Kiwi Steve in the NBA #9: The Kiwi Collection Agency
12 + 4
It’s a special thing to be able to watch Ja Morant be Ja Morant on a basketball court. He’s having a genuinely astounding season, surging into the upper echelon of NBA star talent with his dynamic scoring excellence. He’s so incredibly athletic, so fast and agile, that when you combine that with a competitive mentality as powerful as his... the dude is honestly unstoppable sometimes.
He is, as we all know by now, the king of the lay-up. He scores more points in the paint than anybody else in the NBA and he’s not tipping in second chancers like Steven Adams does. It’s drives to the rim, over and over again. He’s the fastest guy on the court at any given moment which means that if he catches you off balance or out of position then you’re done for. But he’s also got this insane bodily control that allows him to pull-up on a dime or drop a spin move or just plain leap over the top of ya.
He also has patience. So much patience. Like great sportsfolk always seem to, he always knows exactly how much time and how to manipulate that time to his advantage. If he needs to make this play at 100% speed then he’ll do it but if a slower, smoother drive is better in order to allow his big man to get a screen in or whatever then all goods. His ability to burst from a near-standing start means that he can commit hypothetical murder with his hesitation dribbles. Needless to say he can pass gorgeously out of these situations too.
Ja Morant was unreal in the win against the San Antonio Spurs the other day. Had been a little rusty against the T-Wolves first game out of all stars (still sweating out the tequila, lol) but then he served up 46 points in a win over Chicago and the following game he delivered up a masterclass as he dropped 52 points shooting at 73% from the field (22/30). He felt like he could not miss. Bloke hit all four of his triples (all in the first half) and he’s not even a particularly good three point shooter – 34.4% from deep this season, two points up on his career average. It was probably the finest performance of his young career.
But the volume of his scoring was only half of it. The calibre of that scoring was what made the night so special. Highlight play after highlight play. He drilled a triple almost from the logo early on. He had that buzzer beater from the Steven Adams full-court pass to end the first half. There were spin moves and blow-bys all game long. And most special of all was this first ballot hall of fame posterising dunk...
No Grizzlies player had ever scored fifty in a game before. Now one has – plus he did it while only making four free throws (from seven attempts), which is madness. And this was no blowout bully act either because the San Antonio Spurs stuck with Memphis for the majority of this game, desperate for a road win in their quest for a playoff spot – and also to earn the great Gregg Popovich the victory that’d tie him with Don Nelson for the most all-time by an NBA head coach. But ultimately there was no containing what Ja Morant was up to. Not this day. No way.
No containing him... but plenty of helping him. The two coolest moments in a game chock-full of cool moments came within a few minutes of each other. That insane dunk and then the second quarter buzzer beater. Both of which, you may have noticed, came directly from Steven Adams passes...
More on the quarterback exploits of Steven Adams soon because we’ve seen that level of madness before from Tips. However as thrilling as they both were, those were two isolated instances of brilliance, a mere four points out of the 52 that Morant scored across the 34 (!) minutes that he spent on the court. Needless to say, Steven Adams’ impact on Ja’s performance went way deeper than that.
Ja Morant scored 34 of his 52 points from in the paint. In case you’re wondering, yes, that’s the most by any player in a game this season (four of the top 11 PITP tallies in 2021-22 have been achieved by JM). He doesn’t do that nearly so efficiently without a top tier big man screening for him. Such as, for example, the bloke who leads the entire NBA in total screen assists this season (as well as in screen assists per 36 mins). Steven Adams had six more screen assists against the Spurs, to go with five traditional assists. The Grizzlies comms team have started calling him The Kiwi Collection Agency in reference to his rebounding prowess but, mate, the guy doesn’t only collect, he also distributes. Sharing the wealth. Robin Hood in a #4 jersey.
By the way, credit to Jakob Poeltl. Picked on him a little in those two clips (and spelled his name wrong, whoops), plus he was the bloke that Morant dunked on too, but that’s just unlucky alignment from him. He had a decent game, especially on offence, and is having a ripper of a season. Austria’s only NBA basketballer has a bit in common with Aotearoa’s only current NBA baller in many ways and there’s definitely some mutual appreciation going on...
But the moral of the story is that as Ja Morant achieved his shiniest day in the spotlight, Steven Adams was right there screening for him all afternoon. Fair play to Morant, he deserves all the praise he gets. But it’s not coincidence that Morant’s explosion has come with Adams alongside him. The screens, of course. The leadership. The defensive input. Of course there’s that idea that’s come up in past columns about how Adams’ low maintenance scoring compared to Jonas Valanciunas frees up more shots for the likes of Morant, as well as that trade officially symbolising his unchallenged Numero Uno status. He was already the star player but now everything is in alignment with that fact.
An ideal facilitator, in other words. And when you stop and think about it there’s a deeper patter at play. Steven Adams has been the starting centre alongside two MVPs: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. He was a teammate for Paul George’s best NBA season, when PG13 came third in the MVP votes. Bit rude to chuck Zion Williamson in there considering his season with Adams was kinda the only one he’s really featured in to any decent extent but sure Zion’s best ball came alongside Adams too, often to the detriment of Adams’ reputation given how Zion edged him out of the paint. Now he’s a part of Ja Morant’s breakthrough into superstardom. It all adds up.
The Continuing Adventures of Quarterback Steve
Look at that. Would you look at that? Just look at it. Magical vision and skill (and strength) on show from the big fella. An NBA basketball court is nearly 30 metres long if you’re wondering. That’s quite a heave.
Although as good as that effort was, the aforementioned missile to Ja Morant for the 2Q buzzer beater against the Spurs the next game was even better...
It’s not even surprising when he does something like this any more. That 20+ metre quarterback style pass of his is just a regular part of the man’s repertoire now. He’s been throwing these passes for multiple years on multiple teams to multiple teammates. Ja Morant deservedly gets the main hype for that one given how tough that finish was and how that highlight fitted neatly inside an outstanding individual game from the MVP candidate... but the common denominator is Steven Adams. This is his play. He’s the one instigating these bad boys. Morant was asked about it after the game and he pretty much said exactly that...
“Steve-o looked at me and just told me to run. I just caught it early, told him try to put it as close to the rim as he can. He delivered the pass. I put everything into the shot, man, and it went in.”
It obviously helps to have speedy shot-making mates to hurl the ball towards but there’s a reason why you don’t see every team whipping this one out of the playbook. The ol’ catch-and-shoot is a thing that people practice. Ja Morant won’t usually throw them up off a wide receiver’s run-up but he will have tossed up thousands of these on training courts throughout his career already (usually based off halfcourt inbounds plays). Games can be decided by a shot like that. Seasons can be defined by a shot like that.
Throwing a ball 28 metres towards a sprinting teammate, however, is not something that most NBA guys are bother getting reps in for. Most NBA guys don’t have Olympic champion shot putters for sisters either, to be fair. But Steven Adams does. Hence Steven Adams was doing this back in 2019...
Naturally, when he asked about it after the game he shrugged it off as no big deal and downplayed the fact that he practices those passes at all...
“Just throw it and hope for the best mate, really. Seems to have worked out a couple times. Don’t really practice it too much. I mean, their part’s the tough part. I just throw it in that area and they just go catch it, you know what I mean?”
Steve being Steve. Not practising “too much” still does mean practising some though. And it’s on record from some of the OKC media that he did used to mess about with these passes in shootarounds sometimes. Probably more in the capacity of joking around the way that guys might practice circus shots rather than anything formal. But hurl one down every few days to test the arm out and bingo, if the opportunity arises in a game then you know you’ve got the range. Keeps the option on the menu.
They talk about it as a baseball pass there. These last couple in Memphis have been all about the quarterback metaphors... maybe because Tennessee has an NFL team but no MLB team? Anyway, gotta close this section with this top class quote from Ja Morant because it’s too good to waste...
NBA.com: Morant said the pass from Adams that led to the 19-foot basket in the closing second of the first half was “something I'll probably never be able to do again”. But he added that if Adams is the quarterback from that type of throw, there's a bit of wide receiver in Morant's ability. “I'm only a red zone guy,” Morant said. “Fade route. Jump ball.”
On The Proverbial Podium
One thing that’s been sadly diminished these last two seasons is media access within the NBA. Covid protocols have limited things to where there aren’t the same locker room and practice chats that you used to get. The huddles where Steven Adams would always thrive. To be fair, having journalists in the locker room is a weird American thing – like, at least wait outside? - but it’s still a shame that another link between beat writers and players has been severed.
Players are still doing media work but it’s mostly done via zoom calls and only a couple of dudes per game are being put up for it. That hasn’t tended to involved Steven Adams. The Grizzlies normally wanna send their homegrown stars up there to represent the franchise - based on some quick YouTube searching this may have only been the third instance all season where Steven Adams got the media call-up.
Pity, that. Coz Steve-o’s friendly patter with local media was always a heap of fun in the OKC days. Not only for his humour but also because he’s a rare player with the patience to actually explain a basketballing strategy and the clarity to do so in a way where we mere plebs can understand it. Without those opportunities the delicious Steven Adams quotes that we all love have become more uncommon... but yeah he did get the nod after dropping 12p/21r/5a in a win over Chicago. Here are a few things that he said:
On Ja Morant’s highlight reel majesty...
“Yeah unfortunately bro I’ve seen too many of them. Kinda boring now, aye? Nah it’s just one of those joints bro where he’s such an amazing player... 360 tonight was tough though. That was special. That was insane. And I got the assist so it feels even better.”
On Morant praising his screen game...
“Yeah I mean, my job’s pretty easy bro. Just get in their way and umm, yeah, he does his thing. That’s pretty much it bro. I’m grateful he sees some value in it but... just getting in their way, mate.”
On how much he enjoys being a part of this Grizzlies team...
“It’s good bro. Overall energy is just like, the culture here is one of growth. Very positive. You just feel like you can develop and have a lot of fun. The fun part i think is the main thing, and that’s not just through the players it’s through management and coaches. Which is something you rarely see. Everyone’s just having fun, man. I mean we’re getting good results which helps out as well, right, but even still if we choke up a game we’re still locked into the important factors which matter. All good stuff mate.”
On one reporter’s Tennessee accent...
“Where are you from bro? Oh that’s a sick accent. I haven’t heard that before, that’s awesome dude. That’s sick. That’s amazing. Cheers mate, sorry mate, go ahead.”
On the defensive value of his backup Brandon Clarke and the team as a whole...
“A lot of the progress that you’re seeing individually is speaking more about how we are as a team. A lot of our defence relies on scramble situations, and that's the toughest thing to do but a lot of our players are so good at just moving on to the next play, anticipating a lot of passes and stuff like this, we get a lot of deflections, but then it kinda brings them into off shots that they don’t really want to take and so helps out Jaren on the timing of blocks and it helps out me so I can rotate over. Stuff like this. It’s definitely special, especially because they’re bigs. I’m biased. I like bigs. Five men. We’re not dying. We’re still around.”
On logging off...
“Cheers lads.”
SLAM DUNKS
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