Lakers coach JJ Redick reveals team’s starting lineup before training camp

JJ Redick has some theories about how to improve the Lakers. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

JJ Redick was hired to change things for the Los Angeles Lakers. But he’s keeping one big thing the same.

The Lakers head coach revealed in an interview on ESPN’s “The Lowe Post” podcast that he will be starting the team’s most-used lineup from last season:

Anthony Davis

Rui Hachimura

LeBron James

Austin Reaves

D’Angelo Russell

“Yeah. It will be the starting five that went 23-10 last year,” Redick said.

Even though Lakers training camp don’t start until next week, Redick clearly believes he already knows what will work best for the team. Last season, the James-led quintet was used a team-high 388 minutes, per Basketball Reference, and outscored the competition by 6.8 points per 100 possessions.

While it makes sense to go with what worked last season, the reason Redick has this job in the first place is how badly last season went under previous head coach Darvin Ham. The Lakers finished eighth in a competitive Western Conference with a 47-35 record, but were unceremoniously bounced by the Denver Nuggets in a first-round gentleman’s sweep.

Redick attempted to explain what will be different with the lineup and team in general, and it basically boiled down to taking more shots in the paint and at the 3-point line, while pushing for more rebounds on offense:

“I think in terms of what the offense looks like, there will be a decent amount of movement. The shot profile will hopefully improve. You know, we’ve talked about ways to create more paint touches. We’ve talked about ways to shoot more threes.

“We’ve talked about some of the leeway that you have to give certain players with their mid-range shots, whether that’s in the post or isolation. But hopefully the shot profile improved. I think from a possession standpoint, one of the margins this team created last year, and historically with this group, has been free throws.

“Outside of that, there hasn’t been a lot of margin creation, so we’re going to try to create some margins. One of which is, we’re really going to emphasize offensive rebounding, corner…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lakers-coach-jj-redick-reveals-teams-starting-lineup-before-training-camp-005437073.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-25 00:54:37

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