Olynyk - is it ok to call him out?

[jambr380]

The other important factor here is KO is like 8th on our depth chart. A player of his caliber (while useful) playing hurt drops his talent level to borderline NBA player. If Bird, Havlicek, Jordan, or any other all-time great plays injured, they are still a very good NBA player.

Hopefully KO can shake it off and come out strong next game. Either way, it is great to JJ playing well, but we need KO getting Sully's minutes at least.

[crimson_stallion]

Kelly needs to be able to shoot to provide value out there.  If his shoulder doesn't feel right, he wouldn't help the team by playing.

If it's me I try to figure out how to fight through it and be productive and let the coach pull me if I suck.

Maybe it's just my personality but I always want to play. I've played soccer games with a broken foot. Ran track events with a blister the size of my palm on my foot and still finished first. That was high school. This is the NBA playoffs. Kelly got to man up.

I agree, always question a player who has been cleared to play and it's a matter of pain tolerance and chooses to sit in the playoffs.

Did you see the quote from Brad Stevens?

I don't have it in front of me to quote, but he basically said something along the lines of "Based on Kelly's past history, if he says he's in too much pain to play in a playoff game, then I probably believe him".

A comment like that suggests to me that Olynyk has a history of playing through pain, and that Brad trusts him enough to be confident that if he felt he could play, he'd be out there.

That is good enough for me.

He did play through that nasty black eye, for starters.  He seems like a pretty tough kid.

[crimson_stallion]

From Brad Steven's own mouth.  "He's been playing through a lot of pain.  He got popped pretty good in the first and aggravated it in the first game.  The one thing that I know based on how he's been playing the last month, he would be playing if he could.  I feel very strongly about that."

He has been playing through the pain ever since he came back.  It shouldn't even be a question because if you had actually been watching the games it was obvious.  His shoulder clearly took a big turn for the worse.  Add this thread to the pile of nonsense.

This was the quote I was just referring to, thanks!

It's ridiculous that people talk about the shoulder injury as if it's only going to affect his shooting.  Do you guys realise how much bumping and grinding happens in the NBA?  Have you seen how physical game 3 was?

Kelly Olynyk is a center.  Part of his responsibility is boxing out for rebounds, defending in the paint, making nice passes, running out to contest shooters, etc.  How is he supposed to do those things if his shoulder is messed up?  He wouldn't be doing anything to help the team, and he would exponentially increase the risk of making the injury worse.

So totally agree with you - steaming pile of nonsense thread.

[ThaPreacher]

Yes, yes, we know everyone here is incredibly tough and has played with two broken legs and a punctured lung. Kind of irrelevant.

We don't know how bad the shoulder is. Your shoulder is pretty important for shooting a basketball, and KO isn't playable without shooting ability. It could be a much better bet trying to see if we can get him healthy and THEN play him, than force him out there to please the peanut gallery. Do you really want him taking minutes from Jerebko right now if he's clearly playing hurt and missing shots?

Did the medical staff clear you to play with the two broken legs and punctured lung?
Wow, that's something.

I don't have an opinion on KO because I'm not in his shoes.  Likely, he couldn't help us anyway
because the layoff will limit his endurance and defensive prowess.


And while I'm not a grandpa, Havlicek would be still be a star in today's NBA.

And because he's not Havlicek, he can't shoot left handed.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=john+havlicek+last+game



He's not Paul Pierce and he can't get out of a wheelchair and come back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mp5V26En3s

 And he's not Bird, broken back and concussed, he can't put on this kind of performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GPsiqRFjXE


For the life of me, I don't know why the medical staff cleared him. We need him anyway in the next series against Cleveland to battle Love.

K.O. gets a pass from me.

[schenkel]

"For the life of me, I don't know why the medical staff cleared him."

This is the question that should be asked. If we are going to make assumptions based on past performance, I would give KO the benefit of the doubt over our long-time mediocre medical staff. Seems like a cowardly cover your butt move.

[danglertx]

For all we know, the medical staff told him he needed to get surgery and would be out for the year and KO said, I'll play through pain when I can and get surgery when the year is over. 

So, no, I don't think it is OK to call him out when you have no idea what his medical situation is.  I have to think nobody in the NBA just doesn't go in a playoff game when they have the chance.  If you have a good game in the playoffs it can make you tens of millions of dollars.  Who doesn't try for that?

[guava_wrench]

Brad has stated that it's Kelly's decision on if he can play or not. That tells me that he got medically cleared to play. I say strap on a shoulder sleeve and get out there.

What's everyone else say?

KO knows his range of motion. The medical staff can only observe so much.

[rollie mass]

Kelly needs to be able to shoot to provide value out there.  If his shoulder doesn't feel right, he wouldn't help the team by playing.

Ah, ye the younger generation of Celtic fans, just don't understand commitment.
the 72-73 Celtics, perhaps one of Boston's most talented teams (besides the 86-87 Celtics)
to not win.   This is an example of Celtic Pride and Celtic Toughness:

"In Game 3, John Havlicek injured his right shoulder by running into a Dave DeBusschere pick. Havlicek missed Game 4, but returned and shot left-handed for the rest of the series."
MSG-Networks


You can give Olynyk a pass if you want to.  But I'm not sure past Celtics would see it the same way.

havilcek did play that game and did shoot with left and scored 16pts
 -it was the next two games he scored in low low single digits the celts lost the finals to knicks-the celts did not have a deep bench-thats a quote
the celts do as proven yesterday--havilcek was a truly unique player-had a motor that wouldn't quit not a 7 footer, who is a 3 point shooter

kelly played with a very swollen eye and actually shot fine-

[jpotter33]

Kelly will play tonight. Kudos to him for sucking it up and playing tonight! His presence could be huge for us.

[max215]

Kelly will play tonight. Kudos to him for sucking it up and playing tonight! His presence could be huge for us.

This. KO does not have to be good. He does not have to be able to shoot. He has to be able to stand on the perimeter and open up the paint for IT. If he can do that for even a few minutes, it would be tremendously valuable.

[Ilikesports17]

Kelly will play tonight. Kudos to him for sucking it up and playing tonight! His presence could be huge for us.

This. KO does not have to be good. He does not have to be able to shoot. He has to be able to stand on the perimeter and open up the paint for IT. If he can do that for even a few minutes, it would be tremendously valuable.

His first 3 will be huge.

He needs to make one. If he makes one the Hawks will respect him, but I expect Atlanta to treat him like a terrible shooter till he proves he can knock one down.

[2short]

4 pages of this?
Kelly seems to be a tough guy. He's a Canadian hockey guy cmon

[Smart457]

Kelly will play tonight. Kudos to him for sucking it up and playing tonight! His presence could be huge for us.

Nice. Good to see him man up.