JJ Redick, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, spoke with optimism and clarity during the post-game press conference after his team’s commanding 111-88 victory over the Washington Wizards. His comments highlighted the Lakers’ trajectory toward greatness and underscored the elements that are beginning to solidify their identity as a cohesive and competitive unit.
Redick began by praising the team’s professional approach, noting that their performance against the Wizards was one of their most complete games of the season.
“I think it just starts with a very professional approach from our team. That was one of our more complete games regardless of what time of season, it was or what the opponent was, who the opponent was.”
“We just had a really professional approach. We executed at a pretty high level. I mean even you know the shots we were able to generate from three were great. We got some good looks, some good spacing that allowed us to attack where we didn’t finish.”
“I thought it was a great offensive game for us and we probably didn’t have, an insane offensive rating game but it was highly professional from us.”
“I think that started with AD rolling tonight, created a lot of offense for us, created offense for him at the rim but just the force and the pace with which he rolled tonight, I thought was really good and then again another 30 assists night for us where we really shared the basketball.”
At the midway point of the season, the Lakers sit comfortably in the top six of the Western Conference standings. Redick acknowledged the ups and downs but expressed confidence in the team’s potential.
“Yeah, you know, I think we’re still searching for more consistency night tonight. I really love our group and I really love our group when we’re connected and we play professional competitive basketball and we execute, we’re a really good team when we do that.”
“I think even though we’ve had ups and downs to be a top-six team in the West right now, Scotty again today reminded me of the Atlanta and the Orlando game.”
“We’re like two games away from where we would feel really good about how things are. But I like where the team is at. I thought probably Doe’s best game and he made shots, but his activity defensively was great.”
“Max tonight, I thought had a really standout defensive performance, the job he did on Poole, making it tough on him. But yeah, I like our group and I like, you know, guys are really starting to not just accept roles, but embrace roles. “
“And that’s to me is, you know, bad teams, you know, they reject their roles. Good teams accept the roles. Great teams embrace the roles, and we’re trending in that direction.”
Redick attributed the Lakers’ improved offensive connectivity to their attention to detail, particularly in cutting, rolling, and creating opportunities for bigs.
“Some of it was creating an empty side. You think of the first ATO coming out of halftime was AR on an off-ball screen on an empty side.”
“Got to AD, Jackson, the lob in transition, and just talk pregame about our running patterns and just being very detail-oriented with that, which was good. And then AD just, again, just rolling hard, I thought, was big for us.”
“And there were several plays where he did roll in that first half. And look, they’re not great with their low man. When their low man was there, it created a little bit of confusion. We were able to get them in rotation, even shots we didn’t make we generated good offense from our bigs rolling tonight.”
JJ Redick: "Bad teams, they reject their roles. Good teams, accept their roles. Great teams, embrace their roles, and we're trending in that direction."
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At the midway point of the season, the Lakers hold a 23-18 record and sit comfortably in the 6th seed in the Western Conference. This marks a significant improvement compared to the same point last season when they were 20-21 and 10th in the West. Moreover, their offensive rating has risen from 19th last season to 13th this season, and while their defensive rating remains 22nd, there is evident progress in their overall gameplay and cohesion.
Under JJ Redick’s leadership, the Lakers appear to be steadily evolving from a talented roster into a cohesive unit with championship aspirations. Redick’s emphasis on professionalism, execution, role acceptance, and connectivity highlights a blueprint for sustained success. If the Lakers continue to build on these principles, they could indeed become one of the NBA’s great teams.
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