While the Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup has had great success, one thing it does require is for Austin Reaves to take on more of a defensive responsibility. With new head coach JJ Redick sticking with the lineup, the pressure will still be on Reaves to defend the opposition’s better backcourt player as that simply isn’t something D’Angelo Russell is capable of.
That has sometimes been a struggle for Reaves as he isn’t the quickest player, nor the strongest, but he has been able to hold his own in some unideal situations. And so far, Redick likes what he has seen from Reaves defensively with both his effort and IQ shining through.
“I never thought he was a chump defensively, but he competes his ass off on that end,” Redick said about Reaves. “He knows what he’s supposed to do. He’s in the right spots. If he’s supposed to veer, he veers. If he’s supposed to be the low man, he’s the low man. If he’s supposed to be at the nail, he’s at the nail. He just does a lot of really good things on the basketball floor.”
This has always been the case with Reaves. He competes hard as a primary defender even when at a physical disadvantage and his IQ lends itself well as a team defender as he is always in the right spot in help-side and is able to jump passing lanes for steals by reading the opposition.
After being told of Redick’s comments, Reaves pushed some of the credit towards the foundation and system that the Lakers coach is installing, as well as having an all-world defender in Anthony Davis behind him.
“Yeah, I would hope so. It’s better than not being in the right spot,” Reaves noted. “No, I think it’s just, you know, having a foundation, having a system, when you know exactly where the rotation is going to be, where you’re supposed to be, where the help is going to be.
“It gives you a good feeling as you’re guarding the ball, knowing, ‘All right, well, I can be a little bit more aggressive because I got AD on the back row and I know he’s going to be there. But not just AD, if they skip it to the corner, then X [teammate] is going to be there.’ So, just having faith in what we’re doing and the foundation that we’re putting in is the biggest thing for me.”
It is ultimately the whole team that has to be locked in for a defense to thrive and Reaves feels that Redick’s systems allow for the Lakers to do that. With an increased offensive role as well, there is a lot on Reaves’ plate, but so far he seems more than capable of handling everything that comes his way.
Austin Reaves believes Lakers will benefit from JJ Redick’s structure and foundation
Last year, Darvin Ham came under a lot of criticism for what seemed to be a lack of organization for the Lakers. While Austin Reaves didn’t necessarily call him out, he greatly praised the structure and foundation that new coach JJ Redick is installing feels the team as a whole will benefit from it.
“I just think the whole structure and foundation that these coaches have brought in for us, talking with everybody, is a great start because I feel like a lot of times last year we won a lot of games off of talent and when you have talent around structure then you have opportunities to do something really special,” Reaves said.
“So I don’t think it’s necessarily for me or not, I just think that everything that they’ve came in and talked about makes sense to me for our whole collective group.”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!