Want to blame someone for this disaster of a season for the OKC Thunder? Me too, and I now will...
Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams, two similar players not in terms of ability, but in terms of limitations. Melo can play one-on-one, Adams is strong. One...trick...ponies. Adams and Anthony are the guys most responsible for Oklahoma City's failures on BOTH ends of the floor this season, unlike Andre Roberson who is ineffective on offense yet plays exceptional defense or Paul George or Russ, two superstar talents all around.
I think most fans at this point are aware of Melo's game so let me assess the big New Zealander to show you why I think the Thunder made a mistake giving him a 100 million dollar contract.
Contrary to most Thunder fans, who I believe are more-so blinded by Adams' lackadaisical personality and mysteriously exotic Kiwi look, I've actually never thought much of Steven Adams' game.
Adams is a guy that, on the surface, appears to be an effective player with his monster dunks and gaudy offensive board numbers but suffers from severe shortcomings in critical areas such as shot blocking, passing, offensive creativity, and athleticism. He lacks the space-destroying foot speed to contest jump shots as well as the manual dexterity required for shot-blocking despite his lengthy, robust frame. And these two attributes happen to be very important components of any dominating big man's game.
His strength is his fundamental asset which accounts for him being an elite offensive rebounder (4.9 per game), and his core power provides him the capability to secure winning position underneath for point blank shots or dunks (leading to his 63% FG%), but opposing bigs who can either stretch the floor (Karl Anthony-Towns/Joel Embiid), go toe-to-toe strength-wise with him (Dwight Howard/DeAndre Jordan), or crafty, ball-savvy big men (Jusuf Nurkic/DeMarcus Cousins/Al Horford) have often destroyed Adams.
Adams, in my opinion, has the ability to be a wonderful contributor as a glue guy coming off the bench for a contender. He just hasn't developed the weaknesses in his game that are so glaring and so important to winning such as shot-blocking and passing which are both evidenced by his blocks and assist numbers staying almost identical throughout his first five seasons of play.
The following stats indicate just how disappointing Adams and Carmelo have been this season. These are the Thunder starters' individual matchup outcomes which require a minimum 25 minutes each game and go by overall player efficiency rating versus the player's individual opponent.
Paul George: 24W-9L-5D
Carmelo Anthony: 16W-19L-5D
Russ Westbrook: 27W-9L-6D
Steven Adams: 9W-14L-13D (OKC is 6-3 when he wins, but 2-12 when he loses.)
Andre Roberson: 10W-10L-1D
Source: http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/players/steven-adams/profile/18/21/329
Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams, two similar players not in terms of ability, but in terms of limitations. Melo can play one-on-one, Adams is strong. One...trick...ponies. Adams and Anthony are the guys most responsible for Oklahoma City's failures on BOTH ends of the floor this season, unlike Andre Roberson who is ineffective on offense yet plays exceptional defense or Paul George or Russ, two superstar talents all around.
I think most fans at this point are aware of Melo's game so let me assess the big New Zealander to show you why I think the Thunder made a mistake giving him a 100 million dollar contract.
Contrary to most Thunder fans, who I believe are more-so blinded by Adams' lackadaisical personality and mysteriously exotic Kiwi look, I've actually never thought much of Steven Adams' game.
Adams is a guy that, on the surface, appears to be an effective player with his monster dunks and gaudy offensive board numbers but suffers from severe shortcomings in critical areas such as shot blocking, passing, offensive creativity, and athleticism. He lacks the space-destroying foot speed to contest jump shots as well as the manual dexterity required for shot-blocking despite his lengthy, robust frame. And these two attributes happen to be very important components of any dominating big man's game.
His strength is his fundamental asset which accounts for him being an elite offensive rebounder (4.9 per game), and his core power provides him the capability to secure winning position underneath for point blank shots or dunks (leading to his 63% FG%), but opposing bigs who can either stretch the floor (Karl Anthony-Towns/Joel Embiid), go toe-to-toe strength-wise with him (Dwight Howard/DeAndre Jordan), or crafty, ball-savvy big men (Jusuf Nurkic/DeMarcus Cousins/Al Horford) have often destroyed Adams.
Adams, in my opinion, has the ability to be a wonderful contributor as a glue guy coming off the bench for a contender. He just hasn't developed the weaknesses in his game that are so glaring and so important to winning such as shot-blocking and passing which are both evidenced by his blocks and assist numbers staying almost identical throughout his first five seasons of play.
The following stats indicate just how disappointing Adams and Carmelo have been this season. These are the Thunder starters' individual matchup outcomes which require a minimum 25 minutes each game and go by overall player efficiency rating versus the player's individual opponent.
Paul George: 24W-9L-5D
Carmelo Anthony: 16W-19L-5D
Russ Westbrook: 27W-9L-6D
Steven Adams: 9W-14L-13D (OKC is 6-3 when he wins, but 2-12 when he loses.)
Andre Roberson: 10W-10L-1D
Source: http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/players/steven-adams/profile/18/21/329
