JJ Redick is excited about his first season as the Lakers’ head coach.
Redick’s Strategy:
In a chat on ESPN’s “The Lowe Post” podcast, Redick shared that he will stick with the most successful lineup from last season: Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell. “Yeah. It will be the starting five that went 23-10 last year,” he confirmed.
Previous Coaching Decisions:
Darvin Ham, the former coach, often changed this lineup. Early in the season, Hachimura came off the bench. Later on, Reaves and Russell also experienced changes in their roles. Many believed these constant changes disrupted team chemistry and hurt James and Davis’s performance. Both players publicly criticized Ham for not allowing them to build consistency.
New Offensive Plans:
Redick aims to keep this successful lineup together while tweaking offensive strategies. He wants Davis and Hachimura to shoot more threes. “In terms of what the offense looks like, there will be a decent amount of [ball] movement,” Redick said. “The shot profile will hopefully improve [from last season]. We’ve talked about ways to create more paint touches…and ways to shoot more threes.”
Fans think this could be an exciting change for the team!
Rebounding Focus:
Redick also plans to focus on offensive rebounding and corner crashes to gain an edge over teams that rely heavily on three-point shooting. Last year, the Lakers were ranked 28th in three-point attemptsโa stat Redick is eager to improve.
We can’t wait to see how these changes play out!
Fans will get their first look at Redick’s Lakers during a preseason game against the Timberwolves on Oct. 4. The coaching staff plans to use preseason games and training camp to finalize their strategies before opening night on Oct. 22.
