Centre stage to a bit player
These are not exactly halcyon days for Steven Adams in the NBA playoffs. When he’s not stuck in Covid protocols, the big Kiwi’s chief role for the Memphis Grizzlies thus far has been as an oversized cheerleader on the end of their bench.
For the first time in his career Adams has found himself surplus to his coach’s requirements during the Grizzlies’ postseason run thus far – consigned to garbage-timeminutes in the team’s latest outing, a 142-112 game-3 Western Conference semifinal hiding by the Golden StateWarriors.
In some respects this dramatic downgrade in role should not come as a surprise, given the opposition the Grizz have faced through the first two rounds of the playoffs, and the trend in the NBA away from what we know as traditional centres.
But on the other hand it’s a surprise move by Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins to go away so quickly, and emphatically, from a player who served him so well during the regular season. He started 75 of his 76 games played, led the NBA in offensive rebounding (4.6 per game) and averaged 6.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and a career-high 3.4 assists
There seems to have been undue haste in deciding the 2.11m Kiwi no longer fits the Grizzlies’ purposes in these playoffs.
Here’s how Adams’ post-season has gone thus far: he featured in just three games during the Grizzlies’ 4-2 firstround Western Conference victory over theMinnesota Timberwolves, playing an ineffective 24 minutes in the series opener (a 130-117 defeat in which he had zero points and 3 rebounds in 24 minutes) and then just 3minutes as a starter in game 2 and 4minutes off the bench in game 4. He had DNP coach’s decisions in games 3 and 5.
Since then he missed the final game of the T-Wolves series and the first two against theWarriors because of Covid-19 health and safety protocols, before returning for Sunday’s inauspicious third clash – left out of Jenkins’ main rotation, playing just under 6 minutes at the end (3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists).
Game 4 is in San Francisco today. So, why has Adams suddenly found himself on the outside looking in? Part of it is opposition. The Timberwolves played 3-point-shooting centre Karl-Anthony Towns for the majority of theminutes at centre in that series, and Adams was simply not a good matchup for the mobile big who is as happy roaming the arc as storming the paint.
TheWarriors are even less auspicious for the 28-year-old, nine-year NBA player with their proclivity for small-ball lineups (with Draymond Green at centre) and the amount of shooting they tend to have on the floor.
Kevon Looney, theWarriors’ only traditional big, has not started through the first three games of the semifinal series, and has played a total of 45 minutes off the pine.
Jenkins has tended to use the 2.03m Xavier Tillman as starting centre instead of Adams, alongside Jaren Jackson Jr, Brandon Clarke and Kyle Anderson in his main rotation up front. They have had theirmoments but it’s notable that the Grizzlies’ offensive rebounding, points in the paint and second-chance points have all been down in the post-season, compared to the regular season.
The Grizzlies led the NBA in offensive rebounding, total rebounds, secondchance points and paint points during the regular season. Part of it is also Jenkins’ ‘‘gut feel’’ that the Grizzlies are a better team with Tillman, Clarke and Jackson covering centre by committee, and that Adams’ offensive limitations and mobility issues when switched on to fleet-footed guards make him surplus.
In many ways the New Zealander has fallen victim to a trend that’s been firming around the NBA for a few seasons now. The traditional back-tothe-basket centre who scores around the rim, attacks the boards and anchors the defence is becoming a dinosaur.
All may not be lost for Adams in this series. With today’s game 4 close to must-win for the Grizzlies and coming off a spanking in which theWarriors shot 63% from the floor and 53 from deep, Memphismustmake adjustments.
Maybe slotting the league’s best offensive rebounder (and most effective screen setter) back in as a starter is part of that plan. The Grizzlies have been beaten on the boards by a notoriously poor reboundingWarriors team. Golden State are also plus-28 in assists over the series and have won paint points three straight times too.
‘‘Steven’s been trending in a good direction,’’ said Jenkins after the latest Warriors defeat. ‘‘I thought X (Tillman) was good last game, so I went off of that gut ... we’ll watch the film and see. I think Steven’s ready. We’ll make the adjustment if we need to going into game 4.’’
With Grizzlies star Ja Morant (averaging 38.3ppg in the series) in doubt with a knee issue, and also in desperate need of help, it might be time for Jenkins to go back to the lineup that served him so well for their historic regular season. It has a tough, no-nonsense Kiwi at its heart.