The Los Angeles Lakers have been in the midst of a very rough stretch over the past couple of weeks. The team has lost seven of their last 10 games and been blown out in many of those while often looking disengaged and lethargic, much to the dismay of head coach JJ Redick.
Redick and the Lakers coaching staff have been working hard to fix the issues plaguing this team on the court, but it has not come to fruition just yet. But Redick still believes the Lakers can turn things around and is hopeful that this bit of adversity will be good for the team overall.
“Well, adversity is good. I think it toughens your resolve, it forces you to problem solve,” Redick said prior to the Lakers’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. “It hopefully can bring the group together. I think it’s a Jay-Z song, I don’t know the exact title, but it says ‘It was all good just a week ago.’ And the reality is, that’s the NBA. Every team is gonna go through a stretch like this, good teams, bad teams. The games come so fast and you have an injury or you have a couple bad games and you go into a funk or into a shooting slump. This is it, this is the NBA. I felt that as a player, certainly feel it in this stretch as a coach.
“Overall, delineation between some of the games that we’ve lost, which have been puzzling to me, versus some games you lost like the game at Phoenix earlier in the season and the Orlando game, Atlanta game, where it just comes down to a couple plays but overall your process and your competitive level was good, like Oklahoma City at home. You live with those results and you try to get better from them. The puzzling ones are I think the ones that are frustrating, not just for me, for everyone. Players, coaches, organization, fans. I get it. So we’re encouraged with a lot of the stuff we saw Friday night.”
Without a doubt the Lakers have had some discouraging losses this season with the likes of the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves all blowing the Lakers out. That being said, Redick will continue to be honest with his players and lead them the best way he feels.
“We’re professionals. I don’t look at positive and negative,” Redick added. I look at it as just being real and honest. I would much prefer to praise. I would much prefer that. I generally have a very optimistic and joyful and grateful outlook on life. But I think the job is to lead. That’s the charge as a coach and the head of the team, is to lead. As I got older in my career, I got very comfortable with that. There’s probably a learning curve for any first year head coach in terms of just the leadership component and all of that is required of being the leader.”
Redick will continue to try and push the right buttons to help this team reach another level, but it will also be on the players to execute the plan given to them. Regardless, it sounds as if the players and coaches are on the same page in terms of the belief in this team overall and what needs to be done to compete at the highest level.
JJ Redick feels Lakers need recovery time more than practice
With some days off before they take the court again, the Lakers finally have some time to get on the practice court, something coach JJ Redick feels is a necessity to help the team shore some things up. However, with so many injuries on the roster, Redick actually plans to prioritize rest and recovery.
“So I would’ve liked to practice, but I think you do have to look at these opportunities, and they’re very rare, to give your guys two days off,” Redick said. Tuesday is not mandatory but will be sort of a recovery, get-what-you-need day for guys that need it. But heck, if somebody wants to go spend a couple nights in Santa Barbara and relax, that’s fine too.”
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