Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - JJ Redick Says the Lakers Will Push for Wins ... While Still Being Smart

Starting point is 00:00:00 As the Lakers close in on a three-state, how is JJ Reddick going to handle pushing for wins versus pushing for rest? We'll explain next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks, everyone for joining Locked-on Lakers, Brian Kaminetsky with Andy Kaminetsky. Andy, after the Lakers finished their trip 5 and 1 with a win in Indiana on Wednesday, they come back, they've got games upcoming against Brooklyn and Washington, and even then a couple more games left against the tankers across the NBA.

Starting point is 00:00:43 With all of that said, and what amounts to a functional two-and-a-half game lead over the Denver Nuggets, a three-game lead over the wolves who are currently in that five spot, it is looking very good. By virtue of the tiebreaker. If you look at the standings, they have a one-and-a-half game lead over, the Nuggets who've played one more game than them, but because they've got the tiebreaker over Denver, they've got the tiebreaker over Minnesota and Houston, whatever that gap is, add one more

Starting point is 00:01:18 game because that's what those teams would need in order to offset the tie break. Yeah, they have to finish ahead of them, ahead of the Lakers to be seated above them. So with that in mind, the Lakers, at the very least, are looking very good for a three-seed really no worse than a four seed. And obviously you want to host that first round matchup and I don't pay your poison. You want to play San Antonio the second round? You want to play Oklahoma

Starting point is 00:01:44 City? I can see an argument for both. But that is a problem for another day. The Lakers do though want to figure out how they're going to handle the rest of the year because they've got some guys who could use a little rest Andy, whether you're talking

Starting point is 00:01:59 Luca or LeBron or A.R. or guys further down the roster. J.J. Redick was actually asked about that on Wednesday after the game. And at the very least, it's time to start thinking about it. And it's clear that they have. Yeah. And on top of Luca, LeBron, and AR that you just mentioned, DeAndre Aitin didn't play in this game. Ruijah Chimura didn't play in this game. Marcus Smart didn't play in this game. So you've had guys recently on available on top of the concerns you would have for those three guys. And just players in general at this time of year. You know, it's a cliche, but it's true. Everybody's banged up on every team.

Starting point is 00:02:38 And I want to say it was Kobe Price from the California Post asked JJ about, you know, he's said after a couple recent games, how important health is and having the top nine guys in their rotation. But you're also trying to maintain this chemistry and continuity and the role that the Lakers are on, this synergy. How do you approach it? And JJ said, quote, we're going to go for it. We're going to try to win games. We're going to try to be smart about it. And he also acknowledged, too, there's unpredictability and uncontrollables. He didn't know anything happened to Addu Thero, who also was not active, until after the Detroit game.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And Addu played two minutes in that game. And nothing jumped out as particularly hazardous in those two minutes, at least watching the game. He said also he didn't realize DeAndre Aiton was hurting until 10 minutes before a meeting. he didn't specify whether it was a team meeting or a coach's meeting, but he got a text from DeAndre like 10 minutes before that saying that he was dealing with a back issue. So some of this is outside JJ's control and the coaching staff's planning and all that stuff. But it's pretty clear he recognizes the idea of we are in a really good space right now.

Starting point is 00:03:53 I don't want to interrupt it unless I have to. But I'm also not going to prioritize the space. that we're in ahead of the big picture, which requires the healthiest possible version of this team. Yeah, and I think, you know, obviously the context of last season influences this decision. Like, you know, the Lakers really did try to dial things back and take advantage of that week off. And it made sense at the time. Like, you know, part of what we talked about when the Lakers did wrap up, you know, a seed that was outside the plane. in and they had home court and they didn't have to travel. It was like, wow, these guys who were

Starting point is 00:04:36 banged up can really rest and like really get healthy heading into the playoffs and it obviously didn't work out in game one. And Reddick attributed a lot of their flat performance in game one to not having the wrong ramp up, the wrong lead in. And so, you know, I think what will be interesting to me is how he handles things. It's one thing, you know, Marcus Smart, he's got an injury. you let that heal and you give it an extra if you don't need him to whether it's to beat Utah or you pretty much mathematically have a seed seed locked up or whatever then you know you give guys that that time what will be interesting to see is when guys are healthy and would just sort of otherwise sit like do they sit whole games do they play the first half is it like almost

Starting point is 00:05:24 like preseason football you know where you see guys play you know the starting quarterback plays three series or two series or something like that and then sits for the second half because you obviously don't want people to get hurt in meaningless games but you know the the the chemistry that the lakers have right now is tangible and so you know it's very clear that he doesn't want to put that at risk well here are the nine games that the lakers have left that i think provide some context in terms of how a lot of things may or may not be approached uh beginning friday and at home against the Nets. Then they have a home game against

Starting point is 00:06:04 the Wizards on Monday. Home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Away against the Thunder. Away against Dallas. Then Home versus the Thunder again. Away Golden State. Then home versus the Suns. Home versus Utah. Of those nine games

Starting point is 00:06:19 for the Nets, Wizards, Mavericks, Utah. They're straight tankers. And the Warriors are at this point functionally a tanking team, even though they're not actually trying to. They are just so banged up right now and missing so many guys, including now Moses Moody and what is an awful injury. I feel horrible for him. But, you know, Steph, his return is TBD. And, you know, depending on the way they're playing, seating may be

Starting point is 00:06:52 locked up. They may just say, we're going to rest Steph the entire time because we can't move really in either direction. And if we don't have Steph right, We're not getting out of the play in anyway. So what difference does it make? The two games that jump out to me most interesting, and you can explain why coming up next are the two Thunder games that I think could be very interesting from the Lakers' perspective, but also I think potentially interesting from the Thunder's perspective as well

Starting point is 00:07:24 that could lead to full rosters on both sides. So I can explain that coming up. up next, but first got to let people know that Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Quo. Spring is a natural reset point. And if there's one thing that can quietly cost businesses money, it's messy communication. Missed calls, scattered text, no clear thread of who said what. And that's why you need Quo, spelled QUO, the smarter way to run your business communications. Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with over 3,000 reviews, trusted by more than 90,000 businesses,

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Starting point is 00:10:20 with the Thunder in particular is a information. I think teams that could potentially face each other in the playoffs and certainly the Thunder as the defending champs think that they're going to get to the Western Conference finals and beyond. And the Lakers are feeling pretty damn good about themselves right now. And I understand why. They have not played each other in a minute. And in the meantime, too, the Thunder,

Starting point is 00:10:50 A, are just getting Jalen Williams back. So they need to get him reps with the rest of the team and as many as possible, particularly against higher-end competition, which would include the Lakers. But also the Thunder's number one seed, which had been seen as a given for most of this season, not so much as of late. They only have a two-game lead over the spurs. The Thunder lost Wednesday night against the Celtics. And Mark Dagnow said after the game, they want home court throughout the entire playoffs.

Starting point is 00:11:31 Like, they didn't, he didn't feign any type of indifference or act like it's not as important to them because they've won a championship. He said, like, I don't think, I'm not sure we beat the nuggets in that game seven without home court. Also, too, and Dagnow didn't say this, but I think it's an unspoken recognition. within the organization, if the spurs pass the thunder, that could potentially cost SGA MVP. Like if the spurs end up the number one seed in what is increasingly, I think, being seen as Shay's MVP to lose, is his right now to defend, but Wembe's picking up on his heels, I think, Luca is actually picking up on his heels, but there's no way the Lakers can catch the thunder. The spurs can.

Starting point is 00:12:21 And there's been a lot of, hey, maybe we should be considering when before this more chatter of late. And I know the Thunder want to see SGA go back to back, just like they want to see themselves go back to back as champs. I think those two games in particular are going to be the ones that you really want to have all hands on deck, if possible, and if safe and all that. And I imagine that's going to be mutual. Everything else, I think, could be case by case to some degree, at least if nothing else until that three seat is completely secured. But I understand why JJ wants to keep things rolling. As you mentioned, the week off hurt them in that series against the Timberwolves.

Starting point is 00:13:10 You don't want to take anything for granted. Yeah, look, every season is different. I do agree with you. I think, you know, both teams, they will play and push if something is if there's something to play for it like there's a difference between two and three i don't know if you necessarily want to you know avoid oklahoma city or avoid san antonio i'm not sure that's really a game you want to start getting and you're getting a little cute trying to figure out like which seed you really want to get um or conversely trying

Starting point is 00:13:39 to manipulate which team you might play in the first round i don't think the lakers really should get involved in any of that. But, you know, Oklahoma City is going to play. Like if they, until they have the number one seed locked up, everybody's playing. I think that's, I think it's abundantly clear. I think until the Lakers have, at the very least, a four seed locked up, everybody's playing. Who can't? I mean, their questions become, what do you do with those last two or three or four games if, you know, the Lakers, if it's, if it's pretty,

Starting point is 00:14:13 clear that they have what they want or you know they'd have to lose out and the other teams would have to win out whatever it might be like mathematically the math is mathing for them um i i like the way that they're that they're thinking about this uh i really loved lucas quote he was asked after the game like uh you know what did you learn about yourself on this trip not yourself but like as a team what did you learn about yourself you know and his response was nothing like we were confident and had a great rhythm and great confidence. And coming into the road trip, we played really well, which is what we expect.

Starting point is 00:14:51 And we got the results that we think, you know, that we were expecting. And so we didn't learn anything about it. We just know we're a good team. Like that kind of confidence, I don't think goes away if you sit guys against, you know,

Starting point is 00:15:04 Phoenix or Utah on April 10th or 12. But there's a sharpness, I think, especially now that you're, you know you're not going to be you're going to have that week off for the play in that that is worth trying to preserve a rhythm that is worth trying to preserve as much as you can that said if there's even a hint of a groin strain or a calf pull or something like that with especially with any of the the big rotation stars you glue them to the bench like instantly well i i think there's

Starting point is 00:15:40 also compromises that can be made here particularly once seating is either essentially locked up or actually locked up. You can play your rotation guys, like the main guys to keep them in rhythm, but play them 20 to 25 minutes. If like the actual result doesn't matter, obviously you can get hurt playing 20 to 25 minutes, but you can get hurt practicing leading up to the playoffs and they're going to practice.

Starting point is 00:16:05 Like you have to approach us in a way where you're not terrified to have your players do their jobs, but there can be a sweet spot between maintaining continuity and acknowledging the result of the game doesn't matter. And we don't need to treat this exactly the same as we would, a game that has any type of stakes in the balance. So maybe the last three to four games, depending on how the standings are shaking out, you can see Luca, Austin, LeBron, the main rotation guys, get reps together, stay in a rhythm, but you see more minutes for Brony and Dalton and Kobe Buffkin and Drew Timmy and

Starting point is 00:16:55 Adieu, assuming he's healthy again, because again, the actual result doesn't matter. And frankly, you know, a guy like Vando getting some extra minutes would be good because he needs, and to his credit, Vando with these absences, he's played more, and he's played very well. He's clearly stayed ready. But you want to keep him in a rhythm, too, because he, everything is next man up, but he's truly the next man up if anybody gets hurt. So, you know, extra opportunities for Vando to get minutes could be useful as well. So I think there are- -

Starting point is 00:17:30 Yeah, he played well on Wednesday in Indiana, but, you know, overall, you know, some confidence building there would be, would be helpful. I mean, look, I'll say this. The, all of this is sort of contingent. The luxury of this conversation that we're having is contingent on continuing to take care of business. And, you know, the next five games, you mentioned them before, but, you know, Brooklyn, Washington, and Dallas, those are three tanking teams. Those are three games you have to win. And then, you know, can you split the home gaming, Cleveland, and the road game against Oklahoma City? Like, Cleveland's a good team. Like, they, I realize, you know, Eastern Conference and this and that, whatever.

Starting point is 00:18:09 That's a good team. And you can lose today. But can you take one of those games against the really good teams that you've got coming up there? If you do, again, that starts to make it much easier to where you have control over these decisions. If you go down to the last week of the season, you still haven't locked up that three seat because you drop a game against Dallas or, you know, you've lost to Oklahoma City twice. and you lost the Cleveland game and maybe you stumble against, you know, Golden State or something like that. It's a moot point because you're going to play everybody. And it's like you want to earn the luxury of being able to do what you think is best,

Starting point is 00:18:48 not what is 100% necessary. So we'll see. And it starts on Friday by beating the nets who suck. Do it remind people, check out the everyday air club. Go to lockdownlakers. com. first month free. If you use the code March, you get access to the Discord channels that have locked on Lickers and also other hosts across the NBA channel.

Starting point is 00:19:13 And you get the ad-free version of the show. So again, the code is March. Check it out. See if it's for you. We will be back with a full show on Friday. Get you ready for Friday night's game. See everyone then.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - JJ Redick Says the Lakers Will Push for Wins ... While Still Being Smart

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