Player of the Game: Kelly Olynyk

 There were plenty of candidates for the Player of the Game honors.  Rajon Rondo won the Tommy Award.  He came back after missing the entire preseason and outplayed Deron Williams without missing a beat.  He was quite impressive,  scoring 13 points on 6-9 shooting to go with 12 assists and 7 rebounds. 

There was also Marcus Smart who had a great first game and impressed with his defense and toughness along with his ability to run the team.   And there was Jeff Green who filled up the stat sheet with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.  Or, maybe, Evan Turner who also filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block. 

There were 8 players in double figures plus Bass with 8 and Zeller with 6.  Each of the 10 players who saw time on the court contributed to the win as a team.  They all played team ball and it was a beautiful thing to see.  But, I believe the player of the game is Kelly Olynyk, who led the Celtics with 19 points to go with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Just a few observations on Kelly's performance.  To begin with, Kelly is learning a new position this season. He played point guard in high school before he grew too tall to play there. Last season, he played power forward, which seems to be his natural position. But there he was on opening night, the Celtics starting center. Brad Stevens had good things to say about his starting center.

“He can handle, pass and shoot. That really helps us operate at a high level on the offensive end. Defensively, he’s gotten a lot better. He’s never going to be Dwight Howard under the basket. But he gets to the right spots. He plays the right way as far as talking and communicating and helping others play together as well.”

I'm predicting that in a year or two, Kelly Olynyk will be one of the most unique players in the league. He is a point guard in a center's body. He has a very high basketball IQ. With his point guard training, he is an excellent passer and is very mobile and can run the floor with anyone. And, he has some very good moves around the basket, almost, dare I say it, McHale like at times.  And, he was able to get under Kevin Garnett's skin.  Very impressive.   Consider this his coming out party.


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