i do think their motivation for playing in the olympics was that they knew it was going to be an accolade--and those aren't forthcoming in the nba. i actually wondered if the IST wasn't the same thing last year--this is a thing we can win, so we should go all out. problem for both guys (especially lebron) is that it's hard to commit to the daily grind that it takes to put you in position to win an nba title these days. in the west, you can't take random games in december off. you'll be in the play-in, facing the defending champs in the first round without home court advantage.
In their defense, I think there would also have been backlash had they not gone coming off us losing with the 2023 World Cup team Maybe not AD, but certainly Lebron who I'm sure USA basketball worked to get on board along with Steph and Durant. It's not a championship but the league definitely does care how we do in those.
There is no f***ing way that Reddick is worse coach.. Tier 9: We don't know enough 30. JJ Redick, Lakers 29. Brian Keefe, Wizards 28. Charles Lee, Hornets 27. Jordi Fernandez, Nets 26. Darko Rajakovic, Raptors Tier 8: I wouldn't be enthused 25. Chauncey Billups, Trail Blazers 24. Billy Donovan, Bulls 23. JB Bickerstaff, Pistons 22. Doc Rivers, Bucks Tier 7: You look promising, but it's still a tad early 21. Kenny Atkinson, Cavaliers 20. Willie Green, Pelicans 19. Jamahl Mosley, Magic Tier 6: Middle of the road 18. Jason Kidd, Mavericks 17. Taylor Jenkins, Grizzlies 16. Quin Snyder, Hawks 15. Michael Malone, Nuggets Tier 4: Obvious floor-raisers 13. Mike Brown, Kings 12. Chris Finch, Timberwolves 11. Joe Mazzulla, C Bags 10. Tom Thibodeau, Knicks 9. Mike Budenholzer, Suns 8. Ime Udoka, Rockets Tier 3: The Wunderkinds 7. Will Hardy, Jazz 6. Mark Daigneault, Thunder Tier 2: The elites 5. Ty Lue, Clippers 4. Steve Kerr, Warriors 3. Rick Carlisle, Pacers 2. Nick Nurse, 76ers And Tier 1: The undisputed king 1. Erik Spoelstra, Heat P.S.Pop in his own tier 4 Living legend number 14 Go JJ .Shock the f***ing NBA media https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
I really don’t see that as a shot at Redick, he’s literally the only coach on the list that hasn’t had a single minute of pro coaching experience, not even summer league. He could end up a fantastic coach, but as of now he’s entirely an unknown entity, it would probably be insulting to rank him above any other NBA coach, even Ham were he eligible, because one guy coached in the NBA playoffs and one has never coached.
i feel like jenkins has proven more than a lot of guys. he was someone that i'd had my eye on as we cycled through coaches. he's getting blamed for memphis's injuries when instead he should have been praised for their pre-injury overachievement, imo. btw, five years ago, everyone would have had doc in the top 5 and mike brown in the bottom 5, so maybe it's more complicated than "this guy is just a great coach". i do agree that pop, spoelstra, and, imo, rick carlisle all had very long track records of doing more with whomever they've got. but i think steve kerr has no data without curry, so i can't really judge. pop's so/so results post-duncan are also kind of a ding for me. nick nurse has been more hype than results for me, as has ty lue. both guys got an early ring from one player's freak dominance and have basically been meh since.
In JJ's favor, he does have a great mind on the court in LeBron and can take a step forward from Ham by just trusting the analytics and playing his best guys. His inexperience and the health of the roster are legit concerns right now though.
I also really like the fact that we added some legit NBA HC’s to the coaching roster in Brooks and McMillan. They can be leaned on for help in tough situations such as the playoffs. And just in advising in general during the regular season. Ham did not have that at his disposal nor would he have listened I think even if he had. He was way too stubborn.
It doesn't sound like the 5 out offense, is going anywhere under Redick. https://lakersnation.com/lakers-news-jj-redick-explains-benefits-of-five-out-offense/
i've actually heard that clip before, though, and i found it interesting that he used denver as the example--i wonder if he was trying to explain that "out" just meant out of the paint/basket area. this may be why he name drops gordon specifically there, imo. this definitely is at odds with his stated desire for a bruiser, though. i mean, you can use them to set perimeter screens, but defenses will eventually just switch those if they're hurting them, and you end up having to post your big. the clips can do this with zubac, but vet min level big bodies don't really allow it. i wish we hired a coach who wanted to coach our personnel instead of some other team's, though. we don't have great shooters, particularly at the big spots. work around it.
I liked his explanation. It's not five out to jack up 3s. It's 5 out to have space to operate in pursuing the best shots for your personnel. Which bodes well with using AD as the hub like JJ talked about, so the paint is clear to be attacked by him or Bron. Let's see how it works out I'm sensing we will have the best off ball movement we've probably seen in the Lakers. Which should take time to optimize but I think it's a big thing in JJ's view of the game. Bron and AD will be insanely great with that, being able to set up others in a fluid manner.
i love putting AD at the elbow extended with lebron on the opposite wing or top of the key, reaves on the strong side corner/45 area, dlo in the opposite corner and rui in the strong side corner. if vando's playing i'd put him in the opposite corner and dlo on the strong side, which would mean AD could beat his guy and have vando diving for a dunk with no help.
yeah, i said reaves corner or 45 at the three point line, but 45 is probably the better spot with a weaker spot up shooter in that corner. obviously, you have actions that move you in and out of that configuration--that's just the one i think is hardest to defend with our current personnel.
So Redick went on Lowe’s podcast today and said that the starting lineup is going to be DLo/Reaves/LeBron/Rui/AD. Not that surprising to me, especially after we learned that Vando may not be ready for training camp. Cranjis had a couple of interesting Twitter threads a few weeks ago. The first had to do with the DLo/Reaves/LeBron/Vando/AD lineup being propped up by completely unsustainable three point shooting in the regular season over the last two years. The second was about LeBron maybe actually being better suited to playing the 3 defensively, rather than the 4. Most of us have assumed that he needs to play the 4 to conserve some energy, but what he’s actually asked to do as a defensive 4 might actually be more taxing and it’s more detrimental when he half a**** it in that role. But LeBron being better as a defensive 3 is predicated on the defensive 4 offering at least a little bit of rim protection, i.e. not Rui. I wonder if Wood gets a look as the starting 4 when he gets healthy. I’m not particularly optimistic about how this season is going to play out, but I am interested to see how Redick navigates lineups.
JJ starting out with the bold strategy of playing his best players. I theorized about this a few times but Darvin rarely utilized this practice. We will see how it works out for JJ.
i mean, it wasn't that small of a sample size. could it be possible that playing good defense leads to better shots on offense (it can)? this i'd have to think about/know more about the proposed schemes. i've thought that in the modern nba, teams stick their worst defenders at the 4 because that player is least likely to be heavily involved as both a screener AND a scorer. i mentioned the other day that i'd try lebron defensively at the three and see if teams want to test him in isolation with quicker players. it might be a bad move on their part. and his lack of interest in boxing out may be less impactful when it's a smaller guy whom the opposition plans to be part of the foundation transition defense who would be the rebounding threat. yeah, there are some things to try that ham didn't, but i lean towards elgin's idea that he's probably going to largely go with the chalk...something ham also generally eschewed. to me, max, vando, and wood were the guys i really wanted to see used differently, and two are already out...
Starts at the 38min. I liked how he answered the lineup question, shows how he's data driven and keep it simple, just play the team who worked best. He talks a lot about non-basketball stuff, but on basketball: - he clearly looks like he's offense-minded. His system is about improving the shot profile, crashing the boards for off rebounds (curious to see this. Vando will thrive but Rui will be interesting if he can improve). I fear the defense may not improve a lot which for me is where a system stars. Good defense leads to better offense, but we'll see, this is just quick way too early impressions. Staff can be really important here - I think he should be good at people management. He wants to empower AD to be as good as he wants to be, which is the right approach imo - talked up JHS which is interesting. Also mentioned Knecht (who he thinks is already an elite shooter) and Max He also mentioned Mazulla as an inspiration, who I love as a head coach and how he approaches basketball and people management. Generally, I don't think the job is too big for him, that I thought it was to Vogel or Ham. That's a very good thing. Quite excited to see how he turns out, I think he will be an above average coach in the league, that's my early prediction. I think he has the persona and mindset of people who exceed expectations and achieve higher levels of success. He's also a great basketball mind. Those are good traits for a great head coach, but we shall see if it translates into results
MOAR on Redick's thoughts and, for Slick's pleasure, a revelation that he says DLO is probably the guy he has talked to the most from Dan Woike today in the Times. Could have put it it Rob's thread but that's under heavy fire from JSM currently and this really has more on JJ anyway I think. Lakers BTW, JJ .... clearly stung from sirron's dislike of his jeans and white T-shirt look .... is now dressing better. Hey everyone, this is Dan Woike and welcome to the final Lakers Newsletter (of the 2024 offseason). Summer is so close to being officially over, autumn neutrals are replacing the summer linens and the Chicago Bears are no longer a viable playoff contender. It’s like the summer never even happened. I spent my Wednesday afternoon at the Lakers’ El Segundo practice facility listening to general manager Rob Pelinka and new coach JJ Redick preview the upcoming training camp and, dear readers, I have to tell you, it left me longing for summer. But unlike the players’ voluntary workouts inside the building, I had to show up a few days before training camp. Here are my biggest takeaways: Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. The case for continuity Plenty of Lakers fans spent their summer cursing Pelinka for the Lakers’ inactivity. They added no new players in free agency. They made no trades. They did make one change — and it was a big one — in hiring Redick away from the ESPN No. 1 broadcast team and some of the most successful podcasts in basketball and giving him an opportunity to test his philosophies under the brightest spotlight. I asked Pelinka about the summer Wednesday, about whether the decisions to stand pat put even more pressure on Redick to get it right. And Pelinka flipped the perceived weakness into a selling point for the upcoming year. “JJ and I talk a lot about the roster and both of us in our partnership have a really strong belief in the 15 players on this team. … I think the inverse of change or overhaul is continuity. And I think continuity can be highly successful in sports. This is a core group that did make it to the Western Conference finals. We didn’t have Gabe Vincent or Vando [more on this] last year for whole seasons. If you add two players like that, there’s a delta there. I think there’s going to be internal growth. We’re going to see increased capacity, increased on-ball stuff from Austin Reaves, I think JJ can talk about that. There’s going to be growth from him and Rui. All the guys across the roster, there’s going to be internal improvement. “So we have a high level of confidence in this group and we’re going to lean into the things we can control and lean into the continuity of this team.” The terms for trading It was also strange to hear Pelinka so openly state the required bar that needs clearance for the Lakers to trade both their 2029 and 2031 first-round picks, the two most movable assets the team has to use in a significant deal. “Yes, we would do a trade with both picks if that would lead to sustained Lakers excellence,” he said. “We would also use one pick to make a marginal upgrade if we felt like it was the right thing to do.” “Sustained Lakers excellence” is a nice guide to use when considering fake trades that surface now and again [sometimes even in this space]. Finding the kind of player who can truly ensure sustained excellence is a tough search and certainly not one the current market provided. Could a Lakers fan who wanted the team to be aggressive look at a player like Dejounte Murray and say with confidence that acquiring him would lead to sustained excellence for the franchise? Impossible to say. The admission that the Lakers would trade those picks is enough to offer deal-hungry fans some hope. The reality that the organization would need “sustained excellence” as an outcome should give people a sense of the likelihood that those picks get moved. The Vanderbilt issue The biggest piece of actual news Wednesday had to have been the revelation that Jarred Vanderbilt had surgical procedures on both of his feet after the conclusion of last season. Pelinka said there’s optimism he could be cleared by the opener. However, that doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily be ready to affect the Lakers in the ways they’d like. The offseason of rehab had to cut into Vanderbilt’s skill development, steps forward with his ball-handling and shooting necessary to turn the rangy forward from a nice-enough piece in the regular season into a consistent playoff contributor. His offensive rebounding and defensive versatility are critical skills the Lakers can take advantage of, but the team needs him on the court. And it’s a safe bet that even if he’s healthy on opening night, he’s going to be behind. The decisions to come Redick spoke highly of Max Christie on multiple occasions, making the Lakers’ third-year wing an ideal replacement for Taurean Prince’s minutes from last year. Rookie Dalton Knecht, who Redick spoke about in his appearance on Zach Lowe’s “The Lowe Post” podcast, is another candidate, but as of today, Christie seems in line for a bigger role. “I think to win now in today’s NBA, you need seven or eight players that really impact winning,” Redick said. “And that doesn’t mean seven or eight superstars that need the ball in their hands. Max Christie is gonna be a guy in his career who has a high-level impact on winning.” Jalen Hood-Schifino has also created some positive buzz, but for him to get to show that this season, he’s going to have to overtake someone else on the roster. The same kind of battle for shots/usage could be brewing in the backcourt with Pelinka saying that the Lakers eye Austin Reaves for a more prominent role. Redick, though, said he still expects D’Angelo Russell to be a big part of the team’s plan. “Throughout the summer, he was probably the guy that I talked to the most of anyone on the roster. We had a number of conversations during free agency and throughout July and August and he’s going to have a major role on this team,” Redick said. “I think the thing that D-Lo and I have talked about a lot is just like, ‘Let’s put you in a position to have a career year.’ His mindset, his energy, the talk that he’s brought, the leadership that he’s brought when he’s been in the building, has been excellent.” The sideline sickos One huge takeaway is that there’s no mindset adjustment needed for Redick, who is pouring his love of basketball into his new job in the same way he poured it onto the court as a player. On the record, off the record, people throughout the organization have raved about the energy in the gym this past month. “What we have tried to create is an energy and a vibe in the gym every day,” he said. “It’s like a perfect balance of, I would call it, ‘focused joy,’ if that makes sense. We’re grateful every day to be in this gym — the staff, the players. But it’s focused, it’s intentional, and it’s organized.” That shared passion was a must when it came to how Redick put together his first staff. “I had a goal, and Rob and I had a goal, of hiring a really diverse coaching staff in terms of experience and skillsets and we accomplished that. But the one thing that was a non-negotiable was that everyone we hired was a sicko, a basketball sicko,” he said. “And we’ve done that and our coaches meetings — you want to feel alive and you love basketball, come to one of our coaches meetings. You want to feel alive and you love basketball, come be in the gym when these guys are in here. It’s been awesome.”
this part is definitely interesting. i really think jj leveled with him and said: "hey, everyone thinks you suck and should be traded. the best thing to happen for both you and us is to show that those things aren't true. let's see what we can do to make us both look good."
