Strengths
Adams is a pure physical specimen. He has tremendous athleticism, highlighted by his outstanding leaping ability, to go along with a very strong frame, which he knows how to use. He also possesses excellent length. He has a very explosive first step and has that same explosiveness on his leap. He runs the floor very well, is pretty coordinated, and plays with a good level of fluidity.
Slashing is definitely Adams best weapon, where he makes great use of his strength and quickness to create high-percentage shots in the lane. He is very creative with the ball and is certainly not afraid of contact. When Adams wants to, he can usually get to the hole with one or two short, but powerful dribbles. He uses his explosive first step to blow past his man, then with his combination of strength, creativity, and leaping ability, finishes very well at the rim. His strength allows him to maintain good balance even after contact, helping to ensure a high-percentage shot attempt. He utilizes a hop-step move especially well to make use of his explosiveness once in the lane.
Adams also has a pretty decent mid-range game when spotting up with his feet set. He hits these mid-range shots with a pretty good frequency, which in turn helps open up his slashing opportunities. He also moves pretty well without the ball, putting himself in good position for either a mid-range shot or a drive to the basket once he gets the ball.
Adams is at his best in the open floor, where he can really make use of his athleticism for some tenacious finishes. He frequently gets out in transition to put himself in position for easy baskets.
Defensively, Adams has all the tools a swingman could ever need. He has good lateral quickness, length, reflexes, and strength. He can lockdown an opponent when he really wants to. He plays very aggressively on defense, especially when picking at the ball using his great hands. He gets a lot of steals this way, as well as by anticipating and reacting in the passing lanes.
Adams is also a very good rebounder for his position. He makes it a priority to attack the boards on both ends of the court, especially offensively. His strength and athleticism benefit him here greatly.
Weaknesses
While Adams is very high on athleticism and strength, he is a bit lacking in height. Measuring in at only 64 and stuck between SG and SF, Adams will be undersized in that regard no matter what position he plays. As a player that played a lot of power forward both in high school and college, his perimeter game is not up to par with his tremendous athletic tools.
Adams could use some work on his ball-handling, especially if he plans on playing guard in the NBA. While he can make use of some fancy spin moves and behind the back dribbles to get to the basket, hes not a very smart ball-handler overall. Hes fairly turnover prone, in part due to some bad decision-making. Also, while he does have the ability to be a pretty good passer, he often lets his decision-making cloud that aspect of his game. He has been known to pass up open teammates to take an ill-advised shot himself.
Adams lacks a consistent outside shot, shooting only .274 from three-point range on the year. His three-point shot is infrequently used, and when it is used, its very streaky. He cant rely on this shot at all, which forces him to play most of the game inside the arc. At 6-4, this makes him that much harder to project as an already undersized shooting guard.
Adams has become too reliant on his mid-range game this season, not going to the hole as often as he should. While he is very efficient in the lane, he doesnt have that same effectiveness on his jumper. He doesnt get nearly as many free-throw attempts as someone with his slashing ability should. And even if he did, shooting an abysmal .604 from the line this year, he wouldnt be able to make much use of it. Adams also is not very consistent when shooting off the dribble, often settling for ill-advised, off-balanced jumpers.
Defensively, he is frequently too over-aggressive, gambling in both the passing lanes and on his own man. Rather than using his strong defensive attributes to play smart, lockdown defense, he usually chooses to gamble for a steal, often leading to his man blowing by him when the steal is unsuccessful.
At this point in his career, one certainly has to question the coachability of Adams. After four years under a reputable coach such as Lute Olson, Adams still has many of the problems that plagued him in his freshman year. He cant seem to consistently put things together on defense and he doesnt consistently play smart on the offensive end. He has many strengths at the college level, but getting him to stick to them consistently is another matter altogether.
While Adams has some questionable decision-making on the court, it pales in comparison to his decision-making off the court. Unfathomably, in his senior season, on the verge of being picked in the first round of the NBA draft, which would subsequently entitle him to millions of dollars in guaranteed money, Adams has had two run-ins with the law between December and March. Adams was first arrested in December for disorderly conduct in the line of refusing to leave the scene of a fight at the request of police officers. Adams was once again arrested in March, this time for an alleged DUI, which led to him being suspended for the entire Pac-10 Tournament.
Competition
Adams plays in the Pacific 10 Conference for the University of Arizona under renowned coach Lute Olson. The Pac-10 is one of the six major conferences in the NCAA, and while it may not be what it used to be, its still highly competitive. Arizona also routinely plays very tough out of conference schedules. Adams plays against many NBA-caliber athletes at the swingmen positions, usually being matched up with them on both ends of the floor.
Outlook
Adams projects as a late first round or early second round pick at this point, probably leaning towards the latter in light of his recent off-court problems. Because of his size and other issues in multiple areas of his game, Adams will likely be a bench player for much of his career. If someone could ever get through to him on how to most effectively use his skillset defensively, he could be a very noteworthy contributor for some team, possibly even overcoming his size to break into a starting lineup. Even despite his height, he will primarily play SF in the pros because of his strength and lack of certain SG skills. He is not much unlike Ruben Patterson, another 64 SF who has had success off the bench for much of his career, using his length and strength to make up for his height. The key difference is their style of defense, something Adams needs to work on to experience prolonged success in the pros.
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Facts
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Adams is a pure physical specimen. He has tremendous athleticism, highlighted by his outstanding leaping ability, to go along with a very strong frame, which he knows how to use. He also possesses excellent length. He has a very explosive first step and has that same explosiveness on his leap. He runs the floor very well, is pretty coordinated, and plays with a good level of fluidity.
Slashing is definitely Adams best weapon, where he makes great use of his strength and quickness to create high-percentage shots in the lane. He is very creative with the ball and is certainly not afraid of contact. When Adams wants to, he can usually get to the hole with one or two short, but powerful dribbles. He uses his explosive first step to blow past his man, then with his combination of strength, creativity, and leaping ability, finishes very well at the rim. His strength allows him to maintain good balance even after contact, helping to ensure a high-percentage shot attempt. He utilizes a hop-step move especially well to make use of his explosiveness once in the lane.
Adams also has a pretty decent mid-range game when spotting up with his feet set. He hits these mid-range shots with a pretty good frequency, which in turn helps open up his slashing opportunities. He also moves pretty well without the ball, putting himself in good position for either a mid-range shot or a drive to the basket once he gets the ball.
Adams is at his best in the open floor, where he can really make use of his athleticism for some tenacious finishes. He frequently gets out in transition to put himself in position for easy baskets.
Defensively, Adams has all the tools a swingman could ever need. He has good lateral quickness, length, reflexes, and strength. He can lockdown an opponent when he really wants to. He plays very aggressively on defense, especially when picking at the ball using his great hands. He gets a lot of steals this way, as well as by anticipating and reacting in the passing lanes.
Adams is also a very good rebounder for his position. He makes it a priority to attack the boards on both ends of the court, especially offensively. His strength and athleticism benefit him here greatly.
Weaknesses
While Adams is very high on athleticism and strength, he is a bit lacking in height. Measuring in at only 64 and stuck between SG and SF, Adams will be undersized in that regard no matter what position he plays. As a player that played a lot of power forward both in high school and college, his perimeter game is not up to par with his tremendous athletic tools.
Adams could use some work on his ball-handling, especially if he plans on playing guard in the NBA. While he can make use of some fancy spin moves and behind the back dribbles to get to the basket, hes not a very smart ball-handler overall. Hes fairly turnover prone, in part due to some bad decision-making. Also, while he does have the ability to be a pretty good passer, he often lets his decision-making cloud that aspect of his game. He has been known to pass up open teammates to take an ill-advised shot himself.
Adams lacks a consistent outside shot, shooting only .274 from three-point range on the year. His three-point shot is infrequently used, and when it is used, its very streaky. He cant rely on this shot at all, which forces him to play most of the game inside the arc. At 6-4, this makes him that much harder to project as an already undersized shooting guard.
Adams has become too reliant on his mid-range game this season, not going to the hole as often as he should. While he is very efficient in the lane, he doesnt have that same effectiveness on his jumper. He doesnt get nearly as many free-throw attempts as someone with his slashing ability should. And even if he did, shooting an abysmal .604 from the line this year, he wouldnt be able to make much use of it. Adams also is not very consistent when shooting off the dribble, often settling for ill-advised, off-balanced jumpers.
Defensively, he is frequently too over-aggressive, gambling in both the passing lanes and on his own man. Rather than using his strong defensive attributes to play smart, lockdown defense, he usually chooses to gamble for a steal, often leading to his man blowing by him when the steal is unsuccessful.
At this point in his career, one certainly has to question the coachability of Adams. After four years under a reputable coach such as Lute Olson, Adams still has many of the problems that plagued him in his freshman year. He cant seem to consistently put things together on defense and he doesnt consistently play smart on the offensive end. He has many strengths at the college level, but getting him to stick to them consistently is another matter altogether.
While Adams has some questionable decision-making on the court, it pales in comparison to his decision-making off the court. Unfathomably, in his senior season, on the verge of being picked in the first round of the NBA draft, which would subsequently entitle him to millions of dollars in guaranteed money, Adams has had two run-ins with the law between December and March. Adams was first arrested in December for disorderly conduct in the line of refusing to leave the scene of a fight at the request of police officers. Adams was once again arrested in March, this time for an alleged DUI, which led to him being suspended for the entire Pac-10 Tournament.
Competition
Adams plays in the Pacific 10 Conference for the University of Arizona under renowned coach Lute Olson. The Pac-10 is one of the six major conferences in the NCAA, and while it may not be what it used to be, its still highly competitive. Arizona also routinely plays very tough out of conference schedules. Adams plays against many NBA-caliber athletes at the swingmen positions, usually being matched up with them on both ends of the floor.
Outlook
Adams projects as a late first round or early second round pick at this point, probably leaning towards the latter in light of his recent off-court problems. Because of his size and other issues in multiple areas of his game, Adams will likely be a bench player for much of his career. If someone could ever get through to him on how to most effectively use his skillset defensively, he could be a very noteworthy contributor for some team, possibly even overcoming his size to break into a starting lineup. Even despite his height, he will primarily play SF in the pros because of his strength and lack of certain SG skills. He is not much unlike Ruben Patterson, another 64 SF who has had success off the bench for much of his career, using his length and strength to make up for his height. The key difference is their style of defense, something Adams needs to work on to experience prolonged success in the pros.
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Facts
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