Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats
lamented his team’s defense throughout the 2023-24 regular season.
And rightfully so; it was a far cry from the No. 3 ranking in KenPom’s defensive efficiency from the season prior. This past season’s defense was closer to being ranked around 100; it finished No. 111.
The defense saw some improvement in the NCAA Tournament, and the Crimson Tide reached the Final Four because of that growth. But Oats doesn’t want to have to deal with suspect defense again for most of the season.
So
he hired Brian Adams.
Known for his defensive coaching, Adams has been an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and more. He was also video coordinator for the Boston Celtics, among other jobs.
Adams, a Pine Plains, New York native, sat down with
AL.com in September for a Q&A ahead of the 2024-25 season to talk his NBA experience, defensive approach and taking a job with Alabama.
Editor’s note: The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
AL.com: Why Alabama?
Brian Adams: “I had a previous stint in college at Harvard and Marist. I really enjoyed it. At one time, I thought that was the way I was tracking, toward a career in college basketball. Ended up going back to the NBA because of whatever circumstances at the time. From there, I’ve always considered college. Every year, what are the good opportunities? What’s out there? Nothing really ever aligned, along with good opportunities at the time in the NBA.
Fast forward, we get let go at an awkward time in Detroit. As I’m trying to see what’s out there, not really knowing what my fate’s going to be. This job kind of appears. It’s not only a coach at a high-level program that’s won, it’s specifically a defensive guy, which has kind of been my growth through my career, always under defensive guys. So, to get involved and have an opportunity to come here to be a part of this team and this program under Coach Oats and learn, No. 1, it really aligned with what I was trying to do. It aligned with the timing of everything. Lastly, I kind of viewed the path as the path. It’s not necessarily the NBA or college. It’s wherever it takes me.
Maybe this positions me more for college down the road, and I’m fine with that. But you never know. I just see this as the best opportunity in front of me. I’m fortunate to have gotten let go and also to be able to hook onto … this isn’t like I fell. I probably rose up.”
Brian Adams (right) sits in Cleveland while a member of the Detroit Pistons coaching staff. Adams joined the Alabama basketball coaching staff ahead of the 2024-25 season.Courtesy of Detroit Pistons
Q: What was Nate Oats’ pitch to you?
A: “No. 1, I had to pitch to him to be a part of this. I had to make sure he felt comfortable with me, one, as a person, and two, as a coach. But more importantly, running the defense. Obviously it’s an area that, with the high potent offense and what it was, last year they took a step back defensively. The years prior, they had been pretty legit. So he had to trust that I was the guy, bringing a team back that was very talented with a great opportunity for us.
So I had to pitch to him my knowledge, my scheme, my opinions on defense. And then at the end, his small pitch to me was, ‘come be a part of this great program that has a real chance to do something special.’ And then he asked me if I want to be a head coach and would I want to be a head coach in college? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and been intrigued by. That’s a no-brainer. More me (pitching) to him. I don’t want anybody thinking he was pitching to me.”
Q: How did you become a defensive guy?
A: “I was the video coordinator for the Celtics. 2007-2008 season. Doc (Rivers), as he was getting the big three, he also hired Tom Thibodeau. Tom Thibodeau was going to be his defensive coordinator. He had never done it where basically one guy manages the defense under Doc but handles it all. As his video guy on a smaller staff, there’s nowhere near the manpower that’s now available, it was like me and Thibs pretty much (on defense). I was doing Doc’s video on the side, but I was also 24/7 scouts, everything with Thibs. I did that with Thibs for four years and got to know, living, breathing defense.
Then Lawrence Frank got hired (in Boston). Same thing with Lawrence.
I go to college, I tried for three years to be more of the defensive mind of each staff I was on. Kind of just slid into that role naturally. Go back to the NBA, reunite with Lawrence with the Clippers, same thing. Defensive coordinator. I was coaching associate/video, doing the same stuff I was doing in Boston. G-League head coach, obviously what I know is defense. Shift my thinking a little more to make sure my offense looks good. Then re-connect with Doc in Philly on the main staff, and I’m helping Dan Burke, an old school defensive coordinator. Partially because that’s the way Doc does it. I was always the guy helping the main defensive coordinator.”
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau watches during the first half of Game 2 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)AP
Q: Oats preaches defense. What did Alabama tell you about what it wants the defense to become?
A: “They’ve been elite. They took a step back. They want to get back to being elite. I think that by having a guy that is just solely in charge of the defense under what Coach Oats wants, you are going to be a little more aligned on a day-to-day basis vs. if you are jumping around and having multiple people do it. There’s no way you can have the same things being taught daily.
So a little more, be elite, being smooth, just being aligned with everything we’re doing daily. Just build a defense that is capable of helping us go as far as we possibly can go that complements our offense.”
Q: How do you coach defense?
A: “My biggest thing is creating a really good foundation of defense. Some of that’s the minute fundamentals of one-on-one defense. Closeouts. From there it’s your help defense. Pick-and-roll defense. Creating your base and how you’re guarding off-ball screens and actually being a bit monotonous with how much you work on your base. The stronger your base, the more you can build out schematically to mix in some aggressive coverages, some different looks. If your base isn’t good, to me, you’re not going to do that well. I’ve always gone about it really trying to do that.
In order to be elite, we’ve just got to be simply good and build on simple.”
Alabama head coach Nate Oats reacts during the first half of a second-round college basketball game against Grand Canyon in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) APAP
Q: What can people expect from this defense?
A: “Intensity. Schematically organized. And all on the same page. And a multiple effort mentality. One thing to the next thing to the next thing. When things don’t even go the way schematically they’re supposed to, we react and keep playing. That would be the goal, a defense that brings the intensity, schematically is super organized. Guys know what they’re doing, and we have a multiple effort as far as next action, next action. We want to play 30-second shot clock. If you’re going to play every possession and we’ve got to defend for 30, we’re going to do that.”
Q: What at Alabama reminds you of the NBA?
A: “We’re very NBA. We’re more NBA than some NBA teams I’ve been a part of.
The No. 1 thing I think shows up is we really utilize the shot spectrum offensively. And then to me, you have to mirror that defensively. The shots you want to get offensively, you’re essentially looking to take away defensively. It makes it easy to make a case of, here’s what we’re trying to do.
I think the shot spectrum is huge. That’s a super NBA thing. We’re doing it at a high level here. More so than some NBA teams.
The ability to incorporate analytics into every day, but also, if you’re going to solely lean on basketball, you’re not going to be as efficient as you can be. If you’re going to solely lean on analytics, you’re not going to be as efficient. We do a good job of blending the two. Then I will say the level of talent is a high level. That’s not just us. That’s the SEC. That’s high-major programs.
But within our own walls, I’ve been impressed with the talent, both on their skill level and size. It’s very NBA.”
The Boston Celtics' team pose with the NBA trophy after winning Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals in Boston, Massachusetts, June 17, 2008. The Boston Celtics captured the National Basketball Association championship, routing the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 to win the best-of-seven NBA Finals four games to two. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images
Q: What’s your favorite NBA memory?
A: “First of all, in 2008 we won the NBA championship. To be a part of that … it was my first year of full time. I got lucky. The bar got set high. The whole nine, you go a whole year, we were the best team that year, start to finish. Had our ups and downs. Almost went to seven games in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Just to win it. That whole process. That was great.
Another cool moment was, I had been with Tobias Harris in LA. I was just kind of growing as a coach. I was doing some defensive walk-through stuff, but not a ton. I was a young coach, developing my coaching voice. Tobias gets traded to Philly. Signs with Philly. While he is doing that, I get the G-League head coaching job. G-League head coaching is like trial by fire. Basketball, building your coaching muscles. I did two years of that. I felt as if I had improved. But you never know exactly where you’re at.
Reunite with Tobias in Philly, and three days into training camp, I have a segment of defense I’m doing with a group he’s in. Afterward, he came up to me and gave me a big compliment of how much my coaching voice had grown and how much I improved since LA. I don’t think the players know … we’re coaches and we’re responsible for helping the players, but they also have an impact on us. Especially at the NBA level, for a guy to be that selfless to mention that to me … I told him when we separated in Philly … that told me I was an NBA coach and gave me confidence to go forward. I told him after the fact how much that did to boost my confidence as a coach.”
