Not gonna lie, it’s been difficult to get a handle on this Steven Adams on the New Orleans Pelicans thing and it’s nothing to do with the player or the team either. This whole NBA season has been ridiculous so far. Huge blowout wins that seem to vary night by night. Teams who should be dominating are struggling, teams that should be struggling are dominating. The pandemic is still hanging around too as Adams Silver and his cohorts are fast realising how much more complicated this all is outside of a bubble.

So the best thing to do is probably to steer clear of trying to make any kinds of judgements, especially for a team like the Pelicans who have a couple new starters, some young players expected to carry the scoring, and most importantly a new coach with fresh ideas (particularly on defence). With no proper preseason to prepare this is a team that will have to figure things out as they go along.

Hence this first Steve-o write-up of the season is gonna keep it chilled. Forget about the win/loss record. Forget about Lonzo Ball’s slump. Forget about Zion Williamson’s best position. Forget about the lack of scoring from the bench. Forget about how excellent Brandon Ingram has looked even having won Most Improved last time. Gotta talk a bit about what Steven Adams is doing, sure, but otherwise this’ll be about intentions and aims rather than outcomes because those are the most reflective things this early into the season. Waaaaay to early to panic or celebrate.

The best way to put it is how Adams put it back before the season when he compared the process to watching grass grow. Because it takes ages and you don’t see the progress in real time... which is mad poetic from the bloke. He was asked to follow up on that in his most recent media availability (full vid at the end) and this is what he said...

Steven Adams: “It’s still too early now. I mean, there’s still a lot of basketball to be played and it’s just nine games. Outside of we’ve got some losses that we should have won and all that sort of stuff but there’s been a lot of positive things as well. There’s a lot of positive that we’ve been doing and it’s just about expanding those moments in a game. A bit more stamina, a bit more focus. Increase the bandwidth. I would say it’s still too early for the grass to grow but to be honest I might tell you forty games in that it’s still too early just to avoid the answer.”

The Steven Adams Effect

At this stage in his career, Adams’ non-statistical benefits are pretty well known. His reputation is that of a tough cat, a team-first personality, and a bloke whose impact doesn’t necessarily show up in the box score. But how about this stat...

• NOP with Adams on the court (first 9 games): +46 (280 min)

• NOP with Adams on the bench (first 9 games): -41 (157 min)

There is an 87 point swing in Adams’ favour when he’s playing versus when he’s not playing and we’re only talking through a fraction of a season here (none of the stats here include the Clippers game coz I don’t wanna be up all night adjusting them). That’s bonkers. Not all of it is Adams to be fair because that Pelicans bench has been close to awful at times, Josh Hart aside (even JJ Redick has had a shooting slump), but it goes to show that whatever the bloggers had to say about spacing and fit when the Pelicans traded for Adams... this team has so far been waaaay better with him out there.

One area where the stats do step up is in rebounding. Adams’ personal numbers have dropped a bit from last season, albeit it’s still a small sample size, but remember he’s not doing this alone. He’s also boxing out for Zion and the two of them are making the Pelicans an absolute force down low:

• Fourth in total rebounding (48.4/g)

• Sixth in offensive rebounding (11.3/g)

• First in offensive rebounding allowed (7.7/g)

• First in total rebounding allowed (40.6/g)

• First in defensive rebounding percentage (82.9%)

• Fourth in defensive rebounding percentage (25.6%)

Remember that this is a team that plays relatively slow, getting fewer possessions in, so those percentages are probably a better reflection of how supreme they’ve been with the boards.

Steven Adams 2019-20 (Thunder):

4.4 ORB | 8.1 DRB | 12.5 REB (Per 36 min) | 14.0 ORB% | 24.0 DRB%

Steven Adams 2020-21 (Pelicans):

3.7 ORB | 6.6 DRB | 10.3 REB (Per 36 min) | 11.4 ORB% | 19.8 DRB%

He’s playing a few extra minutes this season though (that’s the Stan Van Gundy effect – more on his mins in a sec) so the overall averages are a lot closer together. Plus as the Pellies have struggled the last few games after a 4-2 start it feels like SVG is willing to lean on Adams even more as an anchor in the storm.

Then of course if we pop on over to NBA.com/stats and check out the leaders in ‘Hustle Plays’ then you’ll see Steven Adams’ name shining through as the league’s fifth ranked player Screen Assists Per Game (5.0) and second ranked player in Box Outs Per Game (5.4). The box outs are really telling. The fella ahead of him, Mitchell Robinson of the Knicks (5.7 box outs per game), may have more of them overall but his box outs are leading to fewer team rebounds than Adams (only just, 3.9 vs 3.8, but goes to show there’s a proficiency factor to this as well). Also Adams only personally gets about half the rebounds from his box outs so he’s working for teammates as much as for himself there.

Those are the kind of things that SVG was talking about with playing every possession. As for the screen assists he seems to be developing a real nice combination with Brandon Ingram on the pick and roll which is becoming a real feature for the Pellies. Tell ya what, let’s look at a few examples, shall we class?

This first one is pretty routine. Late second quarter against the Thunder and Ingram has the ball in full halfcourt formation. Adams comes and meets him on the perimeter and sets the pick on his man, just your run of the mill switch here as Lu Dort is blocked off by Adams so Al Horford has to step up and guard Ingram. But he doesn’t because they don’t wanna see him attack the rim, in fact he even gets a help defender as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leaves Lonzo Ball open for three if Ingram wants to kick it out. But nah BI says I’ll have me some of this and he drains a simple jumper from the free throw line. Two easy points as long yer boy can make that shot (Ingram’s shooting 85% on free throws this season, same as last season, so yeah he’s got no dramas with a pull-up from that range).

Second we’ve got a cheeky one in overtime against the Pacers. Adams starts above the free throw line as Redick starts with the ball but as soon as he flips it off to Ingram - creating a switch in defenders as Malcolm Brogdon swaps on to Redick and Justin Holiday has to pick up Ingram - Stevie makes a quick fade to the basket and muscles up on Myles Turner. Brandon Ingram then bursts past Holiday with a fast move and lays it up from in the pocket Adams has created. Holiday actually stays with him pretty well but that’s when Ingram’s freakishly long arms become extra useful.

Hey and how about this one too? Another variation on the theme in that it’s actually a screen assist for the assist. Eric Bledsoe has the ball late in the shot clock with Kyle Lowry on him, third quarter against the Raptors. He throws it to Adams tracking back who holds it a sec and gives it right back. Adams then turns his sights to Lowry with a pick so sturdy he knocks the guy with the lowest centre of gravity in the entire league onto his backside. Which in turn gives OG Anunoby a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t decision to make and he chooses to stay in the lane and guard Bledsoe leaving Ingram wide open. Aron Baynes has already switched onto Bledsoe, who gathers to shoot with two fellas in his face but then rather incredibly whips the ball out to Ingram who makes it swish for three points.

One more for good luck...

Breaking Down The Minutes

Image via NBARotations.info. Each block represents a minute of basketball, the shadings refer to when he was subbed on/off and the darker they are the more of that minute that he played (so first quarter against Toronto he played eight mins and most of the ninth min).

A couple things that stand out there:

• Big minutes in the first quarter, including one game in which he played the entire 1Q – compare that to last season when he was often only playing 4-6 minutes in the first for OKC before coming back for another stint at the end of the frame.

• As to his fourth quarter mins... he didn’t play any of the fourth quarter against Phoenix because that was a 25 blowout loss. Meanwhile he was out there for the final plays of all four games which were decided by five points or less.

• You can guess why he went missing in the second quarter of that Indy game: foul trouble. It’s the only game in which he’s had any of that this season but yeah he picked up three fouls in the first quarter playing his usual rotation (though on the smaller side of it). Then he came back in later than usual in the 2Q... and lasted 42 seconds before getting his fourth personal.

• Other than that game he’s finished the first half every single time. Always starts each half. Usually closes the game too as long as the contest is still up for grabs.

• And it’s harder to spot immediately from that graph but the second OKC game and the Charlotte game he played his most minutes of all. 34+ on both occasions which is something he only did five times in all of last season (including playoffs) – Adams’ minutes dropped from a career high 33.4/g in 2018-19 to 26.7/g last season which was the lowest since his third year in the league. A mixture of injury maintenance and an evolving offence to blame there.

Honestly it’s small sample size alert but the contrast between this season and last in terms of Steven Adams and his minutes played looks drastic here...

The Old Stomping Ground

It’s gotta be a strange experience when athletes go up against their old teams. Especially in this case when you’d been there so long and owed so much to that team and those fans and now you’re experiencing being on the other side of that for the first ever time.

But the Thunder are good with these things. The NBA in general is good with these things. Not only did the tribute video get shared online nice and early (no fans in the stands to hold it back for anyway) but to further show their appreciation for seven years of Kiwi Steve the Thunder even went as far as to give him an even louder fake crowd noise shout when he was announced in the line-up. It’s just a pity the folks of Oklahoma City themselves couldn’t be there to show that appreciation in person. Sorta hollow doing this kinda thing without them, aye? Ah well, can’t be helped.

Actually, it won’t be until next season at the earliest that the people of OKC will get to witness Steven Adams playing in that arena for the other team. With this shortened season this was the only time that the Pelicans play away in Oklahoma... and the chances of both these teams making the playoffs is slim, let alone both making it to respective seedings where they’d meet each other.

Eh, you get the feeling Steve-o ain’t really one for sentimentality anyway.

A few more heartfelt tributes...

Adams finished that game with a lovely 14 points and 10 rebounds, playing big off the offensive glass and keeping active on defence against a team trying to keep things active and modern with plenty of threes and driving twos. New Orleans winning it pretty easy despite Zion Williamson playing through foul trouble and Brandon Ingram being surprisingly ejected in the third quarter. SVG will be pretty happy with most of that.

As to the other time they played against Oklahoma City (in New Orleans a few days later)...

The Triple Double

There ya go. It only took him 538 games.

Crazy thing about this was he hadn’t gotten more than four assists in a game this season prior. In fact his entire damn career he’d only ever logged six assists in a game before. 10 in a single evening didn’t completely come as a shock because he’s made huge strides as a passer/facilitator these last 18 months or so but yeah that really happened all at once. He’s the first Pelicans player to get a triple double this season – who had money on that one, aye? He’s now only 180 short of tying Oscar Robertson for the all-time record. And of course in second place on that list with 150 TDs... that’d be old mate Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams played in a fair few of those.

BOX SCORES

at TORONTO RAPTORS (W 113-99):

31 MIN | 8 PTS (4/6 FG) | 8 REB (2 OFF) | 3 AST | 4 STL | 2 BLK | 1 PF

at MIAMI HEAT (L 111-98):

32 MIN | 6 PTS (3/3 FG) | 9 REB (4 OFF) | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PF

vs SAN ANTONIO SPURS (W 98-95):

31 MIN | 8 PTS (4/7 FG, 0/2 FT) | 9 REB (3 OFF) | 3 AST | 1 BLK | 1 PF

at PHOENIX SUNS (L 111-86):

23 MIN | 11 PTS (5/5 FG, 1/2 FT) | 8 REB (3 OFF) | 1 AST | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 1 PF

at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (W 113-80):

31 MIN | 14 PTS (7/13 FG) | 10 REB (6 OFF) | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 PF

vs TORONTO RAPTORS (W 120-116):

31 MIN | 13 PTS (4/7 FG, 5/8 FT) | 10 REB (4 OFF) | 1 AST | 2 STL | 3 TO | 2 PF

vs INDIANA PACERS (L 118-116):

31 MIN | 10 PTS (4/7 FG, 2/4 FT) | 8 REB (4 OFF) | 3 STL | 4 TO | 5 PF

vs OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (L 111-110):

34 MIN | 10 PTS (4/5 FG, 2/5 FT) | 11 REB (2 OFF) | 10 AST | 1 STL | 2 TO | 2 PF

vs CHARLOTTE HORNETS (L 118-110):

35 MIN | 13 PTS (5/7 FG, 3/6 FT) | 7 REB (1 OFF) | 2 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 4 TO | 3 PF

at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (L 111-106):

29 MIN | 12 PTS (6/7 FG, 0/2 FT) | 7 REB (1 OFF) | 3 AST | 1 TO | 2 PF

SLAM DUNKS

Some more bangers from that quick Q+A right here. 10/10 would recommend.

From the tweet vault...

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