The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 109-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday and after the game, head coach JJ Redick took responsibility for the defeat.
“We said we wanted to be a process team,” Redick said. “I liked our process tonight. I liked the way we started the game. We talked about getting off to a great start, similar to how they played us on Friday in LA. We did that.
“I like our level of competition to compete on the defensive end,” Redick stated. “They put you in a lot of tough spots and they have some elite individual shotmakers. And I have to go watch it, but it felt like, in some ways, we lost to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker’s ability to make tough twos.
“Thought our execution down the stretch was phenomenal,” Redick continued. “If there’s one thing to nitpick, it’s probably me. I probably should have gone to the ‘fire’ a possession or two earlier against KD, but I liked that group that we had out there defensively. I trust those guys.
“And the other thing I would say is, we should never have a 14-point quarter,” Redick added. “That’s on me as well. Part of that is me. I gotta make sure we’re running good offense. I felt like it was a little random. We got stalled out.
“We talked about it at halftime: for us to be a high-level offense, we gotta move bodies and we gotta move the ball. They got a screen. They just kinda took us out of what we were doing initially and we were great in the second half. We executed great in the second half. It’s just that second quarter really hurt us,” Redick concluded.
Redick taking responsibility instead of throwing his players under the bus is certainly a good sign. The 40-year-old, who now has a 3-1 record as a head coach, should have done a better job in both situations that he brought up.
With the Lakers leading 98-97 late in the fourth, Durant scored eight straight points for the Suns to put them up 105-101. Redick should have started blitzing him earlier and I’m guessing he won’t make that mistake the next time the teams face off.
As for that second quarter, the Lakers struggled massively on offense in the period. They allowed the Suns to get back in the game by going just 6-22 from the field and 1-5 from beyond the arc. There wasn’t enough ball movement as Redick pointed out and when the offense stagnates like that, he has to make sure they get back on track right away.
Austin Reaves Praised JJ Redick For Being Accountable
Redick’s comments after the game went down well not just with the fans, but with the players too. Austin Reaves appreciated Redick holding himself accountable.
“That’s what a good leader looks like… He said what he had to say when we were walking out, let out a little F word, which just shows how much cares. His passion is on another level. You can tell every single second of every day that he’s locked in to the betterment of our group.”
Redick certainly can’t be accused of lacking passion. He lives and breathes basketball and has made a great impression on his players. With this being Redick’s first head coaching job, you do expect his inexperience to lead to some mistakes, but he has the mindset needed in order to be a success.
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