It’s only preseason. There’s usually not much to learn from preseason games, guys are just trying to get their reps up before the ones that matter. Anyone who applies relevance to preseason results in any way is a lost soul and there are lots more of these exhibition games to get through before the regular season gets underway in a couple of weeks (vs the Cleveland Cavaliers at 1pm on Thursday 21 Oct NZT). Always take ‘em with a grain of salt. However there exceptions to every rule and when it comes to the irrelevance of preseason one of those exceptional factors is the opportunity to see new players interacting on the court for the first time. Flexing in the new threads, mate.

Like Steven Adams, for example. Debuting for the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz were up against a Milwaukee Bucks team that didn’t look very much like the defending champs that they are given that Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton were all rested... but that’s not the point. First possession of the game and Steven Adams nearly threw himself into the crowd to grab a rebound and he pretty much carried on from there. Before long he’d nailed a free throw - a free throw no less! - to score his first (unofficial) point for the Grizzlies. And from there it was prime Steven Adams, pretty much. All up he logged 11 points (5/6 fg), 10 rebounds (6 off), with 3 assists and 1 block in less than 22 minutes.

Plus this was without the benefit of a fourth quarter because some joker set off the fire alarm and they had to evacuate the arena and by the time that was all sorted, the Bucks players had already packed up their locker room and gapped it with the catering (no kidding, Holiday and Middleton were both shown on telly walking off with those tin foil wrapped tray things), waiting in the bus in the carpark until game was officially called off so they could leave.

There was some friction about whether or not they’d resume the game, probably stemming from the networks given that this match was televised on TNT (with Stan Van Gundy on the call curiously avoiding reference to how he coached Steven Adams last season – trying to keep it impartial, fair enough). But eventually the only logical call was made. Who really cares about a long-delayed fourth quarter in a preseason game?

It was only preseason... but the good vibes continue for Steven Adams. He must have banked up some karma points in that tricky situation with the New Orleans Pelicans because it looks like he’s cashing them all in at once now. After a glowing introduction at Media Day he then showed everything we wanted to see on the court from him and more against the Bucks. Keeping it on the catering theme, he filled up on the bread and butter but he also dined out on some prawn cocktails too.

Rebounding, Rebounding, Rebounding

There are certain things you expect from a player like Steven Adams and rebounding is first and foremost on that list. Jonas Valanciunas was a high volume rebounder and Steven Adams is going to be asked to be the same. That doesn’t necessarily need to be reflected in his individual numbers because as we know he’s a box out king who is happy as long as the team gets the possession whether the ball lands in his hands or not. Despite never averaging double digit rebounds in a season he’s been a key guy on some of the best rebounding teams of the last few years. The Pelicans were third in the league in total rebounds last season. The OKC Thunder were second in 2018-19, fifth in 2017-18, and first in 2016-17. His last year in OKC wasn’t as flash but that was post-Russell Westbrook when the rebuild kicked in.

It’s hard to make projections based on preseason but 10 rebounds, with 6 of them at the offensive end, in only three quarters of action is a solid start. Especially because while Giannis may not have been there, Brook Lopez was. And Brook Lopez is a man who knows his way to a rebound, a man who unlike most does not skimp on the box outs. Not so much on the offensive end these past few years as his sudden three point shooting emergence keeps him out on the edge... but still he’s no chump.

Don’t expect Adams to take huge surge here or anything. This is more about him doing as expected and continuing to grab those second chance efforts especially. That’s all the Grizz need from him though, and with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr both very good rebounders for their positions you can anticipate that Memphis will be up around the top five rebounding teams in the league once again. Same as they were last time in fourth (one spot behind the Pelicans). Same as Steven Adams always is.

Team Chemistry

Here’s the thing about Steven Adams versus Jonas Valanciunas. Adams is probably a defensive upgrade, especially when you consider his leadership/mentor aspects with a team of younger dudes. He’s a little more versatile, a little more disciplined. He’s an efficient communicator on the court. But Valanciunas is a considerably better offensive player with his post play and his deeper range and all that. On the whole, JV is gonna take it out if you bring the scales out.

But that doesn’t make this a downgrade for the Grizzlies. Sometimes folks get swept looking at dudes’ stats/abilities in isolation despite basketball being a team game (especially on the defensive end). Adams and Valanciunas are very similar players but there are little tweaks between the pair of them which, and we saw some lovely glimpses of this in preseason game number one, suggest that Adams may prove to be the better fit for what this team wants to achieve.

For one thing he’s not too worried about his own shooting numbers and that allows him to play with his head up more. Looking to link up with teammates rather than backup up his man and trying to get to the hoop for points like JV tends to do. With the Thunder, it was always a directive to get Adams a few touches in motion early in games to try and set a tone down low but the Pelicans seemed to get to the point where they weren’t bothered if they didn’t run a play for Adams all game and there were games where his field goal attempts all came exclusively from his own offensive rebounds.

Ah but here we saw something beautiful. Here we saw the return of the pick and roll.

It makes sense. Ja Morant’s his own dude with his own exhilarating attributes as a player... but damn the resemblance to Russell Westbrook is just uncanny. Meaning that of course the first thing coach Taylor Jenkins is gonna do is try and capture a little of that Russ/Steve-o magic from yonder days. It’s such a versatile set as well. You’ve got a heavy screen on the perimeter via Adams and then either Morant blitzes past and to the rim or if the defensive switch occurs then Adams can roll to the hoop himself for a lob pass. Morant can also kick it out to a shooter if a help defender steps into the lane. Or he can pull-up and pop one himself. When you have a high calibre athlete like that, with a great brain for the game, and one of the NBA’s leading screen assisters of the last few years, then that’s what you wanna do.

In New Orleans that play went out of fashion for Adams as it was often Zion Williamson running the point and he’s already a big hombre so you prefer a shooter to set his picks. That way said shooter can peel off for a spot-up themselves if Williamson draws that extra body. JJ Redick had a great connection with Zion while he was there. But Adams is working with a more traditional point guard now so expect to see those lob passes coming his way more and more, same as in the good old days.

That’s not the only expanded way they were using him either. We saw lots of dribble hand-offs with Adams on the perimeter and his back to the hoop, looking for runners off of him. This is something we did see a wee bit of in New Orleans and it gets into Adams’ secret weapon which we’ll talk about in a sec: his passing. Clearly the coach is trying to use him as an active player in their halfcourt sets. Valanciunas was more about winning position around the paint and trying to score. Adams is more willing to forego that side of things... which ironically leads to better scoring opportunities for a player of his skill set.

However there were also quite a few moments where the chemistry simply wasn’t there. It’s only game one of preseason so of course it wouldn’t be but Morant had a couple P’n’R lobs that went astray and Adams himself threw a bounce pass away. Plus there was a moving screen in the first half where he and Morant weren’t on the same page. SVG went into a little detail about that on commentary, saying that it’s a foul you see called regularly in the NBA where the big man is the one whistled but it’s really the point guard’s fault for going too early. He needed one more dribble to allow Adams to get his feet set. But Ja had called the play himself, signalling Adams up from the baseline, and was too impatient.

These are things that should take care of themselves as everyone gets more time playing together. Again, Adams and Valanciunas are similar players but some of those differences appear to be exactly what Adams was traded for so they will be focal points. The way he facilitates off the ball with those screens in particular is gonna become a massive strength for this team once it’s all clicking. It’s a matter of getting used to how each other plays, something that can only come with time and repetition.

Defensive Yarns

Then there’s the other side of the ball, the defensive side where Steven Adams is supposed to be an upgrade on the previous fella. Be that as it may... the major upgrade defensively for the Grizzlies will be if they can get something close to a full healthy season out of Jaren Jackson Jr because that lad has some hands on him, tell ya what. Four blocks in this game for JJJ. That annual survey of NBA general managers that they do came out before this game and Jackson was voted most likely to have a breakout season and that’s entirely because of all the injuries that the 22 year old has had since being drafted fourth overall in 2018. 58 games played in year one. 57 games played in year two. A mere 11 games played in year three.

But he’s healthy now and he looked great against the Bucks, a 6’11 power forward with long arms and plenty of bounce in his step. A couple of those blocks came as a help defender guarding the rim, something he’ll have plenty of chances to do if the Grizz can maintain that stereotypically gritty defence. He and Adams already have a nice combination going. They’ve been joking about each other with the media and everything. If that duo can get going then this team is going to be tough to handle. Morant is a decent enough defender but Dillon Brooks, who didn’t play this game, is a lockdown stud on the perimeter. Then you’ve got the big body of Adams with the bouncier JJJ and it all seems to mesh really nicely.

Rebounding is a large part of defence. A team that rebounds well faces fewer possessions which means conceding fewer buckets which is the whole point. We’ve already established that Adams has a history of contributing to high level rebounding teams. He’s also someone who will take it upon himself to call things out in defensive sets, to be a leader there. And in Jaren Jackson Jr. he’s got the best defensive power forward partner he’s had since the Serge Ibaka days... supposing they can both stay healthy. JJJ will also get minutes at the five in smaller line-ups where Adams sits but that’s all good. Adams has a tendency to cop some wear and tear over the course of his seasons which takes its toll around playoff times so probably wanna keep Adams around that 25-28 minutes per game mark anyway.

And then the other major part of defence is attitude and... yeah based on what we saw from these dudes in a preseason game here that’s never gonna be an issue. Them Grizzlies turned up to eat. Hide the picnic baskets. Mentality Kings.

Sneaky Playmaking

Now this is where it gets funky. Three assists in three-quarters of a preseason game and they weren’t random incidents either, they were specific plays designed to go through Steven Adams’ hands. Adams is from Aotearoa so he knows how to throw a ball. He also has large hands that make a basketball seem like a tennis ball. A lot of folks don’t even seem to realise this because of the stereotypes about him as a super physical old-fashioned centre but he’s always had an underrated ability to string a flashy pass. However in his last two seasons that’s truly blossomed.

His first six seasons in the NBA, Steve-o averaged 1.8 assists per 100 possessions. In his last year in Oklahoma City, aka the year without Russell Westbrook’s intimidating usage rate, Adams’ assists suddenly shot all the way up to 4.2 ast/100p and while he didn’t fully maintain that in New Orleans it was still a solid 3.3 ast/100p - well above his previous efforts. From the looks of what they’re trying to do in Memphis he could even be in for another little boost. By the way, he’s done that without any noticeable increase in his turnovers either (many of which are offensive fouls tbf).

This plays into a wider idea of how active he looked playing for Memphis. How involved they were trying to get him. The dude’s a centre in the modern NBA so it’s all relative but honestly there were times last year when it felt like all the Pelicans wanted him to do was stay out of the way until he could hunt a rebound. It’s a small sample size against an understrength preseason opponent but here the Grizz had him picking and rolling and passing and screening and boxing out and hustling and handing-off and all them good things. They traded for him. They have a vision for him. Long may these events continue.

PS. - One thing they didn’t seem to wanna indulge was his three point shooting. All the videos from his offseason, where he wasn’t able to return home due to covid/MIQ or whatever so he stayed busy in the gym instead, those vids of Adams popping up threes from all angles... not saying that it wasn’t a necessary dose of upskilling from the man but it doesn’t look like that’s something that Coach Jenkins is gonna try and exploit from day one. Nor need it be. If the threes start flying then that’s a bonus. But it’s not a factor in why they traded for him.

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