10 games into Steven Adams' nascent NBA career, it seems like a good time to make a few reassessments. We’ve seen moments of absolute dominance, and also entire games that could be summed up with a shrugged ‘meh’. But overall it’s been three weeks of fervour and excitement watching a guy from our noble shores compete at the highest level of basketball among some of the absolute stars of the game. This guy watches All Blacks games, eats Weet-Bix and uses the word ‘Bro’ colloquially – just like us!

Things ought to be put in some perspective though. Here, courtesy of the legends at Sports-Reference.com, are his game logs to date:

G	Date		Opp		GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	GmSc
1	2013-10-30	@	UTA	W (+3)	0	18:27	1	1	1.000	0	1	.000	2	1	3	1	0	0	0	3	2	2.5
2	2013-11-01	@	MIN	L (-19)	0	22:53	2	5	.400	4	6	.667	5	3	8	1	0	1	0	5	8	8.3
3	2013-11-03		PHO	W (+7)	0	8:47	1	3	.333	0	0		4	0	4	0	0	1	1	2	2	2.0
4	2013-11-06		DAL	W (+14)	0	20:10	2	3	.667	2	2	1.000	2	7	9	0	2	1	0	1	6	10.5
5	2013-11-08	@	DET	W (+9)	0	30:31	7	10	.700	3	4	.750	5	5	10	3	1	3	0	5	17	20.6
6	2013-11-10		WAS	W (+1)	0	19:34	0	3	.000	1	2	.500	1	1	2	0	0	2	1	2	1	-0.9
7	2013-11-13	@	LAC	L (-8)	1	21:26	3	4	.750	1	2	.500	2	2	4	0	0	1	1	2	7	5.9
8	2013-11-14	@	GSW	L (-1)	1	14:10	1	1	1.000	1	2	.500	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	0.5
9	2013-11-16	@	MIL	W (+13)	0	13:31	0	4	.000	2	2	1.000	4	3	7	1	1	2	0	3	2	4.8
10	2013-11-18		DEN	W (+2)	0	5:53	0	0		0	0		0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	1.0

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/20/2013.

We’ll start from the top. Realistic expectations were that Adams would be starting off in the development leagues, but his impressive preseason put a stop to those talks. So then we were hopeful for a rotation role, which Steven has grabbed with open (and very large) arms. 18 minutes off the bench in his first game was beyond most people’s comprehensions six months ago. But if you work hard and be productive and these opportunities can arise. He didn’t exactly pad his stat lines in his debut, but his energy and promise worked in his favour. The loss to a rampant Minnesota team was much better for his figures. His 5 offensive boards showed just what he can offer to OKC even in the short term, and his 8 points were a welcome bonus.

Game 3 vs Phoenix, and also his most recent game vs Denver were his two most limited games. These two occasions were the only two where he failed to bank double figure minutes of court time, and they demonstrate the harsher realities of being a backup big-man in this league. Neither of those teams chose to play the physical post game against an OKC team that overmatched them in height, both sticking to their natural fast movement and perimeter shooting games instead, so there was simply no need to use Adams a whole amount. Instead they would have stuck with more athletic bench guys like Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb.

It was against Dallas that Adams really announced himself to the NBA. In a nationally televised match, his bench impact was a huge momentum boost (as was the recently returned Russell Westbrook) in a tight game. 9 rebounds and 6 points, including a highlight reel moment of defensive presence and transition movement (below) that earned him plaudits around the league. He carried this on against Detroit in his best game as a pro, scoring 17 with 10 boards for the first (hopefully of many) career double-doubles. It was the first double-double by an OKC centre in a year and a half.

Since then it’s been much more routine – all single figure stats, with solid bench minutes. He got starts against the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors (both were losses) when Kendrick Perkins had to leave the team after the sad passing of his grandfather. As Jeremy Lin will tell you, just starting doesn’t ensure big minutes, and playing off the bench doesn’t mean you finish the game on the pine. Especially against the dynamic Warriors, Adams wasn’t able to find any comfort as a starter.

Adams vs Perkins

People are clamouring to see Adams start ahead of Kendrick Perkins but it isn’t that simple. Adams is very young in his NBA career, and also in his general basketball career. And Perkins can still fulfil a role. He’s a decent defender, who has a lot of experience and was once a very good player in this league. It’s just that he’s kind of an offensive black hole. For OKC, it’s not a matter of dropping Perkins but getting more out of him. To date it has been a struggle for the starting C though. Compare his per-game figures to Adams’:

Player	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	2P	2PA	2P%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Steven Adams	2	17.5	1.7	3.4	.500	1.7	3.4	.500	1.4	2.1	.667	2.5	2.2	4.7	0.7	0.4	1.2	0.4	2.6	4.8
Kendrick Perkins	8	17.9	1.3	3.1	.400	1.3	3.0	.417	0.3	0.8	.333	1.3	2.9	4.1	1.4	0.4	0.4	1.6	2.9	2.8

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/20/2013.

Very comparable minutes. Which is already daunting for Perkins, because he’s supposed to be the starter here. Adams is shooting more and more effectively, he’s rebounding better and scoring more (though neither is exactly setting the league alight in those categories – not that they have to in a team where KD/RW are good for 50-plus a game). He’s also fouling less, and perhaps most pertinently, conceding four times fewer turnovers a game. Neither are guys that Scott Brooks will be calling plays for, but both play crucial roles in setting up plays. Adams is a great pick and roll guy, which is perfect for Russell Westbrook who just loves driving to the basket.

Then there are Adams’ rebounding abilities. First of all, his positioning is excellent. Then consider his strength and height, and you have a player to be wary of. Adams had won 68.1% of contested rebounds through his first 9 games, which had him third IN THE LEAGUE for players averaging over 10 mpg.

Now, if we can get a little more technical here, Steven Adams has an offensive rating (team points per 100 possessions when on the court) of 123. He’s not playing enough minutes to qualify for the leader boards, but to put it in perspective, LeBron James is at 123.5. Kendrick Perkins is at 76. Adams has the best O-Rating in the OKC roster; Perkins has the worst. Defensively they’re very similar, but that’s not the issue with Perkins. Adams is only 20 still, and has the potential to be a dominant 2-way centre, of which there are precious few in the NBA right now.

The Harden Trade & OKC’s Drafting Prowess

The pick that Steven Adams was selected with was acquired in the infamous Harden trade, which threatens to go down as one of the worst in NBA history. Seriously. This is a small market team, who cannot afford the big contracts, or at least seem reluctant to pay for them. It’s not really fair on the team’s loyal fans, but they’re never gonna be in the running for those high-priced free agents. This is why Harden, a top 10 player in the NBA undoubtedly, was traded. He wanted a starting role and a contract extension. They couldn’t agree so JH and his beard were shipped away on the cheap. But because of their lack of bucks, OKC has always put a huge emphasis on drafting well. This is a franchise that has drafted three top ten current players, along with other more than useful talents like Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison and Eric Bledsoe (who was promptly traded). Pretty soon we can add Steven Adams to that list too. A lot of folks scoffed at drafting an unknown kiwi with only a year of college ball under his belt. He’s already proving them wrong, and looks to be one of the steals of the 2013 draft class (along with MCW, of course).

A Moment of Vinsanity

Obviously, the Vince Carter incident needs to be mentioned. A stray elbow to Adams’ face made Vince temporarily public enemy number one in NZ as we duly overreacted to someone threatening our favourite basketballing son. Carter apologised, Adams never even cared. It was marvellous. Good old fashioned NZ stoicism. Kick it in the guts, Trev! Here’s the gif:

The Final Word

It looks like we’ve already seen Adams slip into a comfortable groove in the Thunder’s rotation. He’s not gonna surpass Perkins anytime soon, but at this rate, the KP era in Oklahoma City probably only has this season left to run on it. As a starter anyway. There will be games like the last one where Adams isn’t needed so much, but expect to see him play 15-25 mins more often than not. Probably with around 4 pts, 5 rebs. If he can edge his averages up to 6 & 6, then we’ll really see him start to take off. When you have as many dimensions to your game as Adams does, and with his energy and enthusiasm, chances are gonna come your way. Steven Adams just has to keep taking them – just like he’s been doing ever since he was drafted.