Look, I’m fully aware that Win Shares are a flawed advanced stat, don’t take everything into account, suck, yada yada yada. But here’s the deal: Kelly Olynyk led the Heat in them this year. Okay? That means something. That has to mean something. And what I think it has to mean is that he is one of the players most vital to Miami’s success.
Especially if they’re going to keep not playing Hassan Whiteside. That guy was the darling of the league just a few years ago, and now he’s barely playing in the playoffs? And they’re paying him a lot of money too, damn. Maybe this is just a one time thing, but it feels like the culmination of a disturbing trend.
Olynyk is basically the total opposite of Whiteside, in every facet of the game, in appearance, in demeanor. Since the Heat apparently hate Whiteside now, that means Olynyk gets to play a lot of minutes and get lots of stats. More stats than ever, in fact, and tonight, he was the only one who really showed up. He helped his team get an early lead, then kept doing his thing even as everyone else around him bricked and moped and turned it over.
The main problem with this vid is that there was no Olynyk-patented fake handoff. Actually, Ben Simmons STOLE the move and used it for himself in this game. Now, I’m no law expert, but that’s not allowed. Not when someone has a PATENT on a move. That means, legally, that they’re the only ones who can do it unless they license the technology to someone else.