The Clippers recently announced a number of additions and promotions aimed at bolstering the team’s coaching staff, but perhaps none more crucial to the organization’s commitment to development than the promotion of Brian Adams to Head Coach of the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario. Adams will succeed coach Casey Hill, who now serves as an assistant with the big-league club under Head Coach Doc Rivers.
In its inaugural season, the franchise’s G League affiliate proved to be an indispensable asset to the organization, serving as a hub for player development and growth within LA’s system under coach Hill. Eight players that spent time on Agua Caliente’s roster last season played significant minutes for the team on the NBA level.
“The decision to move Brian Adams into that role going forward is further indicative of our goal to continue building our G League affiliate as an extension of the NBA club,” said President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank. “Brian has an impressive passion for basketball and teaching. He is a tireless worker who is effective at communicating with our players, and genuinely cares about their growth and development.”
Adams, who just concluded his fourth season as a coaching associate with the Clippers, has also served as the team’s Video Scouting Director over the past three seasons and the team’s Head Video Coordinator during his first year with the club.
“My primary goal is to help the Clippers grow from an overall standpoint,” said Adams. “The G League has proven to be a highly successful tool for teams, and last year, it was able to help us extensively with our two-ways, call-ups and guys on assignment. We had a number of guys that spent time in the G League last season help keep us in the playoff hunt until game 80.”
Prior to joining the organization, Adams worked for three seasons as an assistant coach at the collegiate level, spending the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons at Harvard, and the 2013-14 season at Marist College. In his first year in Cambridge, Adams and the 2011-12 Crimson team established a school record with 26 victories, and Harvard won its second straight Ivy League title, earning a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1946.
“I’ve been fortunate to be able to work closely with our defense and our pre-game walkthroughs as part of my growth as a coach on the court. Each summer I’ve had a chance to build upon that, being more hands-on with summer league, but a big part of it goes back to my college days at Harvard and Marist, because I got to work with young men,” said Adams, who looks forward to being able to further utilize his extensive basketball background in his new capacity. “There’s something exciting about the challenge of working with guys that are looking to you for more than just basketball. They’re looking to you for advice on life, so you can try to help them improve on more than just basketball.”
Before joining the collegiate coaching ranks, Adams spent five years with the Boston Celtics on coach Rivers’ video staff, including the team’s 2008 NBA Championship season. He views his extensive time working with Rivers as invaluable experience heading into his new role and is excited to adapt the Clippers’ system to the G League.
“We’re going to do what the LA Clippers are doing, because we have to run a system that mirrors that of our big-league club, so when guys do get the opportunity to come up via two-ways or call-ups, they can jump right in,” said Adams. “I’ve seen a lot of players come through Doc’s system. He’s utilized a wide array of sets and concepts to put those players in a position to succeed and to play to their strengths, so I’ve got a vast library of his stuff that I can utilize for our personnel.”
Frank echoed Adams’ sentiments. “Brian’s years of experience working in LA and with Doc have him well prepared to augment and expand the systems and processes we began to implement in Ontario last season.” He continued, “I am excited to see Brian’s own continued growth and development as Head Coach and leader of the Agua Caliente Clippers this season. He and ACC will be closely tied to the Los Angeles-based team, sharing many of the same principles, commitments and work habits.”
For his own part, Adams looks forward to getting his hands dirty. “Coming up in the NBA from the film level, you need to have the ability to wear a lot of hats, grind through early and late hours, work extremely hard and be comfortable with not having a lot of resources at your disposal. This job is going to challenge me in ways I haven’t been challenged yet. I’ve got to work my butt off to coach, while driving the type of growth that will advance our organization’s goal of winning an NBA Championship.”