Oklahoma City Thunder: Film Festival Steven Adams in the post
By Gideon Lim
They see me rollin’
Even when Adams is not pounding the ball down on the block, he still manages to be an effective contributor on offense.
1. Alley-oops
By and large, Adams’ off-ball bread and butter is his work as a roll man. Steven Adams has fantastic mobility for a 7-footer and deceptively good hands. Here, watch his chemistry with Westbrook as he makes the difficult catch on the alley-oop.
2. General touch around the rim
Steven Adams has also improved his finishing around the rim. Adams makes tough overhead catch here, impressively using his body to protect the ball as he patiently pumps his defender into passivity. Great finish at the end to cap off a good play.
3. Floater game
So far, these two areas were already under Adams’ belt even before last season. His new found floater game, however, is the result of increased responsibility on offense. It is not a high volume shot, but he makes it enough to keep defenses honest. This way, as big men are forced to step out of the paint to guard against the floater, Adams gets more space to receive alley-oops, a far easier shot for him.
In this play, it’s not even like the defense sagged off him. Marc Gasol, a premier defender, steps out to contest the shot. But, Steven Adams shows just how far he has come on offense with the cool, decisive push shot.
4. Kick outs
Finally, Steven Adams has dabbled in making secondary decisions after he receives the ball in the paint. Back when Serge Ibaka was still on the team, then-head coach Scott Brooks tried to teach Ibaka to make reads under pressure. Unfortunately, Ibaka serves as a good example of how passing may look easy, but receiving the ball in the crowded paint and having the make and execute the right pass is far harder than what some imagine.
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For Steven Adams, this skillset is still relatively new for him. There are times where it feels like he ends up making rushed decisions. In close game situations, defenders should feel comfortable ignoring the possibility of Adams having to make these reads, because Adams is still no way close to being proficient at making kick outs.
But, the past season has been a good, albeit small step forward for the big Kiwi. Adams could have freely attacked the slower Kelly Olynyk. But, he rightly saw the shooter along his peripheral vision and makes the right open pass. Buckets.
In terms of his off-the-ball plays, Steven Adams’ strides as a roll man is undoubtedly his biggest form of improvement. The past season has shown at crunch moments, Billy Donovan and more importantly, Russell Westbrook, turn to the Westbrook-Adams pairing for offense. Adams’ game is simple, but bordering on unstoppable as a sidekick to Westbrook.
Performance is in the eye of the beholder
Steven Adams got a lot of stick last season because of his disappointing campaign. By his own standards, Adams has every right to expect more from himself, especially after his impressive postseason. Plus, many fans and writers expected him to take up the offensive burden, especially after receiving his monster $100m contract.
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The truth of the matter is, Adams will never be that guy, on any team. And, it feels almost blasphemous to say this, but Sam Presti misjudged the market for centers last offseason. Steven Adams will probably not live up to his max contract, and this past offseason showed Presti could have saved a good buck by waiting till this year to offer Adams a contract.
But, these ideas are all irrelevant when evaluating Steven Adams’ play over the season. Those off-court storylines cannot changed. Instead, it is the real basketball side of everything Adams should be held accountable for. And, based on the game film, he certainly did not break out the way his preseason suggested he might. Adams also should not be discredited for his mini strides forward either.
Steven Adams will likely not be anything more than a good complementary piece. But, if complementing is his main job, then perhaps Russell Westbrook’s MVP award speaks more on Adams’ real value to the team than even what the game footage has shown.