Despite a measly 0-4 start to the season, the cellar-dwelling Terrafirma Dyip has found a silver lining in combo forward Roosevelt Adams.

Much of the talk regarding Terrafirma’s offseason was split into two parts: the heavily criticized trade deal that sent CJ Perez to the star-studded San Miguel Beermen, and the arrival of 2021 PBA Draft first overall pick Joshua Munzon. 

Munzon struggled mightily in his first three games in the league, as he only averaged 11.7 points on 32% percent shooting, along with a lowly 16% clip from the three-point line, to go with 1.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in 25.1 minutes per game in the ongoing 2021 PBA Philippine Cup. There’s no doubt that Munzon, who played much of the past couple of years in the 3×3 field, is still getting reaccustomed to the more traditional 5-on-5 style of play. But he’ll probably take more time to adjust, as it was reported that he suffered a dislocated finger injury that will keep him out for the rest of the conference. 

This then pivots our attention to a bright spot that is quickly emerging for Terrafirma: Roosevelt Adams.

The 6-foot-5 Adams entered the PBA in 2019 with the reputation of being a good shooter who can play both forward positions. Like Munzon, Adams struggled with his shooting in the first half of his rookie year then bounced back as the conference progressed. He finished the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup with averages of 10.3 points on 38.7% shooting, along with 8.1 rebounds per game. The numbers were not eye-popping, but it showed Adams’ potential as a double-double machine.

The Filipino-American forward is making good on the promise of his potential in the ongoing conference. He has upped his numbers to 13.5 points and 11.7 rebounds this conference, leading Terrafirma in both scoring (tied with Juami Tiongson) and rebounding. He is ranked third in rebounds per game, trailing NorthPort Batang Pier’s Greg Slaughter (15.5) and Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel’s Christian Standhardinger (13.0).

Adams’ Points and Rebounds Averages (By Season)

Adams is grabbing rebounds at a very high rate. As per Stats by Ryan, an advanced stats platform for Philippine basketball, the Terrafirma forward ranks first in defensive rebounding Percentage (DREB%), grabbing 25.5% of the available misses whenever he’s on the floor. (Defensive rebounding percentage also takes into account the amount of minutes that a player logs in, along with the pace that his team plays at. Learn more about DREB% in this glossary).  

But it’s not just in the rebounding department that Adams is shining at, as his three-point shooting has remained decent this conference. Among current players who are attempting six or more three-pointers a game, he is ranked fourth in terms of efficiency (36%). The names that come before him are NLEX Road Warriors’ Kiefer Ravena (42%), Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters’ Matthew Wright (40%), and Ginebra’s LA Tenorio (39%). For Adams, who is only in his second year in the league, that’s an elite company to be included in.

With Munzon sitting out the rest of the conference, Adams should be more involved in Terrafirma’s offensive sets. He will certainly see an uptick in his shot attempts but he needs more plays drawn specifically for him to get open. A weakness in Adams’ game is that he is not yet a good ball-handler or a good passer. So look for Terrafirma to set multiple off-ball screens to free up Adams and have him launch his triples.

While it’s true that his shooting percentages may go down now that he will be the primary focus of opposing teams’ defenses, it’s exciting to see how Adams will adjust and adapt. He hasn’t been as aggressive as we want him to be in terms of getting his touches, but that should change now that Perez is with another team and Munzon is recovering from an injury. 

Terrafirma doesn’t have many expectations as a team this conference but the continuous development of Adams is certainly a bright spot.

Advanced Stats are now available for Philippine basketball! Through Ryan Alba’s Stats by Ryan, you can now look at team and player advanced stats for the current 2021 PBA Philippine Cup via the Dribble Media website.

Also, check out this glossary for a list of the basketball advanced stats terminologies.

You can also contact Ryan Alba via his Twitter handle (@_alba__).