PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — JJ Redick knows his personal intensity will always turn him into his own harshest critic if he isn't careful, so he vowed to give himself some grace in his self-evaluation as the Los Angeles Lakers ' new head coach. One game into the preseason, Redick is already testing his tolerance for his own mistakes after the Lakers failed to make proper defensive switches Friday night against Minnesota.
“We just didn’t really execute that at all,” Redick said Saturday after practice in the Coachella Valley. “We maybe executed it less than 10% of the time. Something we’ve drilled, and it was very clear in the pregame meeting that’s what we were doing, so you certainly question, like, ‘Am I not making this clear? Is it something I’m doing?’” Redick is comfortable acknowledging both his immediate frustration and his broader awareness that this epic journey has only started.
Just over three months into his first coaching job at any level , Redick is still drinking from a firehose of information, responsibilities and nuances — everything from play designs to the intricacies of personnel management. But while his mind whirls every day with thoughts on how to implement the basketball vision he's been building in his mind, the 40-year-old former NBA guard is also determined to enjoy the ride of his first season with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. “I would say what we have tried to create is an energy and a vibe in the gym every day,” Redic.
