This upcoming season is important for the Los Angeles Lakers given their circumstances. With no additions being made and a first-time head coach in JJ Redick, L.A. is banking on organic growth to improve off last season.
One of those players who was expected to play an integral role last year was Gabe Vincent, be he only played 11 games due to a lingering knee injury. But he is 100 percent now and has looked to be at full strength through the team’s first three preseason games.
Heading into Friday, the Lakers were searching for Redick’s first head coaching win, even though it’s just preseason. Thanks to Quincy Olivari sparking a fourth quarter 20-0 run, the purple and gold secured a 107-102 victory.
While not a regular season win, it was still important for Redick and Vincent and the team acknowledged his first win as a coach by securing the game ball, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Absolutely. Absolutely, we definitely acknowledged it. I think his initial reaction was like ‘It’s just the preseason,’ but we were trying to acknowledge the win nonetheless. It is his first win, I snagged the game ball for him and tossed it to him. So hopefully he takes it home with him and we carry that over to the next game.”
While preseason does not carry weight in terms of standings, it can foreshadow how a team’s season will go. Particularly for L.A., their lack of wins during the preseason in recent years has resulted in early struggles during the regular season.
Knowing who Redick is as a competitor, he wants victories that matter, but developing that winner’s mentality is needed. After being eliminated in the first round last season, L.A. cleaned house coaching-wise and bringing in positive energy goes a long way.
All in all, to commemorate Redick’s first win as a coach is special but goes to show the buy-in that the former 15-year veteran has received from his players. Hopefully, that translates into stacking wins when games matter on Oct. 22.
JJ Redick wants all Lakers crashing offensive glass to avoid being in ‘limbo’
A new philosophy that JJ Redick is bringing in as a head coach is corner crashing, where players in the corners go for offensive rebounds to get extra possessions. That’s different from Darvin Ham, who opted to get back when a shot went up.
The reason as to why Redick wants his players crashing the offensive glass is to avoid being in ‘limbo’ and make the other team box them out instead of getting out in transition.
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