Injuries Looming Large

[jpotter33]

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2016/story/_/id/15230665/boston-celtics-kelly-olynyk-shoulder-questionable-game-2-vs-atlanta-hawks

http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2016/04/18/kelly-olynyk-dealing-with-pain-discomfort-heading-into-game-2-jae-crowder-not-100-percent/

Crowder says his ankle is 75-80 percent, which explains his God-awful performance on Saturday, though he seems to definitely be playing tomorrow.

Smart and IT both have significant issues with their wrists/hands that are hurting them, but you know they're going to play and not use it as an excuse.

Interestingly, Bradley will receive another MRI on Wednesday when they return to Boston. They're going to assess the extent of the injury, so there does to be some minor hope that he might be able to come back towards the end of this series or next series if we can advance.

KO, on the other hand, is soft as Charmin, and he's questionable for tomorrow due to a sore shoulder. He hopes to play, but he admitted that his "confidence in his shoulder would likely dictate that."

I've been a pretty big proponent of KO's skillset for a long time, but he just continues to show that his confidence and character might be too fragile for this team. This is the playoffs. I don't care what your confidence is in your shoulder - if you can go, then you go. Crowder won't be all that confident in his ankle, but you sure aren't going to see him questioning whether or not he's going to play. Especially after Bradley's injury and KO being one of our better shooters, he just needs to suck it up, put his big boy pants on, and get out there and help his team.

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/722126733579788290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kelly Olynyk on what will decide if he plays Gm 2: "If you’re feeling confident and you can do things you want out there to help your team."

I mean, am I making a bigger deal out of this than what it really is, or does this not scream "SOFT" and "Fragile ego/confidence" to other people? The question should be can you play or not, not whether or not you're confident about being able to play your game.

[86MaxwellSmart]

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/722126733579788290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kelly Olynyk on what will decide if he plays Gm 2: "If you’re feeling confident and you can do things you want out there to help your team."

I mean, am I making a bigger deal out of this than what it really is, or does this not scream "SOFT" and "Fragile ego/confidence" to other people? The question should be can you play or not, not whether or not you're confident about being able to play your game.

OMG---Play you Crybaby---It's the playoffs---not a game in mid January...this is really weak---even if you have low confidence in your shot...Go out there and get some rebounds or something...whatever it takes...Get rid of this guy if this is his attitude.

[kozlodoev]

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/722126733579788290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kelly Olynyk on what will decide if he plays Gm 2: "If you’re feeling confident and you can do things you want out there to help your team."

I mean, am I making a bigger deal out of this than what it really is, or does this not scream "SOFT" and "Fragile ego/confidence" to other people? The question should be can you play or not, not whether or not you're confident about being able to play your game.

So would you rather have him play the way he did in Game 1, or not play at all?

[alldaboston]

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/722126733579788290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kelly Olynyk on what will decide if he plays Gm 2: "If you’re feeling confident and you can do things you want out there to help your team."

I mean, am I making a bigger deal out of this than what it really is, or does this not scream "SOFT" and "Fragile ego/confidence" to other people? The question should be can you play or not, not whether or not you're confident about being able to play your game.

So would you rather have him play the way he did in Game 1, or not play at all?

I'd say don't play. He wasn't good at all in my opinion. And I'd rather not give more time to the young kids or Zeller (ok, maybe a bit for Terry/RJ). I'd honestly rather have our main guys take more minutes.

[Lucky17]

KO, on the other hand, is soft as Charmin, and he's questionable for tomorrow due to a sore shoulder. He hopes to play, but he admitted that his "confidence in his shoulder would likely dictate that."

I've been a pretty big proponent of KO's skillset for a long time, but he just continues to show that his confidence and character might be too fragile for this team. This is the playoffs. I don't care what your confidence is in your shoulder - if you can go, then you go. Crowder won't be all that confident in his ankle, but you sure aren't going to see him questioning whether or not he's going to play. Especially after Bradley's injury and KO being one of our better shooters, he just needs to suck it up, put his big boy pants on, and get out there and help his team.

This just screams confirmation bias to me. If his shoulder has a structural issue, is he really going to help his team win? Won't he end up being a liability on offense and defense?

[Who]

Olynyk is rarely much use out there unless he is 100%.

He is a guy who needs everything to be right to be effective.

[jambr380]

Olynyk is rarely much use out there unless he is 100%.

He is a guy who needs everything to be right to be effective.

Whether or not this makes him soft is another issue entirely. He doesn't play like Crowder, Smart, AB, etc, he is a skill player who has very good court awareness. It's okay that he doesn't play with as much grit as those other guys, but I agree that he isn't of much use if he can't definitely do the things he does well.

[The Oracle]

Over the last 4 regular season games he posted a Def. rating of 87.1, the next best rating was Jerebko at 99.3 and everyone else was over 101 with Sully at 119.7.  The team was +58 with him on the floor and -58 without him.  His per 36 numbers were 20.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, .9 turnovers and 2.2 steals in 83 minutes.  Those games were huge and he played well in all of them. 

That shoulder has never been right and has clearly bothered him since his return.  He tries to use it as little as possible and closes out on defense raising his left arm only.  Calling him soft for that or based on his play is just nonsense.

[jpotter33]

KO, on the other hand, is soft as Charmin, and he's questionable for tomorrow due to a sore shoulder. He hopes to play, but he admitted that his "confidence in his shoulder would likely dictate that."

I've been a pretty big proponent of KO's skillset for a long time, but he just continues to show that his confidence and character might be too fragile for this team. This is the playoffs. I don't care what your confidence is in your shoulder - if you can go, then you go. Crowder won't be all that confident in his ankle, but you sure aren't going to see him questioning whether or not he's going to play. Especially after Bradley's injury and KO being one of our better shooters, he just needs to suck it up, put his big boy pants on, and get out there and help his team.

This just screams confirmation bias to me. If his shoulder has a structural issue, is he really going to help his team win? Won't he end up being a liability on offense and defense?

Maybe I'm reading it differently than other people. To me, he's saying that he could functionally play, but it's just going to matter where his head is at. It's one thing to not play if he has a legitimate shoulder injury that is keeping him from playing. I'm not arguing that. I'm arguing that if he can play but he's just timid, then he needs to step it up. Guys play hurt all season long that aren't 100%, so he can still go out there and help his team.

Let me just ask you this - would IT, Smart, Bradley, or Crowder sit out if they were able to play but just didn't feel very confident due to not being 100%? I don't think so.

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/722126733579788290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kelly Olynyk on what will decide if he plays Gm 2: "If you’re feeling confident and you can do things you want out there to help your team."

I mean, am I making a bigger deal out of this than what it really is, or does this not scream "SOFT" and "Fragile ego/confidence" to other people? The question should be can you play or not, not whether or not you're confident about being able to play your game.

So would you rather have him play the way he did in Game 1, or not play at all?

If he can play, then he should play. There's all types of other things that he can do to help the team out. This isn't something that will heal by taking a game off. He'll deal with this the rest of the playoffs. He needs to play if he can play, and if he's not very good on the floor, then Brad won't play him any more.

[dreamgreen]

It's like an episode of MASH! I don't plan on winning the series so let the kids have some run. I have to think Rozier and/or RJ could get 10-15 minutes a game.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Celtics got all kinds of excuses to not win...and go home, ready for the draft and summer.

[Kuberski33]

Injuries matter in the NBA - a lot.

[GetLucky]

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/722126733579788290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kelly Olynyk on what will decide if he plays Gm 2: "If you’re feeling confident and you can do things you want out there to help your team."

I mean, am I making a bigger deal out of this than what it really is, or does this not scream "SOFT" and "Fragile ego/confidence" to other people? The question should be can you play or not, not whether or not you're confident about being able to play your game.

I read "being confident" as "being confident that the shoulder won't be re-injured/snap off," and I read "do things out there that you want to help the team" as "being confident enough in the shoulder that your performance won't be detrimental to the team."

If you're not confident in your shoulder's ability to function, you definitely won't be an effective contributor (as the shoulder affects shooting, rebounding, defense, etc).