One thing I did initially like about the JJ hire was his media savvy. it’s nice to see good press for the team
I’m actually surprised he seems so curt in his interviews before going back into the tunnel at halftime. Like he’s irritated and has better things to do. It’s not a big deal but it’s not a big deal to answer a couple questions either.
You only get one question He responds with one or two sentences Thanks, the interviewer sometimes And then he leaves before another question can be asked Control freak
It seems to me that he is indeed irritated -- not by the reporter, obviously, but mostly with things he sees on the court and thinks need to be improved. He probably told the players exactly what not to do in certain situations, and they keep doing it. It's a process of learning and the teacher (or, in this situation the coach) can get frustrated sometimes. Hopefully he gets a bit more relaxed later in the season.
^^^ …. and wants to get into the locker room to again make those points and any strategic changes needed? Some halftime interviews he’s a little more patient. None of these coaches have a lot of time heading back there.
Pop was absolutely legendary in this respect: "What can you tell us about your defensive strategy for game two"? "The big guys will guard the big guys, and the small guys will guard the small guys".
After the NO game Love the vibes and energy in the locker room. It's such a stark contrast to Bron googling "untraceable poisons" during Ham's 7000th story about Saginaw.
He is top 3 COTY for me. Behind Detroit and Cavs coach. He has completely changed this team. You know the coach is good when he can make use of every player on the roster and put them in a position to have an impact. Reminds me a lot of Popovich, honestly.
I hope you’re as happy as I am tonight LT. I really have to ask you though. Go straight to 38 secs in coach’s interview. What’s the difference with what I say when I bash them in gametime for lack of trying/effort/focus? Tell me I’m wrong here. I’d love to know.
“Once we reached their level of effort and intensity” could be said any time against a legitimate tough opponent. It’s a game of runs and momentum in the NBA even against inferior teams. I typically like to start a game 45 or so minutes late on time shift to be able to skip the commercials and don’t do game time. Tonight I wasn’t that far behind and caught up so opened it up and just read the typical love a player one play and then rage at them the next play because no one playing against other great NBA players is perfect all the time. It’s insane in there with all the emotion and adrenaline and clearly over the top on the negative side with what have you done for me since your last great play …. but I get it people enjoy the passion of the moment together. My original comments to you were nothing about what goes on in Game Time or you said in there. It was about comments “post game” exactly what I said above (see below) that you quoted, especially after a loss where the other team is HOT from deep and there’s not a whole hell of a lot you can do about it because the ball being passed sharply around to get to the hot shooters is faster than great effort. “This is why I get annoyed with the frequent comments after a loss where the opponent was just on fire from behind the arc that we just mailed in the effort, didn’t compete and the usual bashes. Often the ball’s being swiftly and smartly passed to those guys …. it’s not that there wasn’t effort trying to get to them to defend the shots.” That particular game was the same ^^^ as a couple guys just went off from deep … LaMelo and someone else. And we were comparatively cold. It happens. We STILL held them to 102 points and didn’t lose by more than 3 if I recall. I do recall definitely however JJ saying in the post game HE had NO problem with the team’s effort.
Redick's strategy to blitz Brunson to force him to give up the ball and make someone else take the shot? Well timed.
JJ is a great coach. I think he gets praise for stuff other coaches have tried with Lakers teams in the past that simply didn't work like switching nearly everything. This team switches with effort and commitment. They still can't rebound for sh** though we do have some guys who go after the boards (Hayes, Dalton to name a couple). He has these guys bought in and I love seeing it. Last night Austin wasn't playing great and I noticed for a great deal down the stretch in the 4th he benched him. But then in OT Austin started and of course he makes a big shot. I think JJ being willing to put in the "right" guys at any time is huge for our victories. I would love to see him find whatever it is that makes us close some quarters out horrible and fix that ish. All in all no one should be saying a bad thing about this coaching staff.
Yeah the staff is doing a great job. Everyone should be happy right now. If you always believed then you can feel vindicated. If you had doubts like me, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Either way, we look to have found our guy and that's a great thing for the franchise. The carousel of coaches is over.
