These. Sure, Dwight is no Hakeem in the post, but OKC runs a defensive SCHEME against him to slow him down that has proven effective. It's more about Ibaka's help defense than the primary defender. Meanwhile, our PF has to step up and either hit open jumpers or cut to the basket.
You honestly think Harden can jack Adams up? I'm a big fan of Harden but in a real fight, my money goes to Adams.
Its not just Adams that makes OKC be able to stop teams in the paint like they did against the Rockets last night. Its the combination of having that "Hockey Goon" type of WWE player to body up your bigs while having one of the leagues best shot blockers free to move around and patrol the paint on the weak-side or clogging the paint, and on top of that having the length and athleticism of Durant and Westbrook closing out on the perimeter shooters. No team in the NBA has the tools that OKC has on the defensive end. They are truly elite... and they are built to beat a team like the Rockets that lives off of 3's and baskets at the rim. However their success is usually tied to how hard their perimeter defenders play because they are key to being able to play hard enough to both pack the paint and run shooters off the 3 point line. Thats the one weakness you can exploit, but only if their perimeter players fall asleep on defense. Steven Adams is only looking good because of the rest of OKC's talent allowing him to look good. If you have the size he has, anyone can do what he's doing right now, and what he did last night against the Rockets.
Dwight is the only guy that stops Dwight outside Yao. Adams I'm not going to over hype him or underestimate him but the Thunder just did lose to the Lakers.
I would agree with this. Adams isn't an elite defender as much as Howard just didn't play his game and his shots didn't fall. He got out of whack. I think he'll be able to adjust. HIs 1-6 ft's shows I think it was more psychological than anything else.
steven adams is very underrated. he's an elite defender and the kind of guy you want on your team in the playoffs. he's a perfect enforcer for a deep playoff run; a high energy bench player too.
I'll say this too... Adams is a good defender I respect his game but I also know without a shadow of a doubt Dwight will to put 30 points 15 rebounds on him if he plays with better focus and energy. I expect him to do something like this when they play next time or against Noah thursday because by his post game comments... his ticked at himself which is good imo. Playoffs I expect Dwight to go ham because he will be hungry with the right attitude to win. I'm not going to get down on the team for this loss because at this point it's about preparing for playoffs and getting a 1-4 seed... with team health.
Or maybe it's because Dwight was just spinning baseline everytime he was in the post? When you just do the same ineffective move every time you touch the ball its easy to stop.
He had maybe the best weak-side shot blocker in the game coming in on the double team so his move had to be quick. He was pressing too hard I get it, but it doesn't mean he was wrong to try it. Had he made some of his early post up shots, it would have forced OKC to change their defensive scheme which could have turned the game in a completely different direction in the Rockets favor. It didn't work, but it doesn't mean Howard was wrong to try and force the action down low.
A shooter should run to or stay on the strong side and Howard should pass the ball out instead of forcing it. McHale should have made some changes rather than continue to watch Howard getting shut down in the paint.
Against OKC for the season Dwight is shooting .342 fg and .200 from ft for 9.7 ppg. 4th game, I'm expecting a ton of pick and rolls as he prepares for the playoffs. PnR should be his bread and butter for a monster game.
