Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and . . . Kelly Olynyk????

Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and . . . Kelly Olynyk????








Kelly Olynyk was both surprised and excited when told he has drawn the interest of the legendary Sir Mix-A-Lot.

After the rookie's 25-point, seven-assist game against the Lakers, Mix (we call him Mix) tweeted, 'Hey @BillWalton does @KellyOlynyk remind you of anybody? Long hair, smart player, fundamentally sound. . . . I'm just saying.'

'It's pretty cool,' Olynyk said yesterday. 'I mean, you don't realize all the people that are noticing you. It's kind of interesting - especially from a guy like him where you've heard a lot of his music. It's pretty cool.'

By the way, the great Dick Lipe reports that Olynyk was the first Celtic to have at least 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists off the bench since Dana Barros (27-9-9) against Philadelphia in March 1998.

Other Celts to accomplish the feat since 1985 are Kevin McHale against Houston in 1990 and Larry Bird at Milwaukee in April 1986. The C's started Greg Kite, Walton, Scott Wedman, Jerry Sichting and Rick Carlisle in that one. (Kite was soon ejected for throwing the ball at referee Lee Jones.)


Here's the boxscore:  http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201401170BOS.html

bob
MY NOTE:  This is nice, but Big Bill didn't get into the HOF based upon one game.


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In 1979-80 (Larry's rookie year) at the age of 23, Bird put up the following numbers. Starting with the 50th game he scored 25 or more points in 18 of the last 33 games which included 40 or more 2 times and 30 plus 6 times. Bird and Olynyk in the same breath. Sure

swish

swish wrote:In 1979-80 (Larry's rookie year) at the age of 23, Bird put up the following numbers. Starting with the 50th game he scored 25 or more points in 18 of the last 33 games which included 40 or more 2 times and 30 plus 6 times. Bird and Olynyk in the same breath. Sure

swish

KO just turned 24 in April, and he already has a 30 point game and a bunch of 20 point games. A potential poor-man's Larry Bird, at center no less, is something to be optimistic about.

Check out KO's first game last year, at the same age as Bird was as a rookie.



It's just a matter of time before he starts playing like that consistently, and playing alongside better defenders than Sully or Bass will help tremendously.

18 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4 assists? I'll take that any day, and that's a very realistic upside for KO. Even though his biggest strength is just stretching the floor from center.

The lineup with KO at center and Jerebko at PF were elite offensively. Nobody in the NBA plays a stretch 4 and a stretch 5 at the same time, so Brad might just have stumbled upon something pretty special, even if it just ends up being our bench unit.

First of all, the article compares Kelly and Bill Walton, not with Larry.  Secondly, Kelly Olynyk is no Larry Bird.  Period. He isn't Bill Walton neither.

Nevertheless, there's still opportunity for him to take that next step up and and become a solid and consistent contributor.  Future All-Star?  I'd say the #1 most important upgrade he'd need to achieve that milestone is not in his defense, there have been plenty of all-stars who sucked at defense (how about Dirk 1.0?) or even in his shooting, it's in the size of his stones.  Somebody needs to kill his puppy and make him so angry he forgets he's a Canadian and just wants to go out and punish someone, everyone!, on the court night in and night out.  Not just "feeling his oats", because that's almost Jeff Green-like in its capriciousness, but a serious freaking outpouring of aggression.



bob


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I think he has it in him. He's absorbing so much more of the game than most players, especially most non-point guards. By just being a chucker, and not carefully mastering all mental aspects of NBA offense, KO would be neglecting the development of a major talent.

People are more used to Ryan Anderson/Channing Frye/Brandon Bass types. When bigs can shoot, that's all they're supposed to do. What else is there? Dribbling and passing? That's point guard stuff. Shoot it!

I hope and am confident that KO will get more aggressive with his scoring, but I prefer him not to just play with a chucker mentality. He brings so much more to the game, and will bring a lot more as he gets more comfortable and starts playmaking for others off the dribble more, and creating more of his own offense off the dribble.

http://bkref.com/tiny/mF3r4

 Above link list the players, who in the past 10 years, at the age of 22 and 23 were 6'9" to 7'7" and played at least 2400 minutes while averaging at least 9 points per game. Of the 44 players listed 16 averaged at least 15 points per game. Of the 29 players that averaged less than15 points 11 of them averaged at least 7 rebounds per game.  17 players failed to make either category. Olynyk's 9.4 points per game ranked him 43rd while his 5 rebounds per game ranked him 37th. I will admit to having zero talent when it comes to evaluating the future success of a player on the basis of physical and mental capabilities. I much prefer past statistical data as the basis for looking into the future and at this point in time I see Olynyk as a capable complimentary player. Nothing more / nothing less.  I sure hope that I'm wrong. I've got my bulls eye jersey on so fire away.

Not afraid to be wrong.
swish

I will admit to having zero talent when it comes to evaluating the future success of a player on the basis of physical and mental capabilities. I much prefer past statistical data as the basis for looking into the future and at this point in time I see Olynyk as a capable complimentary player

Swish, just look at KO's per 36 minutes stats. All he needs are more minutes and more confidence. And if he takes more shots per possession, he could put up 17-19 points relatively soon. He's already a "capable complimentary player", extremely capable, and efficient. 10 points a game in 21 minutes or so, on a limited number of shots, is great for a young big man in his second year. Expect more minutes and 13.5-16 ppg this year. Pretty good for a 7 footer in his 3rd year if it happens. Just like KO's rookie and sophomore years were pretty good.

And hopefully you've noticed by now how very, very well the team plays when he's on the court.

If you think KO has basically peaked, at 24 y.o., then you're ignoring a whole lot of "past statistical data" that shows players rarely peak at 24, especially big men.

Looking at the cumulative 20+ games scored by by 6'9" one-and-dones who have been in the league 3-5 years won't predict the success of a 7 footer (big difference) who has only played in the league for two years.

If you want to do more statistical research along those lines though, you could look at the per 36 minutes or per 100 possessions of some of the guys on your list, with a heavy emphasis on the guys who are 6'11-7'.

Our difference of opinion may come down to definition of success. "capable complimentary player" could describe a lot of guys with great careers and a lot of rings. Even Bill Walton was a "capable complimentary player" in 1986. Or Toni Kukoc with the Bulls, or Vlade Divac with the Kings, or Robert Horry, or Nick Anderson with the Magic, or Jason Terry with the Mavs, or David Lee last year with the Warriors, or Ginobli with the Spurs.

Every championship team needed "capable complimentary players" to get them over the top, regardless of how much credit a LeBron or Dirk or Duncan receives by our star-centric media.


I'll take that kind of "capable complimentary player" any day.

There's a reason KO's fellow rookies voted him most likely to have the best career in their rookie class. And if he lives up to even half that potential, he'll be very valuable complimentary player. He already is.

rambone wrote:

I will admit to having zero talent when it comes to evaluating the future success of a player on the basis of physical and mental capabilities. I much prefer past statistical data as the basis for looking into the future and at this point in time I see Olynyk as a capable complimentary player

Swish, just look at KO's per 36 minutes stats. All he needs are more minutes and more confidence. And if he takes more shots per possession, he could put up 17-19 points relatively soon. He's already a "capable complimentary player", extremely capable, and efficient. 10 points a game in 21 minutes or so, on a limited number of shots, is great for a young big man in his second year. Expect more minutes and 13.5-16 ppg this year. Pretty good for a 7 footer in his 3rd year if it happens. Just like KO's rookie and sophomore years were pretty good.

And hopefully you've noticed by now how very, very well the team plays when he's on the court.

If you think KO has basically peaked, at 24 y.o., then you're ignoring a whole lot of "past statistical data" that shows players rarely peak at 24, especially big men.

Looking at the cumulative 20+ games scored by by 6'9" one-and-dones who have been in the league 3-5 years won't predict the success of a 7 footer (big difference) who has only played in the league for two years.

If you want to do more statistical research along those lines though, you could look at the per 36 minutes or per 100 possessions of some of the guys on your list, with a heavy emphasis on the guys who are 6'11-7'.

Our difference of opinion may come down to definition of success. "capable complimentary player" could describe a lot of guys with great careers and a lot of rings. Even Bill Walton was a "capable complimentary player" in 1986. Or Toni Kukoc with the Bulls, or Vlade Divac with the Kings, or Robert Horry, or Nick Anderson with the Magic, or Jason Terry with the Mavs, or David Lee last year with the Warriors, or Ginobli with the Spurs.

Every championship team needed "capable complimentary players" to get them over the top, regardless of how much credit a LeBron or Dirk or Duncan receives by our star-centric media.


I'll take that kind of "capable complimentary player" any day.

There's a reason KO's fellow rookies voted him most likely to have the best career in their rookie class. And if he lives up to even half that potential, he'll be very valuable complimentary player. He already is.

http://bkref.com/tiny/pgqfw

 The above link is for players 6'10" and up that played at least 2800 minutes when they were 22 and 23 years old. The average number of minutes played is 4361. There are 13 players with minutes above average and 20 below average. I am using 7 rebounds per game and 15 points per game as a minimum achievement factor.
  For those 13 players with at least 4361 minutes played at ages 22 and 23, all averaged at least 7 rebounds or 15 points per game. In addition, 12 0f the 13 had a career average of 7 rebounds or 15 points.  For those 20 players under the average minutes, 5 had either 7 rebounds or 15 points and 4 0f those 5 had a career average of either 7 rebounds or 15 points. For the 15 players that were below the average minutes and failed to log either 7 rebounds or 15 points, only 2 have managed 7 rebounds or 15 points in their career.

  I use 36 minutes frequently but for the most part only for leveling the playing field in intergenerational player or team comparisons. In any event I have included 36 minute chart figures for rebounds and points. It sort of predicts that all the players are going to have pretty decent careers. The problem, as I see it, is being good enough to log  the minutes needed to put up some big numbers. I sure hope that your right about Kelly. As far as complementary player go - of course they are an important part of every team but I won't start to get excited about the Celtics chances of being a serious challenger until they have at least 2 all-league players on the club.

swish