Ron Adams didn't expect Draymond Green to be this good - neither did Golden State

_GB · Jun 14, 2015

kukoc4ever · Jun 15, 2015

It would be nice to have Draymond Green and Ron Adams as members of the Chicago Bulls. Too bad.

_GB · Jun 17, 2015

Green’s spirit was a big reason the Warriors drafted him at no. 35. They knew the team had a leadership void. “You don’t get appointed that role,” Myers says. “It’s an innate thing. It has to be authentic and genuine, and it is with him.”
“Here’s this rookie saying this,” recalls Darren Erman, then an assistant coach with the team. “You could tell right then he had something in him. It was impressive. And we were a little bit soft.”

Golden State had both Festus Ezeli and Green high on its draft board in 2012, and when no. 30 came up, it had to choose between them. The room was divided about whether Green would be available later, but Kirk Lacob liked the team’s chances. “We decided we had to get a center first,” Lacob says. “I was confident Draymond would still be there at no. 35. He’s a four-year player, he’s short, he’s slow. He was going to slip.”

You know Green’s story by now. He carved out a key bench role under Mark Jackson, and Kerr expected him to remain a reserve; as he mapped out his rotation in July, Kerr penciled Green for just 12 measly minutes per night behind David Lee. When the team passed on Kevin Love, Myers warned Kerr he would have to play Green more, but no one expected this — especially after a disastrous training camp in which Green, chasing highlight plays he couldn’t pull off, earned the nickname “Draymond James.” Green opened up Golden State’s offense and unlocked a switch-heavy defense that stormed the league. That defense collapsed against Cleveland whenever Kerr lifted Green for a slower big man. By the end, he was one of three indispensable Golden State players, along with Curry and Iguodala.

But even the most even-keeled, analytical folks among Golden State’s brain trust believe that Green’s value transcends on-court performance. He gave the team its soul and its grit. When the Grizzlies had Golden State reeling, it was Green who invited Curry out for dinner — and, the players say now, an adult beverage — on Beale St. in Memphis after Game 3 of the conference semifinals. “There are people who simply have the propensity within their being to be special,” says Ron Adams, one of Golden State’s lead assistants. “The person that has some talent, maximizes that talent, and shapes it into something that contributes to winning. That’s what we all look for in players. That’s who Draymond is.”
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http://grantland.com/the-triangle/t...ho-defined-the-2014-15-golden-state-warriors/

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Ron Adams didn't expect Draymond Green to be this good - neither did Golden State

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Ron Adams didn't expect Draymond Green to be this good - neither did Golden State

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