The Los Angeles Lakers have dropped three straight games, and head coach J.J. Redick is frustrated. However in Redick’s eyes, the team’s struggles began well before their current losing skid. In fact, he traces the issues back to LeBron James’ return to the active lineup.
James missed the first 14 games of the season for L.A. Due to sciatica and he made his season debut on Nov. 18. At that point, Redick feels like the Lakers’ offensive organization began to disintegrate.
“Since we’ve gotten Bron back, we haven’t been as organized offensively,” Redick said. “Too many random possessions. That’s on me. It’s those three things: defensive clarity, role clarity and offensive organization.”
While Redick couched his comments by taking the blame for L.A.’s lackadaisical offense, it sure sounded like he was also placing some blame on LeBron. It will be interesting to see how that goes over with the star forward.
On the season, James has appeared in 13 games for L.A. And is averaging 20.2 points, 6.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds per performance. There was some initial rust for James after an extended stint on the sideline to start the season, and in his 23rd season he’s clearly not the explosive athlete he once was. But he’s obviously still a very productive player.
While Redick mentioned the team’s issues on offense, it’s really the defensive end where they need to improve in a major way. The Lakers have the 7th-best offense league-wide, but they have the 5th-worst defense in the entire league. They simply need to be better on that side of the floor.
So, how can they improve defensively? Redick thinks it’s a matter of fundamentals.
“I really believe in getting back to basics and understanding the needs of the team and each guy, creating more clarity,” Redick said. "I know having played that what can seem very simple up there isn’t simple once you’re in real time and live action. It’s not going to happen in a day, but we have to get back to building our defensive fundamentals.”
The vibes aren’t great within the Lakers right now, but they’re still fifth in the Western Conference standings with a 19-10 record. So they’re far from a lost cause. They just need to make a commitment to executing on both sides of the floor, and that starts with the stars like LeBron and Luka Doncic.