JJ Redick is a phenomenal head coach. You know it by listening to the way he discusses strategies. You know it by watching his ATOs and in-game adjustments. You see it in the passion he has for the game on the sidelines. Redick is everything the Los Angeles Lakers could want.
Ahead of Game 1, the Lakers head coach even discussed a crucial factor that was on full display in the first tilt against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are great at creating soul-crushing runs and it was Redick's job to slow that down. The much was done on his part.
Redick regularly executed timely stoppages to crush the Thunder's momentum, and it was largely successful. Unfortunately for the Lakers coach, he does not get an infinite number of timeouts. By the time it was the fourth quarter, Redick was stuck with just one for the majority.
That is where the second-year coach needs his guys to step up. Redick can only step in to choke out Thunder momentum on so many occasions. Eventually, the time comes of just needing to see the Lakers execute well enough to not need them as frequently.
Lakers players have to catch up to where JJ Redick is at in Thunder series
There is no intent here of throw the Lakers competing on the floor under the bus at the expense of propping up Redick by comparison. The guys on that court have been vocal themselves about needing to be better. Marcus Smart was not hesitant about sharing as much after Game 1.
“JJ’s been nice; we were a**," Smart told reporters at the postgame podium.
There were certainly silver linings from what the Lakers managed to do in Game 1. Redick clearly devised a masterful gameplan on defense to slow down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the players, lead by Smart, executed that vision extremely well.
However, the offensive end, which has long stood out as a problem in these playoffs without Luka Doncic, continued to be just that. After a promising first two quarters, the Lakers only managed 37 points in the second half.
On top of that, turnovers — which everyone knew was a key focus against the Thunder — became an issue in this ball game. The Lakers giftwrapped 20 points to their opponents in the process.
Those are the things that Redick can only do so much for. If the gameplan is a good one, the rest is on the players to execute. The Lakers will need to prove capable as this series marches onward.
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