Featured Fanpost: A Fan's Scouting Report on Steven Adams

Reader Pittboss04 gives some perspective after recently seeing Pitt recruit Steven Adams in person. To write your own Fanpost, use the links over to the right.

via fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net

I got to meet the big fella the other day and saw him play at the Kentucky Derby Festival in Louisville. If he's not a legit 7 footer, then he's 6'11". He was the tallest guy at the tournament. The first day was a dunk contest, 3 point shooting contest, and 2 on 2 contest. He didn't participate in the dunk contest, which was eventually won by hyper-athletic Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State) who went all Sam Young and did backflips and cartwheels down the floor before receiving the pass and finishing with authority. Adams did participate in the three point contest and he actually has a fairly good three point shot. It was slow in developing, but I'm not sure how many people would be able to stop him from taking it (besides Dixon of course). He ended up with about 10 or 13 points in the contest and finished in the middle of the pack. The winner of that was Phil Forte, who apparently went to high school with and will be going to Oklahoma State with Marcus Smart. Forte put up 22 in the first round of the three point shooting contest and then won easily with 19 in the finals. Forte, who is all of 3 feet tall (hyperbole added), may have trouble getting that shot off in college however.

Back to Adams. In the 2 on 2 contest, he was paired with Louisville recruit Terry Rozier. They won their first contest pretty easily against Andrew White (6'6 Kansas recruit) and Mekale McKay (6'6 Arkansas recruit) before falling short to Georgia Tech recruit Robert Carter (and I apologize, I forget who his partner was). Carter is a 6'9 ruggedly built PF and is quite polished offensively around the paint. I think he was a good matchup for Steven and showed that Steven will have to bulk up a bit before Big East play starts. That being said, he wasn't as physically dominated as Khem Birch was last year by DeJuan Blair. This was I think the longest 2 on 2 game of the contest and both teams had game point for 3 possessions before Carter's team won.

For the game itself, they played everyone in 6 minute stretches, and the only defense that was being played was opportunistic steals leading to fast breaks and dunks. I don't think that type of tempo is conducive to Adams's game and there was almost no attempt at running offensive plays to let him work down low. He had a couple of put back dunks (I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks a backboard or 10 while at Pitt). His outlet passing was very good, and he puts a lot of mustard on his passes. He had 3 blocks by my count (2 officially) and definitely alters the game with his presence. That being said, I don't think he'll have an Anthony Davis type impact his freshman year. He fumbled a couple of rebounds and passes and I think will have to develop softer hands when gathering the ball. Between the two days I think he was 5-6 or 6-7 from the charity stripe. Obviously we'll see if that changes once the games start to mean something, but it was encouraging. He finished with 11 points 10 rebounds in 23 minutes with 2 assists, 1 steal, and 0 turnovers.

I asked him after the first night if he was planning on bringing the haka to Pittsburgh.

He didn't commit to it, but I think it would be awesome if he did. He was a good sport and gave a "G'Day Mate" for some of the other players who are a little geographically challenged. Overall, I think he will provide solid defense, will not be a liability on offense, and while I can't really comment on how he will function if plays were being run for him, I think he will be a better version of Andre Drummond at worst for us.

I also got to speak with Amile Jefferson from Philly who is one of the top wing prospects in the country. He's skinny, but athletic with long arms and a knack for the ball. Initially Pitt was on his short list, but dropped off. I asked him about that and he said that he really liked PItt and that he had a home visit from them... and that we brought cookies. Rivals has Duke as his likely landing spot right now, but UK is pushing for him too. I hope he doesn't go to either, and obviously he wasn't going to comment on where his favorite is right now. He seemed like a good personality, so hopefully he'll go to a school where I can continue to root for him.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt football and basketball.