The Los Angeles Lakers are still fighting to enter the NBA playoffs directly, without going through the play-in. Their new coach, JJ Redick, has not had an easy season, because even though he had a brilliant start, in the development of the season the team has dropped performance on several occasions making their goal of getting into the playoffs a little more difficult. Faced with this situation, Redick made an analysis.
“For the group, how do we create and generate good shots? I think it’s not one thing, it’s probably a few things. I would probably point immediately to our shot profile. Over the last 13 (games), we’re taking five more non-paint 2s – we’re shooting 39% on those,“ affirmed Redick who also added: “We’re last, or second to last, in the last 13 in our offense. Those five extra non-paint 2s, if we shot them at the same rate as Phoenix – who shoots 49% on non-paint 2s – our offense would go from 29th to 27th. If we took those five middies and we shot league average on 3s, our offense would go from 27th to 12th.”
JJ Redick underscored that the Lakers’ offensive woes stem largely from their inefficiency in shot execution and poor decision-making. “We’ve got to generate the right ones and we’ve got to do it with the right process and, we’ve showed the guys a bunch of clips over the last week or so of us doing that…We want to shoot 3s. We haven’t shot enough 3s,” affirmed Redick.
He stressed the importance of refining shot selection, emphasizing that the ability to identify high-percentage opportunities while avoiding low-value attempts is crucial to transforming the team’s offense. By making smarter choices and increasing efficiency, the Lakers have the potential to significantly improve their offensive ranking and overall performance.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick talks to his team during the first half of their preseason game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on October 18, 2024 in San Francisco, California.
Redick highlights key issues with Lakers’ turnovers
The Lakers have a serious problem with turnovers, the importance of making smarter decisions and playing in less crowded spaces where possession can easily be lost. “I think you have to certain turnovers are just, I don’t know what the exact word is. Certain turnovers are unforced. And then there’s what you’re getting at, is sort of the forced turnovers, and what Dan was getting at, which is the forced turnovers. I think just not trying to play in tight spaces. Draw the crowd. Don’t play in a crowd. Did a lot of playing in crowds today,” affirmed Redick.
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Improving offensive efficiency is critical for the Lakers as they frequently take ill-advised risks that fail to produce results. Redick highlighted the need to reduce unforced turnovers, explaining that this would help the team retain crucial possessions while generating more opportunities to sustain offensive momentum and convert scoring chances.
