Rank JJ Redick's Playoff Coaching Debut

[sikma42]

Game 1: Team visibly unprepared. Both schematically and for the intensity and physicality jump.

Game 4: Plays same 5 players for the duration of the 3rd and 4th quarter. This is after Luka was sick in the previous game. Also Lebron is 40. Never happened before for good reason. There have been worst teams and there bench options were fine.

Offensively, he has Luka dribbling the air out of the ball in isolation. Then doubles down after game on his decisions.

Game 5: Refuses to play a center. Then puts in Max Klieba in the 4th quarter of a tight game. During that time period, missed three, turnover steps out of bounds and the Wolves go on a 6-0 run.

This is one of the worst coaching performances I can remember. This is all glances over the horrible offensive gameplan that was present throughout the series and the horrible player management. The smartest guy/physco worker trick will be much harder to pull next year.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Growing pains. I’d give it a C-.

[EmpireFalls]

I’d actually call it just average.

Their roster was horrendously and comically overmatched

[Handlez]

Terrible.

[UcanUwill]

It was interesting

Team did look desperate. In one game you did not make a single sub in the second half, when your team is older. He had no chance to match Minny size so he went other direction with super small ball, desperately trying to force Minny to be the ones to missmatch, but he underestimate Gobert. His team siply had no size, he was trying to play chess but lacked vital pieces.

[sikma42]

I’d actually call it just average.

Their roster was horrendously and comically overmatched

Regardless of being overmatched, which I don't believe. You can judge the actions of the coach. There is not way this was an average coaching job. The decisions made were comically bad on several levels.

Honestly think Lakers win this series with a better coach. You put a good coach here and LA wins this series or maybe it goes 6/7.

We've had series were Vando was a great piece for LA. Previously, Lakers fans were just hoping to get him back from energy for the energy, rebounding and defense he brings. Now he just can't play in a playoff game against Minny. The offensive issues were schematic. You can't just throw the ball out and tell Luka to create.

You shouldnt be switch hunting Naz Reid on Luka or even Julius Randle. Over time thats not a sustainable winning formula.

[UcanUwill]

I’d actually call it just average.

Their roster was horrendously and comically overmatched

Regardless of being overmatched, which I don't believe. You can judge the actions of the coach. There is not way this was an average coaching job. The decisions made were comically bad on several levels.

Honestly think Lakers win this series with a better coach. You put a good coach here and LA wins this series or maybe it goes 6/7.

What do you think were main mistakes made by JJ?

[tamaraw08]

LA press hyped this guy as a genius basketball savant who will create the best systems to maximize strengths and mask weaknesses.
Vando can’t shoot, no worries JJ will figure out sets where hell cut or give picks and rebound.
JJ broke down plays during podcast using smart jargons as if he’s the new Erik Spoelstra, that he fooled me into thinking that there would be schemes that would be difficult to stop and no more dumb isos like Ham did .
Lakers also would use several zone defenses that would baffle many teams.
BTW I voted average and not terrible

[Liam_Gallagher]

I thought it was really bad. In the modern NBA you HAVE to make Rudy Gobert unplayable. Allowing him to go out there and get 27 and 24 against your centreless roster is embarrassing. Play him off the floor, you have LeBron and Luka. He failed big time IMO.

[Calvin Klein]

His arrogance got the best of him in the playoffs

[sikma42]

I’d actually call it just average.

Their roster was horrendously and comically overmatched

Regardless of being overmatched, which I don't believe. You can judge the actions of the coach. There is not way this was an average coaching job. The decisions made were comically bad on several levels.

Honestly think Lakers win this series with a better coach. You put a good coach here and LA wins this series or maybe it goes 6/7.

What do you think were main mistakes made by JJ?

1) Put in Maxi in around 6 mins to go in an elimination game after not playing since January. That right there is enough to say that game was at least below average. Id say it was a horrible move/coaching display.

2) Did not have team prepared for game 1

3) Offense relied heavily on Luka running iso or high screen and roll with little off ball movement. It was very stagnant.

4) Never allowed role players to get into a rhythm. Vando can be effective but you could see he was second guessing himself bc of JJ.

5) Defensively, not playing any bigs was horrible. When Lebron and Luka were pulled up off switches --> You had guys Reaves defending the dunker spot or being in position to box bigs. So you have questionable defensive up top in Luka and no one to help on drives or rebound. He doesn't seem to understand the value someone like Vando can bring there with trust and sustained mins.

6) Did not sub out any players in the second half of Game 4. This loss is entirely on him.

7) His handling of the media looked like someone out of control. All of this stuff filters down to the team. Bad and out of control tone from the top. Lack of accountability and blaming everyone else.

Overall, as I type this out (there is more) it just seems like all the mistakes one could make.

[Sealab2024]

Losing his ish BEFORE the game yesterday was not a good look. I'd give it a D+ with the caveat that this will either break his coaching career or he'll become one of those coaches you can't rattle or out maneuver cause he's seen way, way too much.

[Handlez]

Off topic a little...

But will people ever learn there is one d in Redick's name? The two d version pisses me off.

[Lakers In 5]

It wasn’t spectacularly good or bad. Redick made some logical decisions, he made some calls that I just don’t agree with. I feel like he got too emotional or too carried away with some of his challenges. Particularly in G4 he grossly wasted his challenge, which, with some fantasy you could say cost the Lakers the game. It isn’t even the challenge itself, it’s a small window of rest you allow your team that you’ve decided to just play all 24 in the second half.

Going to freaking Kleber who hadn’t taken a shot all series down 4(?) with like two or three minutes left was mind boggling. I thought benching Hayes was a good decision, even though people are questioning that decision despite Hayes being truly awful and just unplayable. Ultimately, he has to ride with the personnel that he is given, and this roster just lacks any decent big. Going down with the ship of players you can somewhat trust is perfectly fine. I say somewhat, as Reaves has let this team down this series and normally should ride the pine and DFS is dumb as a rock, but there just isn’t any alternative.

[UcanUwill]

Regardless of being overmatched, which I don't believe. You can judge the actions of the coach. There is not way this was an average coaching job. The decisions made were comically bad on several levels.

Honestly think Lakers win this series with a better coach. You put a good coach here and LA wins this series or maybe it goes 6/7.

What do you think were main mistakes made by JJ?

1) Put in Maxi in around 6 mins to go in an elimination game after not playing since January. That right there is enough to say that game was at least below average. Id say it was a horrible move/coaching display.

2) Did not have team prepared for game 1

3) Offense relied heavily on Luka running iso or high screen and roll with little off ball movement. It was very stagnant.

4) Never allowed role players to get into a rhythm. Vando can be effective but you could see he was second guessing himself bc of JJ.

5) Defensively, not playing any bigs was horrible. When Lebron and Luka were pulled up off switches --> You had guys Reaves defending the dunker spot or being in position to box bigs. So you have questionable defensive up top in Luka and no one to help on drives or rebound. He doesn't seem to understand the value someone like Vando can bring there with trust and sustained mins.

6) Did not sub out any players in the second half of Game 4. This loss is entirely on him.

7) His handling of the media looked like someone out of control. All of this stuff filters down to the team. Bad and out of control tone from the top. Lack of accountability and blaming everyone else.

Overall, as I type this out (there is more) it just seems like all the mistakes one could make.

Him abandoning any bigs obviously did not work, but I understand the legic at least. If he matches Minny size, he plays by Minny rules and his bigs simply not as good. So he tried to zag, he put a lot of eggs in one basket that Luka would play Gobert of the court, first 3 games they hunted Gobert like crazy and it failed pretty spectacularly as Gobert locked them up.

This was his plan, play Minny bigs off the court, he ended up with Rui as his center, something that obviously blew up in his face. I did pick Lakers to win this series, I expected far more from them, putting all your chances on idea that you will play Minnies bigs of the court was interesting, but he had no back up plan it seemed.

Now we can only wonder how this series would have looked if coach empowered the only bigs they had. Team did look good with Hayes at least for a while, there was some potential there, but he obviously didn't believe in that.

As I said, Lakers looked desperate. Moves like putting Kleber there, or not making a single substitution was obviously desperate. Wolves smelled blood and finished them off, I think wolves had to get very confident after seeing how desperate Lakers decisions were.

Its not like desperation never works. Yesterday I watched Barcelona - Monaco, Euroleagye play offs, and Barca used like 11 players in first quarter... I was watching and thinking, they have no idea what they are doing, they were losing five game series 0-2 and just throwing crap at the wall at this point, watching what sticks, but they found something there yesterday and surprisingly won the game...

[Mavrelous]

N/A he was dealt a terrible hand, what he did in RS gives him enough credit

[Froob]

Meh, roster just isn't great. Not sure coach was going to swing it for them one way or another.

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

If Gabe Vincent could be a baller for the HEAT into deep NBA Finals runs.... surely the LAL could have used him better.

On the other hand, he is saddled with lebron, who is content stat padding for box score legacy but being terrible on defense.

[sikma42]

Him abandoning any bigs obviously did not work, but I understand the legic at least.

It's not just abandoning the bigs. That just a strategic decision, buts its the tactics and defensive scheme after making that move. It was all lacking. How they defended Randle, they way they reacted in rotation. Just looked like a poorly coached team often overreacting. It looked amateur.

[UcanUwill]

Him abandoning any bigs obviously did not work, but I understand the legic at least.

It's not just abandoning the bigs. That just a strategic decision, buts its the tactics and defensive scheme after making that move. It was all lacking. How they defended Randle, they way they reacted in rotation. Just looked like a poorly coached team often overreacting. It looked amateur.

I am not expert on coaching, so I can't really judge. What can I understand is defensive risks, who you leave open, that's easy to see, more complex x and 0s goes over my head, got to admit, so I don't know. I just know the outcome is very disappointing, losing 4-1 to this team, sad outcome.