Another on Kelly

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  • hondo
    Zag for Life
    • May 2009
    • 1458

    Another on Kelly

    Don't know if this has been posted but I found this link from Fonebone very interesting.
  • willandi
    Zag for Life
    • Nov 2007
    • 10175

    #2
    Good story! Kind of covered before, but a little different account here.

    Thanks
    Not even a smile? What's your problem!

    Comment

    • BobZag
      Dark Lord of the Zag
      • Jan 2007
      • 15380

      #3
      Can't access it. Somebody wanna copy/paste for me?
      The Kennel: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

      Comment

      • spike_jr
        Banned
        • Nov 2009
        • 1731

        #4
        Hey Bob - here it is.

        The transformation of Gonzaga junior forward Kelly Olynyk from turnover-prone backup to Wooden Award candidate owes a lot to hard work—and a lot more than you'd think to baseball. When the 7-foot former guard from Kamloops, B.C., decided to redshirt in 2011--12 to address the difficulty he had staying balanced and in control while playing in the post, he became a special project for the team's trainer, Travis Knight, a former Zags second baseman. Knight recognized the cause of the problem: It was taking Olynyk, who was just three years removed from a seven-inch growth spurt, too long for his brain to communicate with the rest of his body. Enter former Mariners slugger Edgar Martinez. Or rather, the pitch-recognition drills the DH once practiced to increase his reaction time at the plate.

        After a daily hour in Gonzaga's weight room, Knight and Olynyk would head to a court to practice Olynyk's footwork with a series of tennis ball drills that Knight adapted from Martinez's workout. Knight would mark tennis balls R and L and then toss one to Olynyk, who would have to read the letter on the spinning ball and catch it with the corresponding hand while running, say, from half-court to the free throw line. Once Olynyk got comfortable doing that, Knight changed what the letter meant. R might indicate run out to the corner and spot up for a three, while L meant sprint to the elbow and shoot a jumper. Adding balls marked 1 through 6 required Olynyk to process increasingly complex information quickly. "Once Kelly could occupy some of his mental effort with things like making reads, his feet started doing what they were supposed to be doing on their own," says Knight.

        An unexpected bonus: Olynyk's vertical increased from 32 inches to 39. "I think he always had the ability to jump that high," says Knight. "But everything wasn't firing on all cylinders. Once we improved that rate [of communication], everything opened up."

        Olynyk 2.0 is not only the most efficient high-usage player in the nation (he averages 17.5 points on 65.2% shooting in just 25.7 minutes a game), but he's also a deft passer and a reliable rebounder (7.2) who can post up defenders, guard perimeter players, hit the three (34.6%), make free throws (78.5%), throw down dunks and reject shots. The guy who once played rugby "as a noncontact sport," according to his dad, Ken, has evolved into a bit of a bruiser too. "Kelly's attitude has changed," says Matt Santangelo, a radio broadcaster for the Zags. "He's kind of a tough guy now, protecting his turf."

        After all that hard work, there's a lot worth protecting.

        Comment

        • BobZag
          Dark Lord of the Zag
          • Jan 2007
          • 15380

          #5
          Karno needs to duplicate this with Travis this offseason. Should start today.
          The Kennel: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

          Comment

          • Rangerzag
            Zag for Life
            • Feb 2007
            • 5657

            #6
            Originally posted by BobZag View Post
            Karno needs to duplicate this with Travis this offseason. Should start today.
            +1

            And particularly stay all summer in Spokane.
            .
            .
            .
            "thnk god for few" jazzdelmar(12/12/11 12:50pm)
            .
            "When most of us couldn't buy a basket. Where do we get off anyway?!" siliconzag (11/17/06 5:45:41 pm)
            .
            I am monitoring the price of a donut
            .

            Comment

            • BobZag
              Dark Lord of the Zag
              • Jan 2007
              • 15380

              #7
              Originally posted by Rangerzag View Post
              +1

              And particularly stay all summer in Spokane.
              Yep. Start now. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. Start right now. If he goes to Poland and plays, expect the same Karno next year.
              The Kennel: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

              Comment

              • SLOZag
                Zag for Life
                • Feb 2007
                • 2563

                #8
                39" Vertical?

                Originally posted by spike_jr View Post
                An unexpected bonus: Olynyk's vertical increased from 32 inches to 39.
                Anyone else surprised by this? Assuming the number is correct, is it measured from a stop (as in a jump ball), or is it instead based on being on the run?
                SLOZag
                "Kids come here to better their own lives, not ours. If you take a player’s failures as a personal affront…. check yourself." - Chick-Stratino'sUrDaddy

                Comment

                • GUDan07
                  Kennel Club
                  • Sep 2009
                  • 330

                  #9
                  Originally posted by SLOZag View Post
                  Anyone else surprised by this? Assuming the number is correct, is it measured from a stop (as in a jump ball), or is it instead based on being on the run?
                  By definition, vertical is from a standing position.

                  Comment

                  • 23dpg
                    Zag for Life
                    • Feb 2007
                    • 10577

                    #10
                    Hard to believe.

                    With 7 foot KO jumping center, Gonzaga won maybe 7 opening tips this year.

                    I never saw that kind of elevation from Kelly. No hating, just stating what I saw with my own eyes.
                    Birds aren’t real.

                    Comment

                    • zag buddy
                      Banned
                      • Dec 2007
                      • 1668

                      #11
                      23, did you see whether the ball was being tipped before it reached it apex, as oppossed to being slapped on the way up.

                      Comment

                      • 23dpg
                        Zag for Life
                        • Feb 2007
                        • 10577

                        #12
                        Of course that does and did happen.

                        But for the bulk of the season, we were always starting out on defense. I think our last 8 or 9 games of the season the tip was lost. And for the season, we won maybe 20-25%, that includes some bad teams.
                        Birds aren’t real.

                        Comment

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