OKC Thunder solid play has quietly flown under radar at quarter mark – progress report

Steven Adams, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, OKC Thunder (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Steven Adams, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, OKC Thunder (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Steven Adams. OKC Thunder (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Steven Adams’ value

Watching Steven Adams post up is the perfect encapsulation of who he is as a player. Whenever he bumps his way into the middle of the lane, I just cringe thinking about his awkward footwork. But if he catches his man on the hip, it’s almost a guaranteed spin move and soft lay-up.

And that’s the Big Kiwi in a nutshell, isn’t it? He is an excellent sportsman, in terms of basics like ball sense, reading the game and physicality. But don’t expect anything artfully basketball-related from him, like three-point range (yes, I’ve said it), and you’re bound for disappointment, at least for now.

This is high praise, by the way. It’s almost impossible to coach the things Adams is good at. The rest, like passing chops and shooting range, can be learned.

Anyway, here’s a fun fact to appease anyone who’s still pissed at this point: Adams has won almost 70% of all starting tips this year. How’s that for ball sense.

And yes, I manually counted that. You’re welcome.