New Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has often described himself as a ‘basketball sicko’ and his attention to detail has worked very well for his team so far this season. The Lakers have responded well to everything he and his coaching staff have brought to the team and he is obsessive in figuring out the best ways for them to succeed.
But there have been some struggles for the Lakers at times in this early season and how he and his team responds to losses is extremely important as well. Considering how Redick describes himself, it shouldn’t be any surprise that he likely takes losses very hard. But how he deals with them is to work harder.
Following a heartbreaking Lakers loss to the Orlando Magic, Redick was asked how he deals with losses and his response was to, literally, go to a dark place.
“Go to a very dark place. Literally, it’s the basement,” Redick said. “I turn the lights out and go watch film. That’s my therapy.”
Everyone finds their peace in a different way. Some prefer to step away from the game and turn their focus elsewhere while others may take solace in going to the gym and getting shots up or a workout in. For Redick, as a coach, it is all about the film and that is a positive for the Lakers.
In a loss like the one against the Magic, it is easy to say the Lakers missed free throws and that’s why they lost, but there is so much else that went on throughout the game that needs correction and Redick will find that and then work on ways for the team to improve in those areas. The players will see this dedication to the team and improvement and it becomes impossible for them not to buy in and put in that same level of work.
This Lakers franchise is always committed to winning at the highest level and Redick is showing that he is more than willing to put in all of the time and effort necessary to bring that into fruition.
JJ Redick: Lakers loss to Magic swung on missed free throws
While there are many reasons the Lakers fell to the Magic, it is hard not to point to the four missed free throws in the final 30 seconds as costing them. JJ Redick didn’t solely blame the loss on them, but the head coach did feel it swung the game.
“Every loss is frustrating. Every loss is frustrating. I thought, you know, we’ve, we’ve had, I guess, five, five losses now, you know there’s, there’s certain losses that you could point to a lack of effort, but like a lack of will and competitiveness and physicality to start a game and then you’re having to fight that. We’ve had that in a few, you know, the Phoenix game, and this game where it comes down to late game, and it can swing on a couple plays, and frankly, it’s swung on our missed free throws tonight.”
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