Kelly Olynyk vows to be more assertive with outside shot this season

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/10/kelly_olynyk_vows_to_be_more_assertive_with_outside_shot_this_season


Kelly Olynyk vows to be more assertive with outside shot this season



7-footer eager to shoulder load outside



Steve Bulpett Wednesday,


October 05, 2016




AMHERST — Kelly Olynyk still can’t play in games. Recovery from an injured right shoulder that required surgery in May has not even allowed him to return to full-contact drills.

And while the Celtics 7-footer has been forced to take matters slowly, the eagerness fairly washes over him. The shoulder issue interrupted a breakout season for Olynyk, and now he’s a kid just itching to get back on that new bike and take it for a spin.

“Definitely,” he said. “Definitely, man. Waiting for the snow to melt.”

Olynyk suffered the injury in the last game before the February All-Star break, and he clearly wasn’t the same afterward. Finally being assertive with his perimeter game, he stretched the floor with 41.3 percent 3-point shooting in his first 54 outings. When he was finally able to take the court again, he dropped to 37.2 percent marksmanship on treys over his last 15 games in the regular season. Olynyk missed two playoff games and was 0-for-3 on treys in the other four.

His availability was a constant postseason question, but it probably shouldn’t have been.

“I mean, I felt it was worse than what was said, but you’ve got to listen to what people say, right?” Olynyk said. “I’m no doctor, but I know how I felt the whole time, and that’s why I couldn’t go.”

The fact he had already answered the constant question regarding his career — does he possess enough internal fire to use his obvious skills? — made his absence all the more damaging for the Celts as they were eliminated by Atlanta in the opening round.

Early on in his first two years, Olynyk was looking to make good plays while coaches and teammates were imploring him to shoot. But after a tour with Canada’s national team in the summer of 2015, he was actually seeking his shot when he returned to the Celts — and making defenses pay with his passing game and drives when opponents paid him greater attention.

Scoring against NBA defenses requires a measure of positive arrogance that clashed with Olynyk’s basketball breeding.

“Yeah, a little bit, definitely,” he said. “I grew up a point guard. My dad taught me everything I know about the game, and his thing was that you should be an unselfish player — you know, make the people around you better and lift the level of your teammates.

“I never grew up being a super assertive, super impose-your-will player. I was more of a team-first, completely unselfish, behind-the-scenes guy, and I think flipping that switch isn’t easy. But when you’re on this level and on this stage and that’s something that needs to be done and your team is asking you to do, you have to. They want me to come in and assert my will and be aggressive and score and use my skill set to help us win basketball games.”

But Olynyk had to see it for himself.

“The tough thing is when people are telling you to shoot the ball and be aggressive, they can show you where it is, but they don’t see the game through your eyes,” he said. “I see the game a different way than other people, and you’ve got to let the game come to you. You can’t be forcing stuff because when you’re out there forcing things, it’s not going to go the way you want. So there’s a fine line between being aggressive and forcing stuff.”

Forcing and seeking are two different things.

“Exactly,” Olynyk said. “I was definitely being more assertive last year. There wasn’t the hesitation. That just comes with experience and confidence, going out there and knowing what you can do and how to do it, how to execute it.”

Olynyk knows, too, what his outside shot means to the Celtics offense. He watched as the Hawks packed in their defense and defied the C’s to beat them from distance.

“It was terrible sitting there and watching that,” the 25-year-old said. “Shooting is a vital skill in the league today. It just makes guys like Isaiah (Thomas) and Marcus (Smart) and Terry (Rozier) and Avery (Bradley) . . . they’re 10 times more effective when they can get in the lane and make things happen, drive and score or kick out to shooters. Teams can’t double and help as much. When everybody on the floor can shoot the basketball, you’re really, really tough to guard. Even if you’re not making shots, you’re drawing people away from the basket. Your presence is valuable more than the untrained eye can see.”


Standing in the hallway outside the Celtics dressing room at the Garden, his attention was guided to a picture that included Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. The latter, it was said, had greater room to operate in the post because Bird’s defender stayed closer to his man.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” Olynyk said.

And while he knows he’s not Larry Bird, Kelly Olynyk has finally recognized there are times when he just has to let it fly.



bob
MY NOTE: He can say it, see it anyway he wants but he has to attack.  Shoot, drive, fight, whatever.  His father might have taught him everything about basketball but he didn't teach him about the NBA. This is a warrior's league. Having said all that the loss of his offense hurt us via Hawks.

.

Give Olynyk a little more time. He has improved in each of his first three years with the Cs.

He may not be a 7 footer who is a physical beast in the paint, but he may still turn into a very good NBA player. It should be remembered that he has not been a center type right from the start of his career like most NBA 7 foot guys have been so considering him a good player is more logical than trying to consider him as a center just because he is 7 feet tall..

If he improves again this season (once returning form his shoulder surgery) to include being more aggressive as a scorer he will be a decent NBA player. He may never be a "star" and will never likely be a "rim protector", but still a good NBA rotation player.

There's a saying in the North country, "If a Canadian falls in the forest with no one else around, does he still have to apologize?"

Once Kelly gets over that mentality, he'll be a real valuable contributor. I see him as a huge difference maker given the right attitude.

Channing Frye clone ?

  http://bkref.com/tiny/xiJR1

Olynyk - 7'0" 238 lbs
Frye - 6'11" 255 lbs

  swish

swish wrote:
 Channing Frye clone ?

  http://bkref.com/tiny/xiJR1

  swish

Interesting comparison. I don`t thing Olynyk is as one dimensional as Frye, but  we shall see

wideclyde wrote:Give Olynyk a little more time.  He has improved in each of his first three years with the Cs.

He may not be a 7 footer who is a physical beast in the paint, but he may still turn into a very good NBA player.  It should be remembered that he has not been a center type right from the start of his career like most NBA 7 foot guys have been so considering him a good player is more logical than trying to consider him as a center just because he is 7 feet tall..

If he improves again this season (once returning form his shoulder surgery) to include being more aggressive as a scorer he will be a decent NBA player. He may never be a "star" and will never likely be a "rim protector", but still a good NBA rotation player.

        With respect to the consistent improvement, he reminds me a little of Bradley. Come to think of it, the shouler injury is Averyesque too.