his contested chances and I'd be willing to bet a lot of money he could take a rebound away from Zeller, Sully or Amir any day of the week. I think everyone's rebounding opportunities come out of where they are when shots go up, and Olynyk does tend to be the guy who drops into the middle. Overall though, he's a pretty bad rebounder despite what a few games of 15 rebounds say.

[LarBrd33]

Olynyk has been playing against vastly inferior competition and should have been dominating in this tournament from the start. That he finally had a dominating game against the unbelievably bad front line of Venezuela means exactly squat about how he will play next year. Its the equivalent of a top 2 pick in the NBA Draft having a good summer league game after playing bad to okay for a bunch of summer league games before that.

How about Wiggins? 

Wiggins won Rookie of the Year and has been hailed as the next big star, yet from what I've seen Olynyk has easily outplayed him in this tournament.

Did he?  That's not what I have read.  I read that Wiggins was one of the best players in the entire tournament.  I read Wiggins made the all-tournament team.  BTW, Canada had more NBA talent on their team than any team participating.

Wiggins averaged 15 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, with 49% shooting (52% from three) in 25.5mpg.   Olynyk was good as well... 11.9 ppg, 7.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists in 21.6mpg

I don't get the point in comparing them.  Olynyk is 4 years older than Wiggins.  Kelly has 3 years of College ball and 2 years of NBA basketball under his belt.   Wiggins is coming off a rookie season after a single season of College basketball and he's already clearly vastly superior to Kelly Olynyk.  Wiggins projects as an all-star talent.  Olynyk might not project as a long-term starter.   I like Kelly though.  Good to see him playing well.   

Kelly's skillset makes sense in that style of basketball.   For those that care... Looks like Nik Stauskas (on the same team as Wiggins/Olynyk) played well too.  12.3 points 4 rebounds 3 assists in 23.1mpg with 54% shooting, 50% from three and 100% from the line.   Isn't it known that Euro ball favors shooters?  Stauskas was probably more impressive than Olynyk in that tourney.  FWIW, part of the reason they lost to Venezuela (the losing effort Kelly played well in) was due to Stauskas dealing with food poisoning:

Stauskas finished the event on the sidelines after a bout with food poisoning. He was hospitalized before the semifinals and scored just 2 points and played 15 minutes in the devastating loss to Venezuela and sat out the bronze medal game

It also sounds like Anthony Bennett (also on team Canada) was impressive for most of the tournament.

Aahhh ehhhh, Nik didn't have a better tournament than Olynyk. You had to watch the games. Wiggins and Olynyk were clearly the two best players on the team for them. I don't see the point in comparing Wiggins and Olynyk either FYI. Anyway the offense was pretty much run through Olynyk in all of the "must-win" games for Canada. Much higher responsibility than Nik even if the stats don't show it.

I think the point of the other poster, however, was that it is kind of grating that people love to make excuses to demean a Celtics player performance but love to prop up players of other teams. It's a grass isn't always greener on the other side comment.

you must have been seeing something different than the writers I've read because they made it seem like the three most important players on Canada were wiggins, stauskas and Bennett.

You got links to those articles?

Can't find the specific one I was reading last week, but it said that Bennett and Stauskas were key to what Canada was doing offensively.  Wiggins, obviously was a big part of what they were doing.   Anyways... Simple Google search will find you positive articles on all of em.

http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/nba/anthony-bennett-anchors-improving-canadian-basketball-team

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/09/06/anthony-bennett-a-key-cog-for-canada

http://www.umhoops.com/2015/09/14/nik-stauskas-finds-groove-in-fiba-americas-despite-frustrating-finish/

https://www.todaysfastbreak.com/nba-west/northwest/minnesota-timberwolves/andrew-wiggins-stint-team-canada-made-even-better-prospect/

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/09/14/despite-disappointing-finish-kelly-olynyk-shines-for-team-canada-in-olympic-qualifying/

Canada team was loaded.  This is summerleague scale impressive. 

[DarkAzcura]

What? When did I compare Olynyk to Wiggins? I was agreeing that it was weird to compare the two players in the first place considering the age difference.

It's not weird to compare them. It's easy to compare them - Wiggins is better. The fact that he's younger and has more potential is just icing to the fact that he's better against NBA competition right now.

You are missing the context of the original post for which the discussion started. I agreed with another poster that it is not a 1 to 1 comparison between the two in terms of international play and how this will impact their NBA seasons. I agreed that a lot more can be taken out of how Wiggins performs in this tournament because of his youth, but it doesn't say much about Olynyk and his potential improvement. That is why they are not comparable in this situation. Different context. Different stages of their career. You missed the point.

Also let's slow your roll on saying Wiggins is already better. Kid has ton of potential, and he is on his way to becoming a top 25 player, but he was largely a net negative player last season. He put up some nice countinf stats, but Olynyk had more impact on actual wins last year, which is expected. He is older and is in his second year. Wouldn't surprise me if Wiggins is better this season, but he still has to put the work in to get there, and I think he will for sure.

[rollie mass]

does anyone take into consideration kelly's ankle injuries,i believe that kelly really suffered in his return last season and it effected his stats
i think young players have to learn about playing in pain,some are tougher than others
also some injuries have long lingering effects that then effect confidence as well as ability(marcus and getting to hoop) -kelly has suffered through these twice and is now a blooded vet as you saw him play with that eye
question  has wiggins been injured yet-

[littleteapot]

You are missing the context of the original post for which the discussion started. I agreed with another poster that it is not a 1 to 1 comparison between the two in terms of international play and how this will impact their NBA seasons. I agreed that a lot more can be taken out of how Wiggins performs in this tournament because of his youth, but it doesn't say much about Olynyk and his potential improvement. That is why they are not comparable in this situation. Different context. Different stages of their career. You missed the point.

Also let's slow your roll on saying Wiggins is already better. Kid has ton of potential, and he is on his way to becoming a top 25 player, but he was largely a net negative player last season. He put up some nice countinf stats, but Olynyk had more impact on actual wins last year, which is expected. He is older and is in his second year. Wouldn't surprise me if Wiggins is better this season, but he still has to put the work in to get there, and I think he will for sure.

OK now I don't get what the point is. I thought the point was that Wiggins was supposed to be better in this tournament and wasn't. Are you saying he's an example of someone you can't compare Olynyk to show how meaningless both performances in this tournament were? - I agree with that.

I disagree - I think Wiggins is better now. He's worse in some efficiency stats because he plays against starters and gets the ball a lot. We stopped making Olynyk do that because he wasn't good enough to.

[vjcsmoke]

With KO, I believe it's a matter of confidence and aggression.
With team Canada, the coaches are asking him to play a bigger role with the team, and he's taking the confidence from that and stepping up.

I'm not sure the Celtics will ever ask KO to be anything more than a rotation player, because they don't need him to play a huge role for this team to win.  It's really up to Olynyk to step up and take a bigger role through his own play.  I'm not sure he has the mentality for that, we know he already has good shooting ability, passing ability, and handles for a big man.  But now can he take it to the Next Level in season 3 of his career?