The Lakers’ Win and the Coach’s Frustration

The Los Angeles Lakers managed to secure a 128-121 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena on Friday, but head coach JJ Redick is not entirely satisfied with how the team has been performing. Since LeBron James returned to the lineup, the Lakers have struggled with offensive organization, a point that Redick highlighted after their loss to the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day. At Saturday’s practice, he was asked if things had improved.

“Not at all,” Redick said. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know what else to do. I do a lot of joysticking over there on the sideline. Yesterday I said, ‘Hey, let’s run Away Toss. You bring it up the left side. I want so and so in it.’ This was after a dead ball. It wasn’t like I was calling it on the fly. And we bring it up that side, and the person I want in the Away Toss isn’t over there.”

“That’s happening so consistently right now,” Redick added. “I chalk it up to the holidays.”

A reporter then asked if the players were simply forgetting the plays, to which Redick responded bluntly.

“I wasn’t a guy that forgot plays,” Redick said.

Redick, who played 15 seasons in the NBA, understands player mistakes and can usually relate to them. However, he is perplexed by what he has seen from his current team. His recent criticism of his players has drawn some backlash, but it’s understandable given the consistent failure to follow simple instructions. Anyone in his position would likely be frustrated.

A Desperate Need for a Win

The Lakers entered the game against the Grizzlies having lost four of their last five games and needed a win badly. They led by double digits multiple times but failed to maintain their lead, eventually trailing in the fourth quarter. LeBron James and Luka Doncic stepped up to help the Lakers pull through and avoid a potentially devastating loss.

After reviewing the film of the game, Redick pointed out both positives and negatives.

“Our half-court defense was really good, transition defense not good,” Redick stated. “Throw aheads were great for us. We’re one of the worst teams in the league at touching the paint. I think we’re 28th in the league in paint touch rate, but we’re number two when we get there. So last night was a relative for us. A very high paint touch rate game, and we scored 1.2 points per possession when we touched the paint.”

“I think it was our highest paint touch rate since November 30th,” Redick continued. “So that was good. The other thing that stood out was we ran 12 ATOs last night, eight of which we didn’t run correctly. We tried to run two of them again, still didn’t run them correctly. One we tried to run a third time, didn’t run that correctly.”

“So, just a lot of slippage with execution,” Redick added. “And you should be able to transfer 30 seconds of time delay from the clipboard to another. So that was kind of frustrating.”

Execution Issues and Player Roles

The main issue for Redick appears to be the players’ inability to execute the plays he calls. The 41-year-old coach needs to find a way to address this quickly. Another challenge he faces is Deandre Ayton’s frustration with his role in the offense. Redick acknowledges why Ayton might be upset and is looking to give him more touches moving forward.

The Lakers, now sitting at 21-11, will face the Grizzlies again at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday at 9:30 PM ET. With the season entering a critical phase, Redick must find solutions to the team’s problems before they spiral further.