Warriors Insider: Defensive Guru Ron Adams Has Ultimate Weapon in Kevin Durant

OAKLAND, Calif. — Few coaches in the NBA know Kevin Durant the way Ron Adams does.

As head coach Steve Kerr’s defensive-minded assistant, Adams was tasked 13 times over the past two seasons with figuring a way to limit Durant’s offensive impact. But he’s also been on the other side, having coached a 20-year-old Durant during his second and third seasons in the league, when the Thunder franchise had just moved to Oklahoma City.

So when Durant announced on July 4 that he had decided to play for the Golden State Warriors, it meant more than just the formation of a superteam. This was something more personal for Adams. This was a chance to reunite with one of his past proteges—someone who had, in the time since they last shared the same practice-court colors, cemented his place as not only one of the NBA’s elite scorers, but one of its most game-altering defenders.

"[Durant] wasn't always perfect on the court defensively, but he wanted to get better," Adams told Bleacher Report. "Even in our second year together, he'd come out of the game and come to the bench saying, 'How's my defense?'" 

That was in 2009, when Adams had already put in 16 seasons as an NBA assistant and coached some of the league’s most dynamic players, including David Robinson, Dennis Rodman and Ray Allen. (Adams even coached Dell Curry for a season in Milwaukee.)

Over that time, Adams became known as one of the league’s top defensive coaches, with his teams always finding a way to stay near the top of limiting opponents’ points per game. And few players ever impressed Adams with such a natural gift for defense as Durant did, especially in those two seasons the young star was under his tutelage.

In Oklahoma City, Adams pushed Durant to take every advantage of his 7'5" wingspan (which can envelop an opponent's field of vision and clog passing lanes), to think about rebounding the ball (especially on the defensive end) and to simply play four complete quarters with a continued vigor.

That last tenet is something that is continually on Adams’ mind and one of the reasons he believes the Golden State defense dropped off last year. The Warriors would often dominate for two or three quarters of basketball, enough so that the game wasn’t truly in much doubt, and then take their foot off the gas.

It wasn’t just an isolated in-game effect, but a season-long trend that became more pronounced as the months went by:

	Defensive Rating, 2014-15	Defensive Rating, 2015-16
Oct.	73.1	96.3
Nov.	96.6	97.1
Dec.	97.5	100.1
Jan.	98.8	100.2
Feb.	100.3	105.1
Mar.	96.9	102.8
Apr.	104.9	103.7

(Chart courtesy of NBA.com)

The Warriors went from first in defensive rating during 2014-15 down to the outer fringes of the top five, even as they were winning a record number of regular-season games.

For someone focused on the defense, Adams said it's like "your son or daughter comes home, and they're getting straight As, and you tell them, 'You've got to do better.'" Since the 2016 NBA Finals loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kerr has also acknowledged the challenges of drilling down on these kinds of shortcomings in the face of such success.

But it's a new season now, and perhaps no one on the Warriors staff was happier about Durant's arrival than his old Thunder coach from way back. When Durant arrived at the Warriors practice facility for his introductory press conference, he got high fives and handshakes from everyone but Adams, who went at his old pupil and gave him a bear hug around the waist.

"He's challenging me," Durant told Bleacher Report after the first few days of training camp. "That's what he does. He challenges everybody. He wants me to be the best defender out there on the floor. He knows what I'm capable of. He's just coaching me up." 

NBA Photos/Getty Images

With Durant in OKC, Adams helped teach a young, preternaturally gifted forward the finer points of rebounding, keeping up in transition and always moving with energy. Now, with Durant in Oakland, Adams sees a player who can lead a team in rebounds and can suffocate the space of any opposing player, regardless of where he is on the floor.

Just look at Durant's on/off numbers from last season, and the effect his presence alone can have is clear. Even Stephen Curry, who posted one of the best offensive seasons in NBA history last year, was noticeably worse (both in the regular season and playoffs) when having to deal with Durant.

"We found out in the playoffs last year how devastating Kevin can be defensively," Kerr said. "He was a force. Draymond [Green] generally has an advantage over everybody he plays with his speed and his quickness, and he didn’t have that advantage over KD. It’s one of the reasons we had such trouble in that series and barely survived. Kevin’s defense, when he applies himself, is really, really good."

"We expect Kevin to be able to guard most any position," Adams said. "The trick with him, as with a lot of the great scorers—the same way with [Stephen Curry]—is they have to stay engaged defensively during the course of a game. They have to stay out of foul trouble.

"You stay out of foul trouble if you really internalize fundamentals, especially regarding feet and upper body. That's what we'll try to help Kevin and every other player on our team with, all the new guys especially: to play aggressively, with good fundamentals, and hopefully staying away from fouls."

Andre Iguodala, one of the defensive stalwarts on the Warriors' famed late-game Death Lineup, thinks the overall defense will see an uptick over last season.

"I think right now [our defense] is a little underrated, and then when people see, they're going to be like, 'whoa,'" he said. "We miss a lot with [losing Andrew] Bogut, but at the same time, it's more length than it looks. KD's 7'0" tall, and Draymond is an excellent defender. Steph's taller than an average point guard, and Klay [Thompson] is a 6'7" 2-guard, which is a big 2-guard, so we got a lot of length."

The Warriors also have quite a few new faces.

In the same way Durant replaces Harrison Barnes at small forward, Zaza Pachulia replaces Bogut at center. David West, who looked comfortable in Golden State's preseason blowout of the Los Angeles Clippers, should be a second-unit mainstay, most likely at power forward. And Golden State is giving JaVale McGee every opportunity to seize the backup center role vacated by the departed Festus Ezeli.

It's still not a guarantee McGee makes the roster, but Adams has liked what he's seen thus far.

No matter how the rotation shakes out, Golden State likely won't make up for the size and rim protection it lost this offseason, but it hopes to turn those apparent deficiencies into assets before long. The Warriors can take advantage of restoring the athleticism that was lost when playing Bogut or Ezeli, stretching the floor and continuing to tenaciously switch on defense. 

But after a season in which expectations ultimately made a heel turn for the ages, Adams, now entering his 22nd season on an NBA sideline, is keeping goals within reason.   

"I'm just hopeful of us maintaining a high standard of defense," he said. "Steve wants balance. When we came here, he said, 'Look, I want to be top-10 offense. I want to be a top-10 defense.' We've done well in both of those regards. We want to just continue that."

Loose Balls

Coming Home

Durant was sensational at both ends of the floor during the Warriors' 120-75 win over the Clippers at Oracle Arena. With 21 points, seven boards, seven assists and two blocks in just over 24 minutes of action, the Warriors' new star was impactful in almost all ways. "

We were really good at limiting offensive rebounds and making them shoot tough shots over the top of us," he said. "I think we were more focused on that than the score. If we continue to play L.A. with that defense, with that intensity, I think we’ll be fine.”

After Durant nailed a three for the game's first basket, Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob made an emphatic fist pump in the front row.

2 Guards for 2-Guard

The battle for the backup shooting guard spot continues. Ian Clark is receiving a golden opportunity to move into that role behind Thompson, but he did himself no favors against the Clippers, going 0-of-3 from the field in almost 12 minutes.

Clark's main competition for the job, rookie Patrick McCaw, continued his impressive training camp with seven points in 19 minutes of game time. It's clear that McCaw will be a contributor sooner than later, no matter if Clark initially wins the spot on the second unit.

West Speaks Out

Noah Graham/Getty Images

David West spoke extensively about his years of silently protesting the national anthem. It was perhaps the most thoughtful and introspective comments made by any Warrior player about the ongoing debate.

Here's the clip: a highly recommended listen.

Klay's Way

For all the chatter about what the Warriors stars were supposed to be sacrificing in the face of Durant's arrival—which I think won't be all that much—Thompson has been unstoppable through two preseason games, pumping in 46 points through 40 minutes of play. He's also made 10 threes on 20 attempts.

He's talked at training camp about trying to round out his overall game, stating a goal of nabbing five boards per contest. That would be a career high for the sixth-year veteran, but as long as he's scoring at this kind of a clip, Kerr will take it.

Team and player stats courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-reference.com, unless otherwise noted.