AAA Provincals (Kelly Olynyk & David Wagner)

[skan72]

Have the results and a synopsis been posted yet? If not I will edit this post and give a full recap on all I saw.

[TheZagPhish]

Have the results and a synopsis been posted yet? If not I will edit this post and give a full recap on all I saw.

I'd love to hear the report!

[skan72]

Ready for a long one...

Game 1 for SouthKam (boxscore only, didn't see the game)

South Kam squeaks out an 11-point win over a tough 16th seeded Seaquam.

Kelly finishes 12/20 from the field, 1/4 on threes, and 5/6 on free throws.
He had 30 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.

The grade 10 David Wagner was 7/11 from the field and 2/6 on free throws.
He also had 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal.

Game 2 for South Kam (boxscore again)

Up against Kitsilano by about 5 at the half, pull out a 17 point victory in the second half.

Kelly has 33 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 blocks, and 2 steals.
He was 13/27 from the field, 2/6 on threes, and 5/11 from the charity stripe.

Dave had 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal and an assist.
He shot 9/18 from the field and 7/9 from the line.

Game 3 for South Kam

The semi-final game, South Kam was down 24 at half-time, made a fantastic come back, but fell short in overtime, as Kelly was fouled out for it. He was fouled out just as time expired in regulation, on an offensive charge at half. Kelly was probably the only reason they came back and were up near the end of regulation, as on one set, down 7, he got an and 1 lay-up, missed the free throw but South Kam secured the rebound then he drilled a 3 from the deep corner to make it a 2 point deficit for South Kam with about a minute and a half to two minutes left.

Kelly had 37 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, and a blocked shot.
He shot 16/29 from the floor, 2/5 from behind the arc, and 3/8 from the free throw line (yikes!).

The young-big man had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
He was 4/9 from the field and 2/4 from the stripe.

I wasn't sold on Kelly, having seen him a few times throughout the year, I was mainly concerned with his athelticism and weight/build.
However, after watching him more closely, I'm convinced he could be a stud at Gonzaga.

I've heard rumours he will either red-shirt or prep somewhere next year because the Gonzaga staff wants him to bulk up. The way he finished so deftly at the hoop at AAAs shows me that if he bulks up he will have no trouble playing the 3 or 4 at the university level, with his 6'10" frame (and still growing). Looking at his father, he will have no trouble putting weight on.
Kelly can handle the ball and is one of the best passers, especially for a 6'10" kid, I've seen at the high school level. His shooting touch is also something to consider, as he can bomb from almost everywhere on the court.
The one thing he needs to do, evidently, is get bigger. Once he does this, he will be a serious wing/post threat at the "Gonzaga-level".
His "reaching the heavens" basketball IQ is his biggest asset, plus his work ethic, and with this when he starts committing to defense he will be a huge, literally and figuratively, asset for GU. I honestly think he has a shot at the NBA if those two things, defense and muscle, come together.
I heard, from a coach in BC (and this coach is no slouch, he has consistently produced championship teams and he played pro in Europe for awhile), that Kelly projects, in his opinion, as Dirk Nowitzki but a better passer and ballhandler.

Game 4 for South Kam (boxscore again)

South Kam was "relegated" the to bronze-medal game, and, despite an emotional loss the night before, showed up and beat the number 2 seeded White Rock Christian Academy Warriors by 19. Kelly was awarded the MVP of the tournament, even though his team finished third.

A little history lesson, Jordie MacTavish, as far as I know, is the only other player at the AAA level in BC to have his team finish 3rd and still get MVP. For those that don't know, Jordie was a 5'11" guard who lived basketball and was recruited by Majerus at Utah when Andre Miller was there. He was on the team with Miller when they made the Final Four, unfortunately they didn't win, but that's another story. Jordie played on the Canadian National team with Nash in Sydney when Canada got 7th. Unfortunately, Jordie had two knee injuries and was never able to get the surgery for them and was recruited over by Majerus at Utah.

Back to Kelly.

He scored 46 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, dished off 5 times, swatted 5 shots, and managed 2 thefts.
He shot 15/30 from the floor, 4/8 on threes, and 12/14 at the line.

Wagner struggled and put in 9 points along with 5 rebounds.
He only shot 3/8 and 3/4 from the foul line.

Kelly was approximately 4 points off the all-time tournament scoring record for the entire tourney, and only a few points shy of the most points scored in one game.

That's what I've got.

THE END

[BobZag]

Wow, Excellent report. Thanks a bunch, skan.

I really doubt Kelly goes to a prep school but if I've learned one thing about the staff, they sometimes work in mysterious ways.

[ZagnetitForce]

I really doubt Kelly goes to a prep school but if I've learned one thing about the staff, they sometimes work in mysterious ways.

Huh? Didn't he already commit to the Zags for next year?

[ZagNative]

Skan72 - Terrific well-ritten report! Thanks!

[BobZag]

Huh? Didn't he already commit to the Zags for next year?

Yes. That's why I'd bet on redshirt over prep school.

[Nevtelen]

Plus he seems similar to Daye - I think at least 1 or 2 of the freshmen will get RSed just due to PT and issues of having such a big class. Olynyk very well could be one of them.

[skan72]

Article from the local paper:

By MARK HUNTER

For Kelly Olynyk, basketball no longer is a game - it's his life.
Olynyk, 17, is back in Hamilton, Ont., where he is training at the National Elite Development Academy. He also is trying out for the Canadian under-19 men's team, which he is expected to make for a second straight season.
Everything in Olynyk's life, with the exception of his online classes, revolves around basketball. He watches it, he practises it, he plays it and he works out, in hopes of becoming better at it.
"I love playing basketball," said Olynyk, who will play for the Spokane-based Gonzaga Bulldogs in the NCAA next season. "It's pretty much my life - I do it every day."
Olynyk, a 6-foot-10 guard/forward, spent much of the fall at the NEDA, before returning home to Kamloops before the South Kamloops Titans opened their season in December. The Titans, who were ranked No. 1 the entire season, finished third at the provincial AAA boys basketball championship in Vancouver earlier this month, and Olynyk was named MVP.
Now he's getting ready for a hectic summer.
Olynyk, whose Grade Point Average is around 3.9, will play in the Academic All-American Classic, a showcase game for those who have achieved a GPA over 3.0 and who have committed to a four-year school in 2009. The game will be played on May 9 in Ontario, Calif., which is 50 miles east of Los Angeles.
After returning to Hamilton, Olynyk and the national U19 team will head to Paris, France, in June for some exhibition play. After that, the team will travel to Auckland, New Zealand, for the world U19 championships from July 2-12.
When that concludes, Olynyk is scheduled to return home to catch his breath before heading to Gonzaga.
"I might take some time off - relax and pack up some stuff," said Olynyk, who continues to grow and now is almost 6-foot-11 whit shoes on. "Then it's off to Spokane."
Since the Titans season ended on March 14, Olynyk has found time to watch the Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament.
The Zags ended up losing in the Sweet 16 to the North Carolina Tar Heels in Memphis on Friday.
"You're watching it with everyone and getting excited and stuff," Olynyk said. "When you think about the fact that you're going to be there for the next couple of years and everyone else is watching you, it's pretty cool."
Olynyk has been spending a lot of time in a different type of gym lately. Instead of hitting the hardcourt, Olynyk is hitting the weights in hopes of strengthening up.
At 205 pounds, he's still pretty lanky, and wants to get stronger everywhere. He hopes to weigh around 235 pounds when he's done his four years at Gonzaga.
"I just want to maintain quickness and improve my athleticism," he said. "Whether that be lateral movement, quickness, jumping ability or overall speed."

[ZagNative]

Thanks for the story, but we need a link, to reward the author with some hits to his web page to help him keep his job, so we'll continue to get access to stories like this. Can you help?

[skan72]

Thanks for the story, but we need a link, to reward the author with some hits to his web page to help him keep his job, so we'll continue to get access to stories like this. Can you help?

Ahhhhh fear the angry link sign!!!

It was in the newspaper, I don't know if the Kamloops Daily News posts the stories to their site. I will check.

EDIT: Never mind, I went to their site and just clicked sports, it was the first story to pop up.

It is on the sports main page so it may disappear soon and you will have to look for it on their site