Head coach JJ Redick had a successful Year 1 leading the Los Angeles Lakers and now hopes to improve upon last season’s mark.
Redick preached the importance of building championship habits this preseason and he felt like the Lakers took a step in the right direction in their finale against the Sacramento Kings. Now, Los Angeles gears up for an Opening Night matchup against the Golden State Warriors who are also looking to prove they belong in the contender conversation.
While Redick would have preferred to have his entire roster healthy for training camp and preseason, Los Angeles has to make due with the players they have. A healthy and motivated Luka Doncic is a good place to start, so the supporting cast will need to step up in LeBron James’ absence.
With the regular season around the corner, Redick discussed how much he’s looking forward to another year coaching.
“Lots of excitement, excited to start the season. RP [Rob Pelinka] and I were just talking, it’s just like the fun part about this is the chaos and the challenge of every single game, every single day trying to problem solve and try to get buy in. It’s coaching, it’s part of why I do this. It’s great. I’m looking forward to a challenging, chaotic, fun, all of the things that happen during an 82-game season,” Redick said.
Even without James to start the year, Redick has a lot of reasons to feel good about his team. Doncic looks primed to win his first MVP award after getting in shape while Austin Reaves can take another step in his game. The supporting cast also looks stronger, with new additions like Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia expected to play big roles.
The Western Conference is as tough as ever, so Redick and the Lakers will need to be at their best almost every night to keep pace. It’s going to be an uphill battle for the purple and gold, so it’ll be interesting to see how Redick and his team handle the adversity.
JJ Redick breaks down importance of team defense
JJ Redick understands that the Lakers don’t have the luxury of having a true shutdown defensive player on the roster, so he’s going to need to be creative with his schemes. In a sit down with ESPN’s Tim Legler, Redick broke down the importance of team defense given the limitations of the current squad.
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