![\"JJ](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_4820,h_2711\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/229\/01jnpdd71cb6ba9vmmms.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNot too bad for a podcast host.<\/p>\n
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Admit it,\u00a0Lakers nation. When the team announced that JJ Redick had been hired to be the team’s next head coach, you were skeptical.<\/p>\n
You worried that this was a move to appease LeBron James by hiring his friend and podcast co-host. You worried that Redick’s lack of coaching experience would be exposed in a brutally difficult Western Conference.<\/p>\n
You worried that there was nothing anyone could hope to do differently with a roster that was almost exactly the same as last season’s.<\/p>\n
Not to get all old lady on you, but you can stuff those worries in a sack, mister. Redick has exceeded expectations in every way, and with 22 games left in the regular season, he has led his team to the de facto 2-seed in the West and the fifth-best winning percentage in the NBA.<\/p>\n
Sure, he’s more committed to wearing long-sleeved black shirts than Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but like Ukraine’s leader, he has bigger things on his mind.<\/p>\n
Being the head coach of one of the most famous teams in the world is about more than just X’s and O’s, but Redick has managed every aspect of his new job beautifully.<\/p>\n
He’s been open and thoughtful when discussing his team’s shortcomings with the media, and he’s been direct and smart about finding fixes that last.<\/p>\n
Most coaches don’t have to deal with the kinds of seismic changes that Redick has navigated all year.<\/p>\n
The roster has been in a constant state of flux, yet through it all, the Lakers have continued to improve as a group. That’s a testament to his ability to connect to his players and communicate his vision for winning basketball.<\/p>\n
Nearly every button Redick has pushed has been the right one.<\/p>\n
He benched D’Angelo Russell and put the ball into Austin Reaves’ hands more. That showed the front office that the team could prosper without DLo, which allowed them to bring in Dorian Finney-Smith, who’s been an enormous difference-maker since arriving in late December.<\/p>\n
Redick has gotten the team to buy in on defense, including LeBron James, who has been ridiculed these last few years for his lack of effort on that end of the court.<\/p>\n
The results have spoken for themselves, as the Lakers have been the best defensive team in the league the last couple weeks after hovering in the bottom five of the league in defensive rating for much of the year.<\/p>\n
All of the good that Redick has done has led NBA insiders and experts to throw his name around as a possible Coach of the Year candidate.<\/p>\n
A quick peek at the odds shows that the hype is real. As of today, FanDuel has Redick as the third-favorite behind Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Detroit Pistons. Atkinson is a heavy favorite, but there’s still a quarter of the season to go.<\/p>\n
What can Redick do to become the first rookie head coach to win Coach of the Year since Doc Rivers in 2000?<\/strong><\/p>\n Securing the 2-seed in the West would be a monumental feat, especially given the way the Lakers were seen in the preseason, and even after the first 30 or so games.<\/p>\n The Coach of the Year award always rewards coaches whose teams outperform expectations, and the Lakers getting the 2-seed just a year after firing Darvin Ham would be a huge feather in Redick’s cap.<\/p>\n The standings are extremely tight right now. The Lakers are tied with the Nuggets at 18 games over .500, though they’re up one in the loss column.<\/p>\n The Grizzlies are two games back, the Rockets three, and the surging Warriors are six behind. The Lakers not only need to get the 2-seed, they need to do it comfortably.<\/p>\n Give LeBron and Luka a couple of games to rest before the playoffs while Bronny gets a low-pressure chance to show how he’s progressed.<\/p>\n It won’t be easy, as the Lakers have the second-toughest remaining strength of schedule.<\/p>\n That’s what would make it even more impressive, though, and it would allow the media to spend the final few days of the season building Redick’s case for him.<\/p>\n Too much is made about wins and losses when it comes to who wins Coach of the Year. Almost no nuance is required \u2014 just look at the couple of teams that improved by the most wins over a year ago, turn in your ballot, and that’s it.<\/p>\n That’s not the way it should be though, but the fact that the media members who vote for these awards have shown themselves to be a bit more discerning in recent years gives me hope that they’ll see how strong Redick’s case is.<\/p>\n One of the best arguments for Redick is that he’s been able to keep the Lakers on an upward trajectory even as Rob Pelinka has been going ham on the trade machine.<\/p>\n On the one hand, Pelinka has certainly improved the roster with the additions. On the other, coaching a team to be greater than the sum of is parts while constantly having to blend in new pieces and lose others is easier said than done.<\/p>\n Redick survived the first few months without Jarred Vanderbilt, then seamlessly wove him into the rotation once he was finally healthy.<\/p>\n He’s gotten the absolute most out of Dorian Finney-Smith. He’s covered for the loss of Anthony Davis by making Rui Hachimura a small-ball 5.<\/p>\n He’s also emboldened Austin Reaves to become a deserving member of both iterations of the Lakers’ Big 3.<\/p>\n The final proof of concept for Redick as a head coach is to maximize the Luka-LeBron pairing.<\/p>\n Yes, these guys are so smart and gifed that they will probably figure it out on their own if given enough time, but Redick can hasten the mind-meld with his coaching.<\/p>\n The Lakers are already a team that nobody is excited to play in the postseason, but if Redick can get Luka and LeBron firing on all cylinders before then, they could conceivably become the favorite in the West, even over the Thunder, who people are still skeptical of despite their regular season success.<\/p>\n The most obvious sign of Redick’s impact is in the way the Lakers have turned the corner defensively. It’s nothing short of remarkable, and it can’t all be attributed to the additions of Finney-Smith and Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n The Lakers lost Anthony Davis, for Pete’s sake, and they’ve somehow improved dramatically on defense without him!<\/p>\n Jaxson Hayes has grown tremendously as a defensive force. Trey Jemison III has been extremely capable after bouncing around the league.<\/p>\n Up until Tuesday night’s fast-paced 136-115 win over the Pelicans, the Lakers had held teams to 102 points or less in seven straight games.<\/p>\n Nobody would ever look at a starting lineup that consists of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes and expect it to be a defensive juggernaut.<\/p>\n In fact, most people would expect their favorite team to score 120+ on those guys with ease, but that hasn’t been the case.<\/p>\n A coach’s job first and foremost is to get the most out of his players. Redick deserves a ton of credit for getting LeBron and the rest to do just that.<\/p>\n Darvin Ham probably throws his phone across the room every time he sees LeBron make a chasedown block as he wonders where that was the last couple of years.<\/p>\n The Cavs are 52-10 and already looking at their magic number to clinch the 1-seed in the East.<\/p>\n It would take a historic faceplant for Atkinson to fall back to the pack, but if somehow he does, Redick can sneak into the conversation if he accomplishes everything on this list.<\/p>\n Regardless of if he takes home the Coach of the Year hardware this year, Redick has proven that the Lakers were smart to hire him this summer, and he’s earned the respect of all the naysayers that didn’t believe in him.<\/p>\n Besides, if he can only hold up one trophy later this spring, I think we know which one he would choose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not too bad for a podcast host. Admit it,\u00a0Lakers nation. When the team announced that JJ Redick had been hired to be the team’s next head coach,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nLock down the 2-seed with room to spare<\/h2>\n
Fully integrate LeBron James and Luka Doncic into the unstoppable force they’re meant to be<\/h2>\n
Guide the Lakers to a top-10 finish in defensive efficiency<\/h2>\n