JJ Redick Pleased With Lakers’ Execution In Preseason Opener

JJ Redick feels the Los Angeles Lakers have a roster that fits together for the first time in his tenure, and they flashed their potential in the preseason opener against the Sacramento Kings.

The Lakers were locked in defensively, picking up full court and creating turnovers, which allowed them to get out in transition to cruise to the easy victory.

“The defense carried over (from training camp),” Redick said on Spectrum SportsNet. “I think we had 16 turnovers forced in the first half, early possession shot clock violation, 27 (turnovers) overall… I know it’s a preseason game, but first time since 2000 the Lakers have done that. So clearly that disruption we talked about carried over. that first half, our organization was at 93%, our advantage creation was at 65%. We were able to score the basketball. I thought we did a good job throughout the game of just making the right play and passing the ball and not having it stick. Didn’t run a ton of early drags, even when Luka was out there.

“But we were able to generate good looks and obviously the defense being able to force turnovers helped our offense. Getting stops helped our offense. I thought our guys did a good job overall with our running patterns and whether it was the play where Sandro (Mamukelashvili) gets the corner 3 in transition because Adou (Thiero) cut to the basket and put pressure on the rim on a five-on-four. So we consistently just did the right play and the right play helped our teammates.”

Part of why Redick likes the Lakers’ roster so much is that they added a lot of depth on the wing, which will allow them to play aggressive defensively.

“I thought all the wings were really good. Ziaire (Williams) and Matisse (Thybulle), they kind of set the tone early for us. I know (Darius) Acuff made some middys, but the rearview contest middys are shots we’re willing to give up over the course of four quarters. We weren’t necessarily going to overreact to that. Just overall, the communication, that’s one thing we’ve emphasized a lot in our small group workouts before training camp and throughout training camp. I thought overall, most groups out there did a great job of communicating in transition and then in the half court and that led to our physicality as well because guys were confident.”

Communication will definitely be key for the Lakers defensively, but more importantly, it looks like everyone is bought in on that end of the floor and Redick was obviously happy to see that.

Lakers were shorthanded against Kings

Redick didn’t even get to see all of his key pieces in action on Monday as he announced pregame that Austin Reaves (ankle), Walker Kessler (finger), Collin Sexton (lower body) and Arthur Kaluma (lower body) would miss the game. All of the injuries are considered minor though as Redick expects them to be back in the lineup soon.