It's time for Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens to make a decision about playing time

SB NATION
By Kevin O'Connor

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Kelly Olynyk and Vitor Faverani need playing time in order to mature their skills, so why aren't they receiving the necessary minutes to do that? It's time for Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens to make a decision about the direction of the Boston Celtics' season, because these two rookie bigs are seeing their development stunted by spending too much time sitting on the bench.

Bryan Doo, the strength and conditioning coach of the Celtics, spent well over 20 minutes working on agility drills with Olynyk and Faverani before Friday's game against the Thunder. He had them working up a sweat by jumping, striding, twisting, turning, and short sprinting.

Doo even asked them to attempt a cartwheel; it wasn't a pretty sight watching two 7-footers' limbs flying through the air, but Olynyk succeeded, while Faverani struggled to complete even one.

Witnessing those exercises, it's obvious that the Celtics are trying to blossom the athleticism and agility of these two heavy-footed rookies in order to maximize their potential as basketball players.

Youth Movement
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Faverani has struggled defensively this season because of his slow feet, and the greatest knock on Olynyk coming out of college was his inability to defend the pick-and-roll. Unsurprisingly, the both of them have been exposed there this season because of their lack of experience.

But it has also become clear that the rookie out of Gonzaga needs to speed things up offensively. The things Olynyk did well in college have yet to translate to the NBA.

After working out with Doo, Olynyk spent time learning some savvy moves out of the high post with assistant coach Jay Larranaga. The primary move Larranaga taught was meant to make Olynyk into a "sneaky quick" player.

Larranaga demonstrated how to do the post move: From the left wing, he took two dribbles to the right, turned his back to the basket and paused while continuing his dribble, then he abruptly took two quick dribbles to the right side of the paint before unleashing a hook shot.

Olynyk then tried the move himself, but Larranaga interjected and stressed both the "pause" and the decisiveness required to complete the play. In college, Olynyk didn't really need to use complexities like this to create space on the court -- he was bigger, longer, and stronger than most players -- but in the NBA, he is undersized compared to many bigs.

Practicing is always helpful, but it'll take experience playing against the best players in the world for Olynyk and Faverani to bring their games to the next level.

But here's the problem: How are Kelly Olynyk and Vitor Faverani supposed to do that when they're spending so much time on the bench?

Big Man Minutes in January

Player    Games    Total Minutes    Minutes Per Game
Jared Sullinger    14    349    26.6
Kris Humphries    13    318    25.8
Brandon Bass    14    308    23.7
Kelly Olynyk    14    208    16.1
Vitor Faverani    6    41    8.5
Joel Anthony    3    14    4.6
Clearly Brad Stevens is trying to win games by playing the best players, which is why Brandon Bass and Kris Humphries are receiving so many minutes, but the Celtics have only won two out of 14 games in 2014.

Both Brad and Danny have claimed that this is a developmental season, so what's the point of sitting young players on the bench?

Even Ainge admitted that he traded Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to the Warriors because he wanted Phil Pressey to receive more playing time. In addition, he said, "We still have a lot of bigs...You know, we didn't go into this with a preconceived idea of who is on the bus...We're trying to figure all that out."

Well, Ainge, now's the time to figure who you're leaving behind, and who you're letting on the bus. Kris Humphries and/or Brandon Bass have to be dealt away, unless the Celtics actually see them as a part of their future. The same logic used in his last transaction has to apply to this situation.

Otherwise, they're just stealing away valuable playing time from two rookies in Kelly Olynyk and Vitor Faverani. They both deserve to be playing minutes comparable to second-year big man Jared Sullinger, but they're not even close; Faverani has barely played and Olynyk doesn't play enough against starting units.

Just think about Rajon Rondo's situation coming back from a torn ACL. He could practice every single day with the team, but he won't get back up to speed unless he's playing against NBA talent in competitive games. The same goes for any rookie in the league, since the best way to get better is to actually play.

The Boston Celtics have nine games between now and the trade deadline on February 20th, but the sooner a deal is made, the better things will be for the sake of the future.

112288

well if we really want to get exposed down low, play these two white boys together.

COWENS............What was that movie...........white men can't jump!  LOL

112288

Kelly is getting better every night and if he can add some strength in the off season - he will be well on his way to being a solid 7th or 8th man.

Vitor on the other hand, looks lost out there.  Not sure he can deal with the speed of the game in the NBA.  Guess time will tell.

mrkleen09 wrote:Kelly is getting better every night and if he can add some strength in the off season - he will be well on his way to being a solid 7th or 8th man.

Vitor on the other hand, looks lost out there.  Not sure he can deal with the speed of the game in the NBA.  Guess time will tell.

MrKleen,

I agree.

7th or 8th man might be a bit harsh for Kelly, but he has a long way to go to become a starter.  If he can add 10-15 pounds of good weight this off-season without losing speed and agility, and with a year of NBA under his belt, we might see a completely different player.

Vitor does look lost out there.  How much is the chicken-egg thing, where he can't learn without playing and can't play if he's lost in the ozone, I don't know but he he is definitely struggling.  Remarkable, really.  He's an NBA rookie but he's far from a true rookie.  Furthermore, Danny had a lot of time to watch him before making his move for him.  Danny didn't notice he doesn't set picks that actually touch someone?

We're showcasing players.  We're developing players.  There are only 240 minutes per game.  The trade deadline is in about 3 weeks.  After the deadline passes we'll pick a path and piss off one group of players or another, the vets or the youth.


bob


.

Once DA moved Crawford and Brooks it opened the door for Pressey to get more playing time.

We do not have that same luxury with an over stocked roster of PF.

I doubt that Kelly will ever be a starting PF or center in this league.  He does however have an opportunity to develop into a solid and much needed rotation player

DA moved up to get Kelly.  I think he over-reached.  But he is our guy now and the Celtics need to help him be successful.  There are however physical limitations that are not going to be dramatically changed through conditioning and weight training.

Weight training should help him 'stand his ground' in the post area and agility exercising should help him with his lateral movement.  But  he has no hops and has a weak finish at the rim.  He is simply not going to be a great defender because despite his 7 ft height he does not have the reach to bother shots.  I think that his greatest asset will be on the offensive end and that needs a ton of work as well.

Vitor has some skills as a center but lacks timing and anticipation.  Like Kelly he needs to add some muscle.  I do not see him with a very high ceiling but he could develop into a serviceable rotation center

Kelly is averaging 16 MPG and I have not seen anything that would warrant more minutes at the expense of the minutes that Sully, Bass and Humphries are playing.

Vitor should be at least used in situations where his fouls can reduce points given up in the paint.  

dboss

I think Vitor will be gone or off to the D-league next year.


KJ

I still can't be thrilled about Kelly Olynyk. I actually was excited about him during the Summer League. But this writer mentioned two words that I somehow was thinking but could never articulate to describe Kelly. Heavy-footed.

People say he runs the floor well. Maybe, for a heavy-footed guy. People say more minutes and more repetitions will make him a better defensive player. But I agree with dboss; Kelly has virtually no defensive instincts. Forget the lack of strength; forget the lack of agility; forget the difficult with lateral movement. He has virtually no defensive instincts or tools. If he's in front of a guy moving to the basket, Kelly just moves aside and usually doesn't even raise his hand. Or, if he should raise his hand, it's just to reach and commit a foul.

I believe that Kelly could gain 30 pounds of muscle and not be an NBA center. And, if he can only be a power forward, there are many power forwards (including at least three on our own team) who have far better long-term potential to be difference-makers.

There are certain players who need plenty of development and who offer hints of the potential to develop in the needed areas. Unfortunately, I haven't seen those hints Kelly. Even if he does upgrade his offense (which is certainly more of a possibility than his defense), I don't believe a contending club in this league has room for an offense-only rotation player. Especially not the Celtics.

I mentioned, a while ago, that I'd like to see Olynyk sent to the D League. I believe he's an ideal prospect for the D League. Let him get minutes and coaching there, and rid the Celtics of a guy who is almost a complete downer on defense while not offering anything like commensurate potential (if there is such a thing) on offense.

Frankly, I'd be ecstatic if the Celts could find a team that's ill-advised enough to covet Kelly and could trade him for even a draft pick. Even a second-rounder. Let some other team hack away at trying to develop potential that I don't believe exists.

In one way, Vitor is like Kelly. They're both just interesting enough to attract time while being drains on the team. I know that's harsh, and I don't like to say that about any Celtic. And maybe I'm the only person in the world who feels these two guys haven't enough potential to warrant burning up what amount to near-empty minutes.

I'm so sick of being negative that I do want to mention how happy I was to see Rondo improving his game by at least one level tonight. In contrast, the magic number for Pressey was 3. He was three-point-happy, he had three assists, and he had turnovers. Not one of his best games. But he's still a great example of a player who gives hints of possessing strong potential. And I'm starting to love this kid Johnson, who amazes me with his savvy and his ability to make strong contributions while playing within himself and not forcing things.

Sam

Sam agree with everything you just said/typed.....the most pathetic defense I've ever seen this season was KO and Vitor playing together vs Dwight Howard. Howard has his own problems and most starting caliber 5's in this league can handle him, but in this game Howard looked like the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain. KO offered absolutely no help and Vitor couldn't stay in front or behind without Howard jumping, spinning or going over with such ease, it was just indescribable it was so bad, and even worse than that!!!

Sam

I am under the impression that ko will improve enough to help this team.

Dboss

I think Kelly will eventually be traded once he shows enough for Danny to sell him as a "serviceable" rotation player. He can't play defense, his finishing around the hoop is weak, and he's not a consistent scorer.

He lacks the skill set and strength to become a future building block for this team.



KJ