Steven Adams is a STAR for the Oklahoma City Thunder!

The Oklahoma City Thunder have recovered from their weak start and now sit in the top four of the Western Conference. The play of Dennis Schroder, Paul George, Jerami Grant, and Alex Abrines has been a huge part of the recovery of their early season. And Russell Westbrook has been just as dominate as he usually is, plus he is taking less threes and trying to get to the rim and distribute more.

This video will take a look at most of these things in more depth, but it will predominantly focus on the strong play of Steven Adams. The big man in the middle who does all of the dirty work for the team and remains underrated around the league.

This is Stevens sixth year in the league and on the Thunder. He was taken with the 12th pick in the 2013 Draft after the Thunder acquired the pick from the Rockets in the Harden trade. He was expected to be a long term project who would take time to adjust to the NBA and hone his skills. But he would beat even Sam Presti’s wildest dreams when he averaged 15 minutes a game and his playing time increased continuously over the course of the season.

After this strong rookie campaign he would go on to start practically every single game of the rest of his career. And the best thing about this, is that he would improve every, single, season. There still hasn’t been an NBA season where I’ve watched OKC and thought - that is the same Steven Adams as last year. He has improved his defensive instincts, then improved his footwork in the pick and roll, then added a post game, and has continuously become fitter and fitter.

And Adams appears to be entering his final form this season. At the age of 25 we could expect him to be entering the prime of his career. And while I hope that he continues to get even better, I’m not sure how much more room for improvement there is. But I’ll never count the big man from New Zealand out.

So just how has he become so good and so valuable to this OKC team? For me, Adams is the perfect example of a complementary star. A role player who is so incredible at their job they transcend the slightly negative connotations of the phrase “role player.” OKC already have Westbrook and Paul George as their offensive stars who need the ball and create for the team. Then they have Dennis Schroeder who has been fantastic off of the bench to begin this season and who also needs the ball in his hand. For this reason there was never really the opportunity for Adams to grow and develop into a post up beast who catches the ball down low eight to ten times a game.

Instead he does all of the little things on the offensive end. He sets some of the best screens in the game. PERIOD. The amount of separation his guards and Paul George get from a Steven Adams’ screen is simply insane. Opposing guards crash into the brick wall that is Adams seven foot frame and are immediately thrown. This allows the guard to charge down the lane and for Adams to dive into the paint with them. It almost always traps the defender behind the play and forces help to come from the corners or for the players to switch.

Видео Steven Adams is a STAR for the Oklahoma City Thunder! канала Hoops House