Steven Adams: A Point Guard's best friend

By: Lucas Kochevar 

          The playoffs are about to start and I believe one of the most intriguing players is center Steven Adams. Adams has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder for a couple of years now and he has seen his role increase, especially with the emergence of superstar Russell Westbrook. Adams is one of the most helpful centers in the game. He is managing to keep the traditional center alive as he is not a great shooter, but he rebounds with the best and plays great defense.

              Adams has been rebounding at a very effective rate. He pulls down about 15% of the rebounds for his team. He is pulling down 7.5 rebounds per game and about have of those are offensive rebounds, which eventually leads to 2nd chance points often. As of right now, he is averaging 4.1 second chance points. 

             The biggest role he plays is setting screens. There are not many statistics that could describe the impact he makes, however, there are many videos that show his impact. He does a terrific job with Westbrook. For example, he will set a high screen at around the three point line for Westbrook. Once he sets that screen for him, he will roll aggressively to the basket and force the smaller guard to either choose to stay on Adams and cause a mismatch or Westbrook will explode by him with his freaky athleticism. The only problem is that if the defender is a smart one like a Klay Thompson then this could easily cause concern for that style of offense attack. You can see the screens effectiveness below in the video. Notice how he makes sure to lean into his victims.

          Lets keep on record how much of an impact he has on the game and the success of many players on the Thunder. 
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             Note: He is number 12. The video shows his screens overtime and his appearance has changed drastically.