Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - JJ Redick Gets Some Coach of the Year Love... Did He Improve in Year 2?

Starting point is 00:00:00 JJ Reddick gets some coach of the year, love, but did he deserve more than he got? We'll tell you next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for stopping by Lockedon Lakers, Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kamenetsky, we will dive back into some of the free agency conversation that we started a few days back. But before we do that, Andy, we need to let people know that J.J. Reddick was, got a little bit of coach at the year, love. He finished behind Joe Missoula, J.B. Bickerstaff, Mitch Johnson, Charles Lee, Jordan Ott.

Starting point is 00:00:47 That's the Phoenix head coach. Mark Dagnow. And then you get to JJ Reddick. And then tied with Tiago Splitter in Portland. He received three. JJ did. Third place votes for coach of the year. I suspect if it went out to like fifth place. or something like that, he'd have a few more. He actually, kind of funny, he received a few more votes last year than this year, but still very much in the mix of like the next tier of coaches once you get past like Joe Missoula and J.B. Bickerstaff, who were, I think, pretty much the odds on favorites, Andy.

Starting point is 00:01:27 And then, you know, Mitch Johnson, Charles Lee. Like, JJ is sort of firmly in that next group. Yeah. And last year, for what it's worth, JJ got more third place votes. He had five last year versus three this year. But there were fewer coaches that got votes, period. Like to put this in perspective, JJ tied with Tiago Splitter for seventh in this year's voting. Last year, JJ finished six out of six.

Starting point is 00:01:56 Like there were more coaches this year that I think for pretty understandable and justifiable. reasons impress the voters. And I actually think if you look across the board this year, this was just a really good year for coaches in general. So I think there's a couple ways you can look at this. On one hand, JJ, like we mentioned, technically finished lower this year than last year, fewer overall votes. But some of the coaches that were ahead of him last year, including last year's coach of the year, Kenny Atkinson, finished behind JJ. And I think overall, if you look at the coaches ahead of JJ, again, that list is the winner, Joe Missoula, J.B. Bickerstaff, Mitch Johnson, from San Antonio, Charles Lee from the Hornets,

Starting point is 00:02:49 Jordan Ott from the Sons, Dagnow from OKC, and then JJ's tied with Tiago Splitter. with the possible exception of Dagna who had an exceptionally deep team while dealing with a fair amount of injuries for the thunder, all of these other coaches I think outperform the expectations and I think if you take a look at the way the Lakers, their preseason predictions were,

Starting point is 00:03:16 so did JJ. But I don't think there was anybody that finished ahead of JJ that you're like they have no business being ahead of JJ. Even if you think JJ should be ahead of one of them, like say Charles Lee or Jordanott or whoever, it's hard to make an argument that those guys had no business finishing where they did. I think this all shook out well.

Starting point is 00:03:41 And I think actually in a crowded field, it reflects pretty well on JJ. Yeah, I would agree. And you know, look, you have to sit and watch, you know, 80 games of Charles Lee coach or, you know, how many, I mean, 50 games of Jordanod or whatever it might be to really make an informed choice about these things. So it's like I'm not here to argue with voters. And, you know, the nature of this award is such that it's based on, you know, essentially first and foremost, did your team exceed expectations?

Starting point is 00:04:11 You know, Boston obviously exceeded expectations. I was higher on them than many coming into the season. Just like, they still got some good players, the Eastern Conference kind of weak. But, I mean, all that said, I don't think people expected what, you know, number two see it in the East. J.B. Bickerstaff got Detroit to and helped get Detroit to a number one. San Antonio made a leap. Charlotte was not just like, you know, like a nice story in the second half of the season. They were one of the best teams in basketball in the second half of the season. And quite honestly, anybody who turns that tire fire into a formidable,

Starting point is 00:04:52 group with excitement going forward deserves some love in awards voting. Phoenix obviously exceeded expectations this season. And so like I think when you think about the way the the award is kind of constructed, all of that makes sense. There are two things and we can unpack both of them. The first one is I do think there is something kind of endemic to how the Lakers are perceived. or at the very least, how they were perceived this year, where, you know, even when they were winning, whether it was, I think to some degree, Luca kind of being dragged down a little bit in some of the award conversation

Starting point is 00:05:35 and some of the, and others, not that people thought they were bad, but there was for the first, you know, stretch of the season, even while the Lakers were winning, and I understand why, and, you know,

Starting point is 00:05:47 some of these reasons are reasonable, there was a sense that they're just, you know, okay, it's a mirage, it's a bit of a fraud, it's all of these things. When they finally did start winning, you know, I sort of feel, just broadly speaking, I feel like the team didn't get a lot of credit for putting up 53 wins, having a season that would have almost surely made them the three seed in the West, which absolutely would have exceeded expectations. for all of the talk of what's wrong with them, what's wrong with them, what's wrong with them, what's wrong with them, they kept winning.

Starting point is 00:06:28 And they put up a very strong season in that regard. And I know other teams dealt with injuries too, Andy, but the Lakers had an enormous amount of injuries and a really thin team to sort of absorb them. And I don't want, I mean, it doesn't, none of this matters. And I don't be like sour grapey. but I don't really feel like the Lakers got as much credit for the difficulty of what they pulled off over the course of the regular season as they probably should have, in part because I think of what you like to point out sometimes too is there's just people don't like to vote for the Lakers for awards like these. You know what? I don't even know if it's necessarily about the awards. Like that's not really where I have focused.

Starting point is 00:07:13 What I do think, though, is that national media gets very, very conscious. of not looking like they are trying to hype the Lakers in order to milk the Lakers for all the attention that comes with it. And they will often look to talk around the Lakers and talk around them for like 10 minutes while explaining why we're not going to talk about the Lakers because we're done talking about the Lakers. And then all of a sudden, you look at your watch and like, Dan, dude, you sure have been spending a lot of time explaining why you're not talking about the and doing kind of a deep dive into a team that you're apparently boycotting. Right.

Starting point is 00:07:54 But I said to cut you off. I do think that impacts, though, the hyping, you know, wanting to seem like you're praising potential candidates for these. People who could be in the running for it, pushing the narrative of somebody like, wow, you know, JJ Reddick's done a really good job under really difficult circumstances this year. Like, you don't want to look like, I think sometimes I agree with. you that you are kind of in the tank for the Lakers because it's always Lakers, Lakers, Lakers. Sure. I'm sort of using your point.

Starting point is 00:08:28 Yeah. I think you're right and I think it affects this sort of thing. That's all I meant to say, but sorry, go ahead. No, it certainly may. I mean, again, I have typically been less fixated or focused on the awards piece of this just because, you know, there are so many voters and frankly, a lot of them are people that that you and I know and respect. And I think put a lot of thought into this.

Starting point is 00:08:55 Like it is really a responsibility having these type of awards voting. And the people that we know at least, I mean, there's always going to be a few jackasses that when you look at the ballots and the ballots are made public for what it's worth, you can find out who voted for who. But the people we know at least, because we've been in this industry for a while. And just to clarify, Brian and I do not. have votes and we never have. Nope.

Starting point is 00:09:21 I'm guessing they will. But I'm pretty sure. Confident. Yep. Pretty confident on that one. But we do know a lot of these people and they take it seriously. And I think for again, what it is worth, what I gather, I think these people that I'm thinking about are much more conscious with what I'm discussing with the Lakers in terms of how they talk

Starting point is 00:09:46 as opposed to how they vote. Either way, though, again, I think this was just a really crowded year of really good coaching jobs, like, I mean, across the league. And look, there's no team in the playoffs that have surpassed expectations more than the Knicks, and they are coached by Mike Brown,

Starting point is 00:10:09 who got precisely zero votes for coach of the year. And Mike Brown will be the first person to tell you, that none of this means Jack Bleep. You know why? Because he's won the award twice, and he's been fired unceremoniously many times. Well, it was headline news today when Kenny Atkinson was brought, you know,

Starting point is 00:10:29 the Cavs will bring back Kenny Atkinson, last year's coach of the year following the Cavs sweep. The other half of this, though, that I think is interesting, is it's obviously a jumping off point to talk about what kind of job did JJ Redick do this year? Like, you know, when you're making the argument, more love, less love, whatever it might be, what did the Lakers get from JJ in his second season? We'll talk about that next.

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Starting point is 00:13:12 So, confetti flavor is back on five-hour energy.com or Amazon.com. crack open confetti craze five-hour energy shots today. It's interesting, like, there's been a lot of questioning, I think people would say, of the future of, I'm sorry, Rob Polinka in the front office, and the Lakers have actually, you know, we know they hired their analytics guy and strategy guy, presumably the other half of that front office hire. Lakers have permission to reach out and speak to other executives. So they're moving quickly, Andy, in this regard to try to fill out the front office. But, you know, I don't know if Rob Polinka's future in L.A. is solid.

Starting point is 00:14:07 It is unusual in that situation to say, you know what, I think the coach would outlast the GM. The new GM came along. And JJ Reddick is still here with two or three years. is left under his contract. I don't necessarily know if the new guy would automatically bring in somebody else, which is normal, because I think Redick in his second year looks like the kind of coach that he is on his way up, that improved, in my opinion, from year one to year two. And the Lakers, you know, this decision made by Rob Polinka looks to have been a good one.

Starting point is 00:14:44 Yeah, I think JJ over the course of this. season was better in terms of not just adjustments, but I think willingness to make adjustments that don't necessarily fit into his basketball worldview. And, you know, one of the examples that jumps to mind right away was when he started putting two on the ball against Jamal Murray and one of the games against Denver. And JJ has been explicit about not liking to do that. and it not really jiving with his basketball, you know, defensive philosophies, but realize we have to do that in this game.

Starting point is 00:15:21 He's been, as he said, willing to get weird with some of the defenses that they're doing. You know, I don't think it's all perfect. I still think they rely way too much on both switching and an ineffective switching style that I really wish JJ would move away from more often than he does. or at the very least, I hope that they can start finding better personnel for it if he's not going to move away from it or a bit of both. I think better personnel would allow them to move away from it. It's moving, yeah.

Starting point is 00:15:55 Well, I don't. It would both allow them to do it better, but it would also allow them to do it differently. I think it would probably. There's a reason they played so much zone this year. There's a reason they had to do things the way that they did. Right. I just, I think JJ inherently. wants to switch constantly defensively regardless of the personnel that he has. And I think at times

Starting point is 00:16:17 it works better than others. Either way, I think they do it way too soft and they, the style needs to be different. But regardless, there's been, you know, the, the fix that he eventually came up with, you know, in some degree, the way he described it, consultation with LeBron about finally delineating roles between Luca, Austin, and LeBron, and getting the buy-in from all three guys. And I think buy-in in general has been one of JJ's strengths. I think he has been very good at getting his players to buy into the things that he wants and the way that he wants them to play. And as much as I do think at times, he can still be stubborn. He's also had to adapt a lot over the course of his two years to different players being on the roster,

Starting point is 00:17:10 different guys being available, unavailable, trades, yada, yada, yada. And I think he's done a better job controlling his emotions and temper. And that's been a big thing for him. JJ's even acknowledged that it doesn't come easy to him. But he's absolutely, I think, moving in the right direction as a coach.

Starting point is 00:17:29 Yeah, I think the temperament question is a really important one. And I agree with you as an area that he was much better. I think, you know, the over the course of 82 games, the sort of level of, you know, sort of, angsty sort of intensity, the kind of intensity that's like not helpful because you're just too tightly wound because it can make other people around you more tightly wound and all that kind of stuff. I think there was less of that this year than last. I think particularly going into the playoffs with the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:18:06 working under difficult circumstances, there was less of it than last year. And people who I think, you know, I've watched basketball for a long time. You know, I think we understand what we're looking at, but people who are even deeper in it that, you know, are coaches who are analysts who are film guys. Well, there's a, you know, universally praised what the Lakers were doing, particularly schematically defensive, in the playoffs, you know, what they were doing against Shea. Not always necessarily being able to do it super effectively because, you know, they're limited by the roster and personnel.

Starting point is 00:18:52 But, you know, he got a lot of praise for that kind of stuff from people whose opinions, I think, are valuable. And then, you know, I, there's a fine line, I think, with coaching where you are, you know, what can look like in flexibility is also like where the line between you're too fluid in everything you're. So there's not, there's not enough consistency and a through line between what you're trying to do. I mean, I think he was pretty good schematically and stuff like that. If you're looking for places where perhaps he was, you know, just sort of has made a decision. I know this is a spot you and I disagree, but a lot of fans agree with you.

Starting point is 00:19:38 You know, he doesn't like, he doesn't need Jared Vanderbilt on his basketball team. I happen to agree with him more than, than some other fans do, but I could understand why people look at him and something, but he's there, figure out how to use him. You know, the switching thing, like I was saying before, I think a lot of it is personnel base, but I 100% agree with you. It was too passive often when they did it. Like that, I think is is a very real thing to argue about with their execution. But like, man, they played, they played on his own this year. And they, they did a lot of stuff that just gets a little weird, gets a little, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:17 inflexible. And they did, they play with 9,000 different lineups. So I mean, overall in an up and down year, I would have trouble grading JJ. I'd probably give him an A minus, but like, I certainly wouldn't, if I sat and thought about it, he wouldn't, I don't think, I personally don't think I'd give him lower. than like a B plus or anything like that. By and large, I was pleased with the job that he did this year. And again, I think he is growing into a very good coach.

Starting point is 00:20:44 And one of the biggest challenges, particularly as not just a young coach, but a young coach that spent approximately zero minutes on any type of staff other than coaching literally children, the ability to get buy-in is, I mean, Gifted children. The ability to get buy-in from players can be difficult even with veteran coaches. You and I covered the Kobe Pow team when they brought in Mike Brown. And by the way, shout out to Mike Brown for getting to the finals. He's an awesome guy.

Starting point is 00:21:21 Like he's one of the favorites Brian and I have covered, just like a really, really good dude. But he was not ready for that veteran team of Kobe. and POW and our test and certainly not buying him and some other guys who they just saw him as in over his head. Collectively, they're like, we are more experienced than you. We could probably give you more advice on how to do your job than you can give ours. And too badantic, which is a potential sort of, you know, problem that JJ, a different, a little bit of a different kind of thing from a style with Mike Brown. it was over preparedness and, you know, practices that were 14 hours long and all these other things.

Starting point is 00:22:07 But he learned for it. But, yeah, but, like, that kind of, like, too controlling. You're controlling too much. And the reason I bring that up is just because, I mean, Mike Brown had actually been an NBA coach. He was the coach of that 2007 Cavs team with LeBron that went to the finals. So, like, he had been in the seat before. But he could not establish. any buy-in at all. And, you know, that's why he ultimately got fired five games into his second

Starting point is 00:22:38 season. It's not easy to get buy-in, particularly with teams that are led by guys like LeBron and Luca, who are some of the best to ever play. And JJ's done a really good job along those lines. And that is a big piece of the puzzle to solve right there. I, yeah, I think most fans, this is probably a place where most fans are in relative agreement in terms of being pleased with JJ's growth from year one to year two and feeling like the Lakers have a coach. Next we'll talk about why this stuff. We'll try to get into some of these free agent questions, but we'll hold on to it. But why this is so important.

Starting point is 00:23:24 Like why it seems self-evident, but when you link what the Lakers talk about, in broad terms to JJ Redick, why this matters so much that JJ looks like the right higher is a big deal. So we'll get into that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Ruggiette. The NFL playoffs are in full swing. Every shift matters. Every moment is intense. The pressure is at its highest. And just like the performance matters on the ice, it matters off the ice, too. That's where Ruggiette is key. They offer treatments. design to help you get ready, stay ready when it matters.

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Starting point is 00:24:43 So, you know, like the Lakers, you know, we're talking about these GMs that they're bringing in. We're talking about player development. We're talking about modeling yourself after the Dodgers. If there's some, you know, you look around the league, Andy, at the consistency of a team like Oklahoma City or San Antonio or, you know, Boston, I think, absolutely qualifies in this way with Brad Stevens and Joe Missoula. You cannot build the type of program the Lakers are talking about, where there's a culture, where there's player development, where there's sustained planning over time and success when you are constantly hiring and firing coaches.

Starting point is 00:25:34 You can't do it because your personnel needs change. your system changes all the time. There's no through line to what you're doing. If the Lakers want to be something that is whatever the basketball equivalent of the Dodgers is, Dodgers have had the same guys essentially in charge for a long time. They've resisted the urge to fire Dave Roberts. Nobody's asked to fire Andrew Friedman. But, you know, like there is a consistency in what they do.

Starting point is 00:26:03 Refraise. Two things. first make sure that uh make sure people know that you can get locked on lakers completely ad free by joining the everyday or club today you can start a seven day free trial right now get closer to lakers without the interruptions the ads we know people some people don't like them so this is the way to do it click the link in the show notes to claim your free trial when you mention the idea of the urge to fire dave roberts i don't think there ever was an urge to fire david roberts what there was not internally right externally that's a lot of calls a lot of calls before you know the first

Starting point is 00:26:43 of the two world series that they just ripped off like ripped off in terms of winning not they didn't steal them they deserve well boy I'll tell you the the blue jace pushed them the blue jays really they almost got to a place where they would have to steal it because that thing went down to the wire, but I never want to experience anything as tension-filled watching sports as watching Clayton Kirshall get out of that inning. I was, I am not kidding, hiding behind my couch. I could not do it. I was like, it was, it was, it was, it was too much. But they knew internally what they had in Dave Roberts and why he matters so much and why he is, and I think this is a huge part of what makes Dave Roberts not just successful but indispensable.

Starting point is 00:27:36 And what if Mark Walter feels the same way, I think Rob Polinka feels about JJ, this is the commonality with JJ as well. Dave Roberts is absolutely an extension of the culture that Mark Walter and that all the brain trusts want for the Dodgers. He is the buffer between the front office and the players. And that is super important because in professional sports, whether you're talking about the coach or the manager, at least 75% of the job,

Starting point is 00:28:15 and that is frankly rounding down. It's more like 85 to 90 plus percent is keeping alpha male millionaires from killing each other over the course of the season, particularly baseball, which is like six months. It's hot as hell for the majority of it. You're playing like six days a week. Sometimes you'll go through 10 or 11 days. Wildly different person.

Starting point is 00:28:39 I mean, my point isn't to make like the show political or whatever, but like there is a wider range of inside your clubhouse in baseball, in bigger numbers of just huge varieties of people, people from the U.S., people from other countries, people who are, you know, come from politically conservative places, people who are politically liberal, people who don't speak English, people who, you know, don't want it. Like, there's just a lot going on there. And for those unaware, Brian and I cover the Dodgers for the LA Times in the mid-2000s for

Starting point is 00:29:12 three or four seasons. So we were in the clubhouse a lot. We were in good clubhouses. We were in the 2007 team clubhouse, which we both are the single most unpleasant team we've ever covered in our time doing. In any sport anywhere. We covered Lakers teams that won like four games. That was way better.

Starting point is 00:29:32 A big piece of the job is seriously keeping alpha male millionaires from killing each other. And part of doing that is getting them to all move in the same direction with the same purpose. Dave Roberts is outstanding at that. And I think J.J. Reddick has been very good at. that over the course of a very short career. And I will say this too. Like I think we, we mentioned this point when we were kind of talking about, it was last week we were kind of talking about, you know, like the, the way Andrew Friedman described winning. Like the Lakers, I think, need to stop talking about like, you know, championships. Our goal every year, our goal is a championship.

Starting point is 00:30:19 And it's obviously you want to try to win titles. That's not the, that's not what I'm getting at. But Andrew Friedman described it, and this was actually in a Sports Illustrated article, but it applies here. His goal when he wakes up every day is like, how can I make the organization the best organization that can be? How can I make it the best organization for players? How can it be the best destination for people to want to come play? Because it is the place that players want to be. If you do those things, it's a much more tangible thing to be able to say, Those are, that's filled with things you can control.

Starting point is 00:30:58 It's all about process. I mean, and that, that's why the Dodgers didn't fire at any point, didn't fire Dave Roberts. It's because, A, they understood that he wasn't the reason they didn't win. They understood that swapping him out for a different manager wasn't going to change. Ah, we keep getting to the World Series. We keep getting the NLCS. We keep, and we just can't win yet. Like we won 10 division titles in a row.

Starting point is 00:31:26 We can't win a World Series. There are people who wanted to replace Dave Roberts after he'd already won one of the World Series. But particularly when they just kept getting the playoffs and not winning. They understood that the issue here was sometimes you get to the postseason, especially in a sport like baseball, but it's definitely true in basketball as well. And, you know, the stuff that it gets real weird. Like there's little variances and a team gets unusually hot or unusually cold for one or two games.

Starting point is 00:31:59 One guy has the game of his life at a time when you don't expect it. And that can be enough to change a series and make it so it shouldn't go the way it does. You don't fire your coach over that. You don't fire your manager over that. You fire your coach and your manager because they can no longer adequately execute the process. that you need as an organization to win. And the Lakers to be like the Thunder, who are a process team,

Starting point is 00:32:31 to be like the Spurs, who are a process team, you know, a culture team, all these things, you know, you have to have stability there. And if your coach isn't the right guy,

Starting point is 00:32:41 you're not going to get it. Like, Mitch Johnson's not going anywhere for a long time. Dagnone's not going anywhere. Joe Missoula might, but only because he's weird, not because the Celtic, you're going to fire him.

Starting point is 00:32:53 Like these teams that have stability Spoe in Miami. Like that is an incredibly valuable thing. Well, case in point, we both thought that Darwin Ham regressed some as a coach his second season versus his first. His first season, we both thought under the circumstances, he actually did a pretty good job

Starting point is 00:33:14 beyond just getting to the Western Conference finals, like negotiating the, put it mildly, issues. with Russell Westbrook and eventually selling him on a bench roll. And like, Darwin did a really good job under difficult circumstances of the first year. Second season, he became more intractable. I think he regressed some.

Starting point is 00:33:35 But the biggest problem Darwin had, and ultimately the reason he had to be replaced, he lost that locker room. Like, he lost it completely in ways that short of, and I don't mean this is hyperbolic, I really mean it literally, short of, and I even said this actually in shows leading up to Darwin eventually getting fired, it was going to take Rob organizing like somewhere between a meeting and an intervention

Starting point is 00:34:02 between like Darwin, LeBron, AD, maybe Rich Paul, like maybe someone like Austin who had kind of a rising voice pick, whatever leaders in that locker room mattered. If they were going to keep Darwin, they were going to have to get them all in a group together, air everything out and say, how do we move forward? Like, it really had reached that point where short of that type of meeting, Darwin had lost the locker room in ways that were probably irreversible. And even if you don't think it was entirely on Darwin that that happened and some of the circumstances were beyond his control, it doesn't matter. Once you have to start asking the question, like, should you, like, then the coach probably needs to go. Like, if you're really asking

Starting point is 00:34:47 the question. That way you talk about Mike Brown. The problem with Mike Brown, they fire five games in. If you're, if you fire a coach five games in, you were having that conversation in August and should have just done it then. As we said at the time. Yes. But like, you know, where you want to be is in a place where even if things go wrong, guys get hurt, you have a disappointing year. See it in the NFL a lot too. Nobody jumps to be like, well, we got to change the coach. It's like, okay, we got to get new players. You need a new quarterback. We need a new point guard. We need whatever. but you have confidence in the architecture and the infrastructure that you have.

Starting point is 00:35:20 And that, whether it's with, I mean, ideally it would be with Rob Polenko, you know, you don't want to have to change your front office if you can avoid it. So we'll see how that goes. Whether you like the guy or don't, like you want Rob to work out.

Starting point is 00:35:33 You want JJ to work out because it's for the long-term benefit of the organization and the short-term benefit as well at a time we're trying to maximize Luca. All right. So we'll get to all this free agency stuff, whether for, Friday show or for the daytime show.

Starting point is 00:35:50 Thursday show. Thursday show, right, thank you. I'm just jumping ahead. Holiday weeks really mess with me. But Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 38,000 subscribers to the channel and we'll see everyone next time.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - JJ Redick Gets Some Coach of the Year Love... Did He Improve in Year 2?

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