'One of the Worst Shooting Teams in the NBA' - Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick Blasts Luka Doncic and Co. Despite Narrow Win Over Jazz
Despite the Lakers' in high-flying more, coach JJ Redick has demanded better shooting performance from his players.
- Swati Bhatia
- 3 min read
The Los Angeles Lakers bagged a low-scoring 106-108 win over Utah Jazz. This means that the LA outfits now have moved to 12-4 and into the second seed in the Western Conference. Despite the win, head coach JJ Redick has claimed that his side has been poor in shooting.
The LA side has been firing on all cylinders courtsey of Luka Doncic’s insane form, with solid contributions from Austin Reeves.
In Sunday’s win, the former Mavericks star had another productive night, scoring 33 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Meanwhile, Austin Reaves chipped in with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. LeBron James, who returned to court this week, bagged 17 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.
Despite the team in high-flying more, coach JJ Redick has demanded better shooting performance from his players.
1. Redick disappointed with Lakers’ lack of shot-making
Despite the win, Redick claimed that his team is still nowhere near its best when it comes to shooting.
*“I told the guys this after the game: We’re literally one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA right now. I don’t think that’s who we are. We’ve gotta make shots and we’ve gotta shoot ’em with confidence,” *the Lakers boss said after the game.
Redick demanded that he needs more responsibility and leadership from his players. He also wants his team to shoot with more confidence.
Notably, the Lakers shot 38/86 from the field as compared to the Jazz, who made 40 successful shots out of 94. The visitors’ 3-point play was much worse, making just 10 out of 38 attempted.
2. Lakers still leading in overall shooting efficiency
The Lakers currently lead the NBA in overall shooting efficiency, boasting a league-best 50.6 percent field goal percentage.
However, the bigger issue isn’t their accuracy but their volume. The Lakers entered Sunday’s game in Utah ranked 26th in three-point attempts at just 32.3 per game, and they were last in three-point makes at 10.9.
Before the game, Redick opened up about the team’s 3-point struggles, but stated that he isn’t much worried about it.
“I brought up the trends, early season trends the other day, roughly 20% of the way through the season league-wide and one of the trends was 3-point volume over the last couple of seasons has sort of stabilized and one of the early trends for this season in terms of offenses is teams just sort of maximizing whatever their personnel is,” Redick said.
“So we want to shoot good 3-pointers, 3-point shots. We want to touch the paint, we want to get spray-out 3s, we want to get transition 3s from the corner, get in our corners filled in transition."
3. LeBron James not worried about shooting struggles
Despite the concerning stats and Redick’s callout, LeBron isn’t too worried. He believes the team is doing everything else correctly to keep the results in their favor.
*“We’re not worried about it,” *James said. “We got too many good shooters. It won’t last.”
Meanwhile, Reaves believes the team’s chemistry is playing a big role in overshadowing their shooting struggles.
“I think it’s just chemistry. Care factor’s high,” Reaves told the Athletics. “You wanna go out there and do whatever you can do to help one another succeed. And I think that that goes a long way. There’s no selfishness; everybody wants to see everybody succeed.”
The Lakers, who are having their best 16-game stretch since 2021, will return home to host a struggling Clippers.