Rank JJ Redick's Playoff Coaching Debut

[dhsilv2]

instead of playing Jaxson Hayes (who ofc was horrendous) JJ Redick chooses to play Maxi Kleber in his SEASON DEBUT in a must win game 5.

I still have no clue why he didn't consider trying Dalton Knecht at all, especially when he, on record, said Knecht would be an important part of their playoffs. Like if you're willing to try a semi-washed big man that is a slight defensive liability, you might as well try the rookie that has some veteran instincts and is hungry.

Realistically he should have tried Dalton Knecht either in game 1 or game 3 as a contributor rather than a garbage time bench mob.

I don't think JJ Redick did enough, he also got completely outschemed and showed a lot of rigidity. I mean in game 4 whatever play was drawn up it got destroyed by a steal, the TWolves were prepared for whatever the Lakers were trying to do.

It's really hard to play rock paper scissors in the playoffs when you only have rock and paper. And that's the limitation of the Laker's roster. They just can't look for options without having a bench.

Not saying Redick couldn't do more or better, obviously he wasn't perfect. But he was playing with one hand tied behind his back.

[madmaxmedia]

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.

Yeah that was a bad look. He got caught up in this scenario where he made the reporter’s question about him, rather than about the lack of substitutions in the previous game.

I imagine he will learn from it though.

[sikma42]

Are people weighing their vote on his playoffs? They were the 3 seed despite the difficulty that went with trying to swap AD for Luka mid season. An aging Lebron and frankly a roster that didn't make sense. Nobody thought they were better than the Wolves but laker's fans (as fans always do). This is a solid B if not A- level job.

Poll was intended to be solely for the playoffs. Guessing thats your vote for the season.

what would you grade the playoffs? couln't imagine thats an A-?

[Johnny Firpo]

I’d actually call it just average.

Their roster was horrendously and comically overmatched

Regardless of being overmatched, which I don't believe.

Expand on that please. Do you think the Lakers roster is good or deep, or not without many holes?

[dhsilv2]

Are people weighing their vote on his playoffs? They were the 3 seed despite the difficulty that went with trying to swap AD for Luka mid season. An aging Lebron and frankly a roster that didn't make sense. Nobody thought they were better than the Wolves but laker's fans (as fans always do). This is a solid B if not A- level job.

Poll was intended to be solely for the playoffs. Guessing thats your vote for the season.

what would you grade the playoffs? couln't imagine thats an A-?

I was basing it on the full year. I wouldn't grade a single series in the playoffs. So many things go into matchups and the whole rock paper scissors. Combine that with with the Laker's poor bench and the short time they had to really figure out Lebron and Luka.

I don't think it was good but are we also grading it him as a first year coach? I'd argue this is still B+ stuff in that context but again...that laker's roster doesn't let a coach do a lot.

[Tor_Raps]

He's a good coach... whole world SHOULD have known their flaws at the C position was gonna kill them in the playoffs when game slows down. Minny with their size was probably the worst matchup for them.

[Liam_Gallagher]

He doesn't seem to understand the value someone like Vando can bring there with trust and sustained mins.

Vanderbilt isn't playable in the playoffs as he's completely useless when spacing the floor. Check the last two playoffs under Darvin Ham - it doesn't matter who the coach is.

[Duke4life831]

That was the first full game Ive watched of JJ coaching. First thing first, there was just a glaring difference between size and athleticism between the two teams. There is only so much a coach can do.

With that said, I still think he did a very poor job last night. I get not having a rim protector, but you also dont have any athleticism on the perimeter. Maybe constant doubles, and on top of that, very lazy doubles. It wasnt trapping, it wasnt even really putting much pressure on the ball. It was just these half assed, "I think Im going to double, should I double, okay I guess Ill come over" type of doubles. To then lead to slow lazy rotations. And he just stayed with it for so long.

I get Jaxson Hayes is Jaxson Hayes. And I dont think making the decision not to play Hayes is ever a bad one for a coach to make. I do think the way he went about it was ridiculous. He started 35 games for you and was a 20mpg guy since the start of January. To go into a possible elimination game in the playoffs and to announce pre game that essentially there is no scenario in which youre going to play him, and from what I know it has nothing to do with any kind of disciplinary reasons. And then go on to watch your team get beat up on the boards non stop and provide zero kind of rim protection. To then throw out Maxi Kleber who hasnt played since January and that was for a different team. That kind of shows a combination of desperation and stubbornness.

Again I think that roster was clearly flawed and a coach can only do so much. But I also dont think JJ had a good outing for himself last night. Both things can be true at the same time.

[AFM]

pride goeth before a fall.

[sikma42]

I’d actually call it just average.

Their roster was horrendously and comically overmatched

Regardless of being overmatched, which I don't believe.

Expand on that please. Do you think the Lakers roster is good or deep, or not without many holes?

can you please expound on you question (I'm a bit perplexed about what seems to be the underlying premises). I think the Lakers roster is better than they showed. They have 2 of the top 15 players in the world (one is top 3).

Do you think the team performed the best possible given the talent. Do you a talented coach couldnt have done better?

[stillgotgame]

Takes work to get to Doc Rivers level of incompetence but it looks like Redick is already there.

[JXL]

He went with his starting 5 for the entire 2nd half. That alone give him below average.

[Ainosterhaspie]

The biggest problem is roster construction. Redick did not make the most of what he had to work with. First playoff series. Red flags with him based on that, but how he responds matters more than the mistakes he made here.

Zero point in getting a new coach until there is a roster that doesn't have massive holes.

[bkkrh]

Bottom 5 all time is a bit harsh, but I think it’s funny that Vogel was immediately scapegoated after winning a championship when the Lakers were injured and Westbrook was a poor fit and this year the Lakers were healthy, were a huge favorite to win, and had homecourt advantage and now the narrative is coming out that the roster was terrible and the coach is fine.

In what world were the Lakers a huge favorite to win? The Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference finals last season. It's not like they lost against a bunch of bums. It was 3rd vs 6th because the Lakers won 1 more regular season game. You can absolutely lose against Minnesota and I'd say that pretty much everybody that wasn't on the hype train expected that. It's another story that it wasn't closer but I would have been surprised if LA won.

Related to Vogel, he was fired 2 seasons after the title. Season 1 they lost 11 more games and lost in the first round. Season 2 they had a losing record and didn't make the playoffs. THat's a situation where most teams would consider firing the coach and they did. It's not comparable at all with the current situation.

Related to the actiual thread topic I picked average. Regular season was above average, Playoffs bellow average, so evens itself out to that.

[phanman]

I voted above average as I view them winning 50 games and getting that 3rd seed as a great accomplishment. Especially after the Anthony Davis trade, he lead his team to 22-13 finish. Given the lack of front court support and defensive anchor downlow, I think it's a miracle the Lakers finished 15th in DRTG with Luka and Bron logging heavy minutes.

He definitely made some bad decisions in the series against Minnesota, but I do give him some leeway considering he is a rookie coach. Outside of Golden State, every other playoff team in the West were always going to present a massive mismatch in the front court with their lack of playable bigs. The T'Wolves I think were just the worse possible matchup for them.

[BaDaBo]

Playoff: 5/10 - The roster flaws were exposed big time, and none of the things he tried to cover them up worked. That might be as much on the players as on him, so I don't want to punish him too harshly for that, but he gambled twice in g4 and g5 and failed.


I know it wasn't the question but I want to add:

Regular season: 8/10 - I think the team overachieved getting to 50 wins & 3. seed.
Overall: 6.5 - Slightly above average. With a season under his belt and hopefully a more well-rounded roster, next season should give a fairer assessment of his coaching skills.

[Ainosterhaspie]

They looked completely lost in the defensive end yesterday. It wasn't just that they didn't have a needed big, they didn't seem to have any idea how to get in position to even try to make a play. That is a coaching failure. I don't think they had the needed reps and game planning to make sure they understood their assignments.

James' old legs aren't going to recover like they once did. He looked sluggish yesterday especially early, and there's a strong chance that's ties to playing so many minutes in game four. Not resting him then wasn't just a problem at the end of that game, it had a carry over impact into game five. That issue will be worse next year too.

It's time for James to heavily cut his minutes. He doesn't have the stamina for what he's doing and his resting on the court is too detrimental at this point to continue. That may be beyond Redick's control, but the team isn't going to succeed unless James heavily reduces his playing time.

[NZB2323]

Bottom 5 all time is a bit harsh, but I think it’s funny that Vogel was immediately scapegoated after winning a championship when the Lakers were injured and Westbrook was a poor fit and this year the Lakers were healthy, were a huge favorite to win, and had homecourt advantage and now the narrative is coming out that the roster was terrible and the coach is fine.

In what world were the Lakers a huge favorite to win? The Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference finals last season. It's not like they lost against a bunch of bums. It was 3rd vs 6th because the Lakers won 1 more regular season game. You can absolutely lose against Minnesota and I'd say that pretty much everybody that wasn't on the hype train expected that. It's another story that it wasn't closer but I would have been surprised if LA won.

Related to Vogel, he was fired 2 seasons after the title. Season 1 they lost 11 more games and lost in the first round. Season 2 they had a losing record and didn't make the playoffs. THat's a situation where most teams would consider firing the coach and they did. It's not comparable at all with the current situation.

Related to the actiual thread topic I picked average. Regular season was above average, Playoffs bellow average, so evens itself out to that.

Our world. The Lakers were -200 favorites

The Lakers bowed out of the NBA playoffs in the first round Wednesday, losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. They were nearly -200 favorites to beat the Timberwolves and attracted lopsided support from bettors to win the series. Lakers in six games was the most popular betting option in the series at ESPN BET.

https://abc7.com/post/lakers-early-nba-playoffs-exit-blow-betting-public/16293994/

As for Vogel, the 2021 Lakers were up 2-1 against the Suns and Anthony Davis got hurt and they lost in the first round. In 2022 Lebron played 56 games and Anthony Davis played 40, and they had a super old injured roster with Lebron, AD, Melo, Rondo, Westbrook, Dwight, and Isiah Thomas. Lebron had to delete his tweet encouraging fans to keep up the same energy saying the roster was too old, and somehow it was all Frank Vogel’s fault.

Then Vogel won 49 games with the Suns but they decided they’d rather have Bud.

[bkkrh]

Bottom 5 all time is a bit harsh, but I think it’s funny that Vogel was immediately scapegoated after winning a championship when the Lakers were injured and Westbrook was a poor fit and this year the Lakers were healthy, were a huge favorite to win, and had homecourt advantage and now the narrative is coming out that the roster was terrible and the coach is fine.

In what world were the Lakers a huge favorite to win? The Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference finals last season. It's not like they lost against a bunch of bums. It was 3rd vs 6th because the Lakers won 1 more regular season game. You can absolutely lose against Minnesota and I'd say that pretty much everybody that wasn't on the hype train expected that. It's another story that it wasn't closer but I would have been surprised if LA won.

Related to Vogel, he was fired 2 seasons after the title. Season 1 they lost 11 more games and lost in the first round. Season 2 they had a losing record and didn't make the playoffs. THat's a situation where most teams would consider firing the coach and they did. It's not comparable at all with the current situation.

Related to the actiual thread topic I picked average. Regular season was above average, Playoffs bellow average, so evens itself out to that.

Our world. The Lakers were -200 favorites

The Lakers bowed out of the NBA playoffs in the first round Wednesday, losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. They were nearly -200 favorites to beat the Timberwolves and attracted lopsided support from bettors to win the series. Lakers in six games was the most popular betting option in the series at ESPN BET.

https://abc7.com/post/lakers-early-nba-playoffs-exit-blow-betting-public/16293994/

As for Vogel, the 2021 Lakers were up 2-1 against the Suns and Anthony Davis got hurt and they lost in the first round. In 2022 Lebron played 56 games and Anthony Davis played 40, and they had a super old injured roster with Lebron, AD, Melo, Rondo, Westbrook, Dwight, and Isiah Thomas. Lebron had to delete his tweet encouraging fans to keep up the same energy saying the roster was too old, and somehow it was all Frank Vogel’s fault.

Then Vogel won 49 games with the Suns but they decided they’d rather have Bud.

That is an absolute insane betting quote. Can only imagine that the fear was that so many casuals will bet on the Lakers if they have a good quote that it was a lesser risk to make them "unbetable". But that's not really a factor for me tbh. I never hold it against a player or a team if they are hyped up beyound reality and the other way around,

About the Vogel situation, I personally didn't see his firing necessary, but it's the way the business normally works in the league. Same with the Phoenix situation. I'm in general not a big fan of the way NBA teams treat NBA coaches and there is a long list of cases where I feel the firing was unneccessary. In the end it completely depends on how the new guy is performing. Like nobody is bringing up J. B. Bickerstaff anymore, but imagine the Cavs had lost the 1st round in a similar way.

[ConSarnit]

That was the first full game Ive watched of JJ coaching. First thing first, there was just a glaring difference between size and athleticism between the two teams. There is only so much a coach can do.

With that said, I still think he did a very poor job last night. I get not having a rim protector, but you also dont have any athleticism on the perimeter. Maybe constant doubles, and on top of that, very lazy doubles. It wasnt trapping, it wasnt even really putting much pressure on the ball. It was just these half assed, "I think Im going to double, should I double, okay I guess Ill come over" type of doubles. To then lead to slow lazy rotations. And he just stayed with it for so long.

I get Jaxson Hayes is Jaxson Hayes. And I dont think making the decision not to play Hayes is ever a bad one for a coach to make. I do think the way he went about it was ridiculous. He started 35 games for you and was a 20mpg guy since the start of January. To go into a possible elimination game in the playoffs and to announce pre game that essentially there is no scenario in which youre going to play him, and from what I know it has nothing to do with any kind of disciplinary reasons. And then go on to watch your team get beat up on the boards non stop and provide zero kind of rim protection. To then throw out Maxi Kleber who hasnt played since January and that was for a different team. That kind of shows a combination of desperation and stubbornness.

Again I think that roster was clearly flawed and a coach can only do so much. But I also dont think JJ had a good outing for himself last night. Both things can be true at the same time.

Hayes is just not good. That’s why he didn’t play. He’s a low IQ defender and his rebounding is just bad. He has a 12% reb rate. For a center that provides zero spacing that is terrible.

Maybe Hayes could have played more but he’s just flat out not good. He’s probably the 47th best C in the league and like most guys in that range that means he’s pretty much unplayable in the playoffs.