Basketball: Steven Adams labeled ‘soft’ for lackluster playoff performance

The Oklahoma City Thunder forced their first round series against the Houston Rockets in a decisive Game 7 thanks to the heroism of Chris Paul.

Paul was in his unstoppable prime when he scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory and put the series in the balance.

As good as Paul has been at leading the charge against the team he played for last season, another Thunder star has not come to the party.

Kiwi big man Steven Adams was designated the series keynote for the Thunder against the perennial small-ball tactics employed by the Rockets.

But Adams has failed to make a major impact on the series despite beating every opponent he has faced and is putting himself under the skin of Ryen Russillo from The Ringer.

As Russillo recited a series of troubles to plague the Thunder, it was when he got to Adams that the flamethrower came out.

“Steven Adams’s usage rate, and sometimes it’s due to lineups, but he gets a couple taps before and then they never get to him,” Russillo said on The Bill Simmons Podcast.

“But it’s a bit disappointing because he forgets how big he is. Sometimes he plays small.

“He’s a great kid from New Zealand with a great family and he tackled an Ox during quarantine in New Zealand and we’re like ‘great tough Steven Adams’ and no one would fight like him.

“Then play like this. He plays soft.”

“He’s one of those guys, you almost need him for the series where the other team has an incredible center and Adams can just hit bodies with him,” added Bill Simmons.

“For a series like this, I just don’t know what his role is.”

Last month, Adams was praised on social media for his toughness after returning to the court after an uncomfortable fall on his leg.

However, Russillo hadn’t finished there and he couldn’t believe how badly the Thunder had failed to exploit the height advantage Adams was bringing to the table.

“PJ Tucker committed his third foul and we know he didn’t like the call because he played it and PJ leaves the game and the next possession after a dead ball is like why don’t you put Adams on a deep seal or have him go block to block on a screen so you can get a deeper capture, “said Russillo.

“Just do a different action to test them now that PJ is out of the game and Dort rolls a three.

“These are all moderate expectations of what the Thunder could be. I don’t think they are this great basketball team. But I thought they were smarter than this.

“What they did in Game Five you can’t … I’m flabbergasted. I sat quietly for about 10 minutes after the game saying ‘What the hell did you let happen to you?'”

Throughout the six games played thus far in the series, the Rockets have started every game with PJ Tucker and Robert Covington as their starting line of attack.

Adams dominates both men with a 12cm lead over Covington and 17cm over Tucker, but the big man has failed to make his mark on the series.

The Thunder’s man in the middle is averaging 10.16 points per game and 12 rebounds per game throughout the series.

While those numbers may be above his career averages, it’s deeper into the numbers where the problems for Adams arise.

The Thunder have been better on both ends of the court when Adams is sitting on the bench and not on the court.

Adams has not prevailed in the series as the Rockets dominate the paint, beating the Thunder 248-220 in six games.

Of his 72 rebounds, Adams has caught 30 on the offensive end. But on defense he is struggling with only one block to his name.

The Thunder still have a chance to advance to the second round when Game 7 kicks off on Thursday at 1pm (NZT), but they will need Adams to finally play like he’s the biggest, toughest man on the court if they want to get the job. done.