Kelly Olynyk Named The Boston Celtics’ Starting Center
In a move that is sure to be viewed as the first sign of the Apocalypse, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens has officially named Kelly Olynyk as the team’s starting center for the beginning of the 2014-2015 NBA season.
Brad Stevens says "it would be tough to unseat" Kelly Olynyk as the Celtics' starting center before Opening Night.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 15, 2014
Just kidding about that Apocalypse part! The Ebola virus is already taking care of that.
Still, naming Olynyk, a classic stretch-4 type player, the starting center is a risky move, one that will likely infuriate basketball purists who wanted to see the Boston Celtics bring in a “true,” rim-protecting center during the offseason.
Case in point: back in July I ran a poll that asked readers whether they would rather see Vitor Faverani or Tyler Zeller start at center for the Celtics when the season opened. 1,456 people voted, with 790 readers casting their votes for Zeller. (Yes, that means 666 voted for El Hombre Indestructible – coincidence?!?) At no point did I even think of including Olynyk in the poll, and at no point did any reader comment, “What about Kelly Olynyk?”
It seemed pretty obvious, naming Zeller the starting center, since trading for him was one of the few significant moves the Celtics made during the offseason. Toss in the fact that Faverani is expected to miss 6-8 weeks due to a second knee surgery, and it looked as if the starting job was Zeller’s.
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Stevens’ desire to space the floor and allow players such as Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, and Evan Turner work in more areas is understandable – but is playing small a sustainable long-term approach for this team? Or should it be the sort of lineup that Stevens goes to occasionally, based on the opposition? I’m not convinced the Celtics can shoot well enough to justify this approach, and last night’s performance (41% from the field, including only 26.7% from deep) doesn’t bode well for the future.
Additionally, the Celtics have looked much more stout on defense when Zeller is in the lineup, because Olynyk still has a great amount of work to do on that part of his game. Zeller swatted three shots and grabbed four boards in barely 18 minutes of playing time last night, and he’s not even known for his rim-protecting prowess.
I like Olynyk, but I’m not sold on this move. Of course, I trust coach Stevens enough to know that he will re-examine his options at center should this experiment blow up in his face.