The purple and gold franchise has undergone a lot of backlash these past couple of days after their poor display during the first playoff game of the campaign this past weekend, having lost by 22 points at the Crypto.com Arena against the Timberwolves. This is why JJ Redick felt the need to appease the press.
The Lakers coach told the media on Monday that they had just gone through the “best practice we’ve had in months,” ahead of Game 2 of their first-round series in Minnesota. Then the rookie tactician admitted that the days off prior to the postseason might have turned off their intensity during the weekend’s loss.
“We probably could have done a few more scrimmages,” JJ said yesterday, while explaining how the team used Sunday’s film session to review their defensive faults which allowed their rivals to drop in 21-for-42 from beyond the arc.
Austin Reaves is convinced they will do better on Tuesday evening. “Hopefully we can just right our wrongs,” said the Los Angeles guard. “We played bad; they shot the ball really well. They’re obviously a really good team that’s physical. We got to match that. Tomorrow it’ll be different story.”
The young star, who was limited to 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting on Sunday, rated his own performance poorly. “S—ty,” Reaves said of his exhibition. “I wasn’t myself. To what the reason was, don’t know. But just got to go out there and be myself, play my game and have fun doing it.”
Redick then mentioned how the squad’s overall lack of organization was the major factor behind their blowout defeat. “I think a lot of times you would hear that word and then you would think, ‘Oh, it’s the point guard calling a play,’” he shared. “No, it’s just all of the normal stuff that we try to do, and when we do it, we’re really good.”
JJ then explained the importance of a team-work defense: “Being organized is screening. Being organized is getting to the proper spacing. Being organized is getting the corners filled after makes and misses. That’s being organized.”
