One of the standouts of the early stages of the preseason was Adou Thiero, who looked to have built on a strong Summer League and was ready to be part of the Lakers’ rotation.
However, an ill-timed injury halted Thiero’s progress and kept him out of the opening weeks of the regular season. After some patience to allow swelling in his knee to go down, Thiero finally made his season debut in Friday’s win over the Blazers and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat from the preseason.
In only six minutes, Thiero’s impact was felt as he tallied four points, four rebounds and two assists. After the game, head coach JJ Redick was asked about his performance and got rave reviews.
“I thought his first two defensive possessions, he made mistakes and then after that he was awesome,” Redick said. “He literally did everything we asked him to do. He was great on the offensive glass. Even sometimes when we didn’t necessarily get the possession, he was tapping the ball and crashing.
“I thought the read he made out of the short roll, I think they blitzed three times in the first half and two of those were against him. He makes the short roll and he gets the lob. I thought he played a great game and, defensively, he was really good in the second half.”
Thiero came in late in the first quarter in the role previously held by Jarred Vanderbilt and immediately made an impact. Given his leaping ability, Thiero being the ball screener and roll man felt like an obvious fit.
The Blazers immediately tested him as they blitzed Luka Dončić, forcing Thiero to not just be in the right spot in the short roll, but then make a decision. He nailed both aspects, setting up Ziaire Williams for a dunk.
Shortly after, the Blazers opted for a more traditional pick-and-roll coverage. This time, Thiero rolled hard to the rim and caught the lob for an athletic finish.
“He did great,” Walker Kessler said of Thiero. “Obviously, we value Adou a lot. He’s a very physical player. Really talented, athletic player. I mean, that lob he caught is very, very impressive. He had a really good debut for the season.”
Thiero’s athleticism is unparalleled on the roster — and among the elites of the elite in the league as a whole — and offers the Lakers a different dynamic. Thiero as a screener and roller won’t always work as it did on Friday, but his athleticism and activity level will continue to jump off the screen.
The Lakers’ hope now is that he can stay healthy and start to stack positive performances in the regular season.
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