JJ Redick Addresses Lakers' Lack Of Energy In Nuggets Loss And Pressure On Walker Kessler To Perform
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The Los Angeles Lakers lost 106-121 to the Denver Nuggets in their preseason finale tonight. After the game, the Lakers’ head coach JJ Redick spoke to the media at the postgame press conference and shared his thoughts on the loss and two key takeaways he wants the team to work on.
“Well, I think throughout the preseason, be it in practice, film session, or in-game, the guys have responded. We didn’t start the game with the right energy, not intent, just energy; it felt very, you know, it felt like a preseason game,” Redick revealed his thoughts with a grin on his face.
“The two points of emphasis coming into tonight. Again, there was no Denver-specific scouting stuff we worked on, just some generic stuff related to them on the defensive end.”
“We wanted to do a good job taking care of the basketball; we didn’t get off to a good start there, but for the rest of the game we did a good job of that. And then we wanted to be better on the defensive glass, keeping them away from the offensive glass. So with Bagley at the end, I thought we did a nice job of that,” JJ Redick explained.
The Lakers had 14 turnovers tonight, six in the first quarter alone. The Lakers’ stars Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic accounted for 11 of the team’s 14 turnovers.
“Some of that was them having a lot of stretches where they made shots. I loved the way we played in that second and third quarter on the offensive end. That third quarter could easily have been a 36-to-38-point quarter. We generated a bunch of catch-and-shoot threes and off-paint touches,” he further added.
The Lakers scored 28 points in the third quarter. Redick’s comments suggest the Lakers showed promise of denting the 14-point first-quarter deficit that made the rest of the game an uphill battle.
“Clearly, this year in their defense they’re trying to protect the paint due to a lack of rim protection. They put four guys in the paint in the third quarter, and we did a nice job of finding shooters. So I liked a lot of what we did offensively in those two quarters,” Redick concluded his initial thoughts on the game.
Later in the press conference, Redick also shared candid thoughts on how Walker Kessler is adjusting to the pressure of wearing the purple and gold jersey in just his second game back from injury tonight.
“I think he wants to embrace that. I think that’s why he wanted to be a Laker and why he wanted to be here was because of the fact that there are stakes every single night when you wear a Lakers uniform,” Redick said.
“We’ve had a number of conversations. We had a long conversation about it the other day. I think the awareness is there. How you navigate that early on and how you navigate that in your first year, there’s no way to predict that because you’ve never dealt with it before,” he further reflected.
“But he’s got great support around him. His agent Aaron Mintz has been a long-time friend of mine. I’m here to help him. We’re all here to support him.”
“All these guys haven’t gone through it. There’s nothing like it, and I think they all wanna embrace it. They all have a chip on their shoulder about it. And they wanna make Lakers fans proud, and I know they will,” Redick confidently concluded.
In his second game back from injury, Walker Kessler faced Nikola Jokic and got a glimpse of what prime-season pressure looks like. He finished with six points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks, shooting 2-for-8 from the field.
Even though the Lakers lost to the Nuggets tonight, Redick is focusing on the positive takeaways and maximizing them instead of dwelling on the mistakes, which he clearly recognizes.
The Lakers now face the Warriors on this coming Wednesday (October 21) at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena. It remains to be seen what adjustments this loss prompts in the team’s strategies heading into the opening night of the regular season.
Chaitanya Dadhwal is an NBA Analyst and Columnist at Fadeaway World, based in New Delhi, India. His passion for basketball began in 2018 after watching James Harden during his prime, eventually leading him to pursue a career in sports journalism in 2021. He began writing professionally while completing his law degree at Jindal Global Law School in Sonipat, India, where he graduated in 2022 and developed a particular interest in Sports Law. Chaitanya ultimately chose journalism over a career in law after realizing that his passion for sports, and basketball in particular, was where he wanted to build his career. His work focuses on breaking down complex NBA storylines, analyzing player and team decisions, and presenting different sides of an argument to provide readers with a balanced perspective. While he strives to maintain an objective approach in his journalism, Chaitanya openly admits to being a passionate supporter of the Houston Rockets and Arsenal. That combination of analytical thinking and personal passion allows him to simplify complex ideas and present them in an accessible way for basketball fans. Beyond journalism, Chaitanya hopes to establish his own sports management agency and represent athletes. His long-term goal is to help create greater equality of opportunity for athletes across different sports and genders, using his legal background and experience in sports media to help bridge gaps within the industry.