By: Yama Hazheer
The Warriors offense was playing at a remarkable pace last year. They were so good that people outside of Dub Nation often confused them for an offense first type team, which was not the case.
Ron Adams used his defensive mastermind to help take the Warriors from a good defensive team to an elite one. Players like David Lee and Leandro Barbosa who were always known to be awful defenders looked mediocre, at the least.
Even MVP Steph Curry improved on the defensive end while players like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Festus Ezeli took the next step.
With so many talented players on the squad, it’s difficult to rank which ones stand out from the pack. Nonetheless, here are the five best defenders on the team:
5. Harrison Barnes
Barnes isn’t the flashiest player when it comes to offense, but his defense is starting to become underrated at this point.
The North Carolina product is the most athletic player on the Warriors and is stronger than he looks. He did an excellent job defending guys like Zach Randolph this past season and the coaches trust him to go up and play well against power forwards. This helps the Warriors go small. Draymond Green plays the five while Barnes plays power forward.
Although he’s 6’8, he can guard bigger players and chase around some of the smaller wings as well. Barnes is only 23 and the potential is there for him. He has to choose how badly he wants it, though. He could be one of the better defenders in the league as a whole in the near future.