Detroit Pistons: 3 things Luka Garza can learn from Kelly Olynyk
Kelly Olynyk was an underrated signing for the Detroit Pistons this offseason who should pay off in a number of ways.
Olynyk will help the development of the young guards by creating space and giving them a big to work with in the pick-and-roll.
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But Olynyk will also help the bigs, especially young Luka Garza, who says he has been studying Olynyk’s game since before they were teammates:
Luka Garza said he can learn a lot from Kelly Olynyk, given they had similar strengths and weaknessess coming into the league. "Going against him in practice has been so helpful for me … he’s a guy I was watching a lot of film on before I even knew he was coming to the Pistons."
— Offseason O (@omarisankofa) September 27, 2021
This makes sense, as the two have similar builds, and similar skillsets as big men who don’t move particularly well but can shoot and make plays.
Here are three specific areas where Olynyk can mentor Garza, who has been putting in the work to improve his body and is now working on the nuances of his game.
Detroit Pistons: Pump fakes beat hops every time
Neither Kelly Olynyk nor Luka Garza are going to jump out of the gym or beat people off the dribble very often, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make plays off the bounce.
Olynyk has always been smart about using his body to keep defenders off him, as well as using a variety of ball and pump fakes to get them off their feet to score in the interior.
Here you will see him get into the lane with dribble penetration after using a ball fake to freeze the defender and then create the space he needs to score with a crafty pump fake:
Olynyk doesn’t have great speed or hops but shows how fakes and misdirection can keep opponents off balance enough so that it doesn’t matter.
Garza is also slow and gravity challenged but has a high basketball I.Q. and should be able to pick up some tricks from Olynyk.