Lakers gather with team meeting, long practice after JJ Redick tears team effort: ‘The truth is inconvenient’
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick promised an “uncomfortable” practice Saturday after his team lost embarrassingly on Christmas. After a team meeting and a long practice on Saturday, the Lakers appear to be back on the same page after three straight losses.
Redick, in particular, was much more calm and collected, taking the blame for calling out his players following the team’s loss to the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN.
“I always look in the mirror first,” said Redick, who is in his second season as coach of the Lakers. “And I think it’s easy as a player, as a coach to say, ‘It’s this guy’s fault,’ or, ‘We’re not doing this because X, Y and Z.’”
“The truth is inconvenient,” Redick said, “and so you have to put it all out there, that’s all.”
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While Redick’s note on the inconvenient truth suggests that this was a controversial meeting, that does not appear to have been the case. The coach later billed it as a “recalibration and reconnection” day. He noted that the team staff had a “great meeting” and said that talking to the players was “very positive.”
Announcement
Some Lakers players seemed to agree with this sentiment. Both Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton expressed optimism that the team will bounce back after the match.
That was quite a change from Thursday, when Redick highlighted the team’s commitment and motivation following a 119-96 loss to the Rockets.
“We don’t care enough right now. That’s the part that bothers me a lot. We don’t care enough to do the things that are necessary. We don’t care enough to be professional.
It’s about making the choice, and too often we have kids who don’t want to make that choice. It’s pretty consistent who those guys are. Saturday’s practice, I told the boys, will be uncomfortable. The meeting will be uncomfortable. I won’t play another 53 games like this.”
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In particular, Redick has not been satisfied with the team’s defensive performance in recent games. On Tuesday, he tore up the team’s defensive effort following the loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Those struggles continued into Christmas, when the Lakers were outscored 48-25. This, apparently, was one of the main reasons for Redick’s outburst.
Announcement
Ayton, who leads the team in rebounding, said Saturday that he will hold players accountable during games moving forward. Ayton had just two rebounds against the Rockets on Thursday. He blamed it on a lack of concentration.
After starting strong, the Lakers have lost ground in recent weeks. The team sits at 19-10, good for the No. 1 seed. 5 in the Western Conference. There is still plenty of time to change the situation, even if the team’s task will be more difficult due to Austin Reaves’ injury.
The Lakers will try to get back on track on Sunday when they face the Sacramento Kings. At 8-23, the Kings are one of the worst teams in the league. A dominant Lakers win on Sunday would go a long way toward showing that the team has moved on since Redick’s angry outburst on Thursday.