Golden State Warriors will have no problem in attacking the rim, since they are very capable of doing that. But Steve Kerr noted his concerns about the team defense this season.
This season, with Kevin Durant joins the team, Warriors is stronger in the offensive end. But they have to let go Andrew Bogut, Leandro Barbosa, Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli, who has been tough defenders in the Bay Area. Although they found some replacement in Zaza Pachulia and David West, but they still have a little deficiency in the rim protection to find replacement for Bogut and Ezeli who was superior in the area.
"The thing that's different will be a lack of rim protection," Ker said in an interview with CSN Bay Area. "We had great rim protection from Bogut and Ezeli, and both those guys are gone. Zaza's a very good defender, but he's more of a positional guy than a shot blocker."
Warriors has some expectation from Durant to strengthen their defense During his tenure in Oklahoma, Durant is known as a versatile rim defender. He has shown it during the game against Warriors in the last season's Western Conference Finals.
Warriors' assistant coach Ron Adams who previously worked with Durant in Oklahoma for two years knows how capable the 6'9" power forward in defense. Adams is responsible to formulate Warriors defense and his scheme will work better with the addition of Durant. Therefore, he cannot wait to wait to integrate Durant's in the Warriors' defense, as SLAM reported.
"He's a terrific defender, who played with great defensive consistency in our playoff series. We will expect a lot out of him in that regard," Adams said his comment on Durant. "He can, if necessary, guard all five positions – and do it effectively."
Kerr understands that losing Bogut and Ezeli has changed the team defense, but he admits the team has obtained good players as replacement. So he will make necessary adjustment to Warriors defense in this season.