Following a disappointing effort in the Emirates NBA Cup quarterfinals against the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick is searching for answers on the defensive end.
Against a youthful Spurs team, L.A. struggled to match their pace in transition. Transition defense was a well-documented issue before Redick’s arrival, so he is actively searching to dispel a prolonged problem.
This Lakers team does not possess many athletic, two-way talents, meaning that players need to be on a string defensively. Currently, Los Angeles ranks 21st in defensive rating and Redick admits he is looking at everything to address these concerns, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“Yeah, we’re looking at everything. We’ve got to be serious about where we are right now. The continual thing, it has a shelf life, the continual failure of things has a shelf life and then you have to make changes. So, we’re looking at it. Again, I have a belief in the nine guys we have been playing, I have a belief in the rotation. We essentially started that group, DA [Deandre Ayton] for Jaxson [Hayes] for much of last year’s run when we were the No. 1 defense in the league. So, we can do it.”
After an impressive start to the season, the Lakers appear to be cooling off a bit as they play more young, physical, defensive-minded teams. Obviously, they possess the offensive talent to overcome that, but that can’t be relied upon every night.
Should the starters continue to struggle to match their opponent’s physicality, it will be interesting to see how Redick mediates a potential change. Notably, Marcus Smart could be a player who receives consideration after an impressive return on Wednesday.
While adding more two-way players would be the ideal fix, there needs to be more connectivity defensively. As it stands now, there are no upper-echelon defensive-minded talents on this roster to cover up the mistakes. So, regrouping and touching up on schemes may be Redick’s best bet if no moves are made.
JJ Redick: Lakers are getting exposed for same issues in losses
Typically, in losses, there are key takeaways and lessons for a head coach to present to his team. For JJ Redick, he has a sample size of seven defeats and he is noticing opposing teams are taking advantage of the Lakers shortcomings on defense in order to beat them.
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