There is a growing feeling that Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick is becoming a good NBA head coach. He has guided the team to at least 50 regular-season wins in both of his two years at the helm, and he just directed them to a victory in the first round of the playoffs over the Houston Rockets — a victory no one predicted when that series began.
But no one is immune to criticism, and there have been times when some have gotten on Redick for not calling quick enough timeouts during an opponent’s hot streak. With the Lakers about to begin the Western Conference semifinals against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, he knows that he will have to adjust how he uses timeouts.
He talked about the adjustments he will make in that department during a media session on Monday.
“They’re really good at runs, and part of that is how good their defense is, their ability to create turnovers,” Redick said. “The live-ball turnovers really kill you. … I’ve got to be more diligent than I normally am. I like my timeouts, I like going into the fourth quarter with four timeouts, I like having two in the last 30 seconds. I don’t think you have the luxury of worrying about that because the games get away from you so quick because of how explosive they are when they go on their runs.”
Los Angeles lost all four of its regular-season games to the Thunder during the regular season, and it lost three of those games by at least 29 points. The Thunder were first in defensive rating, second in opponents’ turnover percentage and first in points off turnovers per game during the regular season, and they also had an incredible 11.1 net rating.
Blunting their momentum will be a big key for L.A. in this series if it is to be competitive. That means not only limiting live-ball turnovers but also calling quick timeouts when Oklahoma City starts a spurt and scoring immediately out of those timeouts.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick on one adjustment he will make for Lakers vs. Thunder series
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
