Give Kelly credit. He's clearly worked on his body in the offseason. He looks totally physically different now than compared to when he entered the league. It's showing in his vertical and lateral quickness. Beyond just one play, he's dunking a lot more frequently and more easily now. And playing good D to boot.
Which is why I would pick him over Sully if we are forced to chose between them. Sully is a way better rebounder but KO seems to get the being professional part of being a pro and taking care of one's body.
Agreed. Thankfully that's not the only criteria I use when judging players, with allowance to some subjectivity as always of course with a dosage of objectivity.
My main thing with KO is how useful he can be in the playoffs when physicality is turned up a notch and rebounding is at a premium. For all the good he does, those two issues might make him inconsequential and relegated to the bench.
His improved defense this year calmed me for a bit, but the doubt is still there. Baring any trade, or the Celtics suddenly going on a long losing streak, we should test it again this year and see if he's up to the task. Because otherwise, all he's going to be putting up for us is empty numbers that are of no use for us when it matters.
And even with his improved defense, we've already seen this year how he gets dominated more often than not by not by physical bigs and good rebounders. And that's a big concern.
The other angle also about taking care of oneself, is with all of that, during the same span he's been playing, he's missed about the same amount of games as Sully has. Hopefully he can keep himself from getting injured, as you say, he takes being a professional seriously, but for one reason or another it's resulted in him missing quite a bit of games.
But hey, I've said it since early in the season, I'm really liking what I'm seeing when Olynyk and Sullinger are on the floor together. Even with Sully being undersized, he covers for a lot of Olynyk's weaknesses and conversely, Olynyk (when he's not being passive and plays his role as intended) complements Sullingers inconsistent shooting very well. Both are great passers, both have improved their defense this year.
But in the end I want to see how they do in the playoffs more than anything. Last time we were in it, I was really disillusioned with Olynyk. Time will tell.
Topic: great putback dunk by Kelly Olynyk (Read 4975 times)