Redick s season coaching report: Is he qualified to coach Doncic and the Lakers?

But we all know that at that time, the Lakers' ideal target was Kangda's double championship coach Colley. However, this coach who was already a god in NCAA was unwilling to get into the muddy waters of Los Angeles and eventually left, and Pelinka and Jenny Buss settled for the second best.

No one noticed the possibility of Redick being the head coach before doing the Mind the game podcast with LeBron. Since retiring in 2021, he specializes in the media and has become a football reviewer. His only relevant resume is that he has coached Ball Brother's shooting with the Pelicans.

It can be said that Redick is the replacement for the Lakers' failed pursuit of Hurley, and LeBron James played an important role in this.

It is not that LeBron pointed out that this coach amateur would take over the hot potato of the Lakers head coach, but that at that time, as the real core of the team, Bass and Pelinka knew too much about how to please the "executive vice GOAT".

So the Lakers team does have its own meritorious features. When you are a super giant worthy of preferential treatment in their minds, you will try every means to make you happy, just like Doncic now.

And LeBron James also enjoyed the team's attention to him at that time.

Redick is very smart. At least in his life, he showed why he had been in the league as a pitcher for 15 years. After retiring, he was doing well on the road of anchor. He not only opened a podcast with LeBron, but also explained the finals on espn.

He knows how to sum up the lessons of his predecessors (Ham)'s failures, and can also inherit some correct ideas. At least in his first year of regular season, you can't find any big problems with him.

Before talking about Redick, I still have to talk about Ham. Why does

cephalosporin fail?

Is it because I put my hands in my pockets and chewed gum, or is it because the tactics on the sideline relying on LeBron?

says that on-the-spot adjustments are not a timeout, but there are actually many coaches with similar styles, not all of them are ATO geniuses like Stevens. The author has always emphasized that Ham's two-year resume in the Lakers is by no means a stain on his career, but will become an important asset for his future coaching staff.

At least in the NBA circle, no one thinks he has really failed in the past two years.

When he took over, the Lakers were still 11th in the West and could not even touch the playoff goal. For more than half of the first season, Westbrook had to pinch his nose and use Westbrook. He took off in the second half of the big deal and played until the Western Conference Finals.

The second midseason champion, with 47 wins in the regular season, but he only met the Nuggets and Jokic and lost to Murray's two finals. However, in the five games of the series, the Lakers not only led the halftime, but also led the overall game time (164 minutes in 240 minutes).

Many people only see his lack of adjustment on the spot, but he puts enough effort into pre-match preparations.

His final failure was largely due to the explosion in the locker room.

Reuse of his confidants Schroeder and Prince, causing players such as Russell, Hachimura, Christie, Wood to explode in their mentality.

He insisted on letting Thick Brow play center (actually right), but failed to do a good psychological massage, which made the Lakers' real cornerstone unhappy and became the last straw that overwhelmed him.

Ham is a player-type coach. He was so difficult in the first half of the 22-23 season. He was beaten by the Mavericks in the Christmas battle, but the team did not collapse.

But when the team should have been stronger in the 23-24 season, they ignited the locker room by themselves, resulting in the end being fired.

It can be said that Ham's failure became Redick's biggest reference and warning for the first season of coaching.

Redick treated Russell very much like Ham treating Westbrook in his first year. He spoke with his strength on the court and poured chicken soup off the court.

In the first three games of the season, the Lakers beat the Timberwolves, Suns and Kings in a row, and continued to use Ham's later James and Lira combination. On the good side, Davis has increased his tactical authority and ball-holding time. He does seem to be the top player in the team. Reeves averages 20+ per game and becomes the real No. 3 person.

But then there were five games and four losses, the problem gradually exposed. The starting lineup has overflowed the ball-holding resources, and there was no real instigation point on the bench except Vincent, which led to the Lakers' substitute firepower league being at the bottom after the start of the season.

So starting from the match against the 76ers on November 8, Russell was also lowered to the bench, and Redick's first-stage "release of military power with a glass of wine" was completed.

After that, the Lakers ushered in a six-game winning streak, during which Reddish's starting lineup enhanced the team's starting lineup defense. Knector's outbreak allowed the team to deal with it with Hachimura's injury with ease.

I have always emphasized that in the Redick system, Kneckett is the positioning substitute for Hachimura. End the vacant position when space is opened and the ball rights are scarce.

His outbreak stage last season was basically avoided by Hachimura's appearance. His positions with Hachimura still overlap in the new season. By the end of the trade in February 2026, there is a high probability that only one person will stay in the team.

But soon, the ills that Reddish brought to this lineup began to show. His poor handling of the ball and his inexperienced shooting not only dragged down the team's offense, but also had an unstable influence on the defensive end.

The Lakers encountered a 2-7 loss embarrassment at the end of November and early December. During this period, Redick tried to fill Kneckett into the starting lineup, but his defensive disadvantage amplified the Lakers' shortcomings again. Thick Brows almost bears the burden of making up for one and four, and his personal performance has also been adjusted from the MVP candidate at the beginning of the season to a normal career level. During this period, Reeves was also absent due to injury..

On December 6, James (one 39 and one 38 points) scored 77 points in a combined score but lost to the Hawks in overtime, and being defeated by Trae Yang became a real turning point.

Yes, after this game, Redick really found the team's victory code and balanced rotation.

The next game against the Trail Blazers, third-year defender Max Christie entered the starting lineup for the first time in the season. Although he only had 4 points and 4 rebounds, he defended Simmons and Grant to 6 of 25 shots, and the Lakers also won smoothly. Since then, Redick has successfully found the fifth man in the core lineup.

After that, the Lakers won 5 wins and 2 losses in the last seven games of 2024, including killing the Warriors in the Christmas Games, beating the Grizzlies, who was second in the West at the time, sweeping the Kings who swept last year, and so on.

Reeves made the decision to send Russell away with his winning streak of the Warriors and four consecutive assists, and obtained the most sought-after 3D Finney Smith from the Nets.

It can be said that the Lakers used 27 games in the second half of 2024 as Reddick's familiarity with the "sunken cost" of adjusting the team.

The Lakers were a more balanced team at that time, with James as the core, Reeves, Hachimura and Kneckett were the offensive helpers, and there were also experts like Finney Smith, Christie, Vanderbilt and even Reddish and Vincent on the defensive end.

The core rotation of Janmeiliba + Christie/Electric Fan that Redick found also has the competitiveness in the playoffs in the future.

They won 9 wins and 5 losses in January 2025. Although there were poor games such as the 76ers away and the Mavericks 2, there were also beautiful victories such as the Celtics, Warriors, Revenge Hawks, Heats, etc.

defeated the then-third-place Knicks in the East on the road on the first day of February.

Then there is Doncic's big deal.

It can be said that Redick didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to coach his talented teammates who had been with the Mavericks (20-21 season).

We can even draw bold conclusions:

If the Lakers knew that they could get Doncic, they would probably not invite Redick in the offseason last year. He prepared for James, especially James.

Although the two were still very harmonious in their later relationships (Redick is indeed a master of relationships), he also understood that if the Lakers got Doncic, their goal would be to the championship, rather than accompanying James to retire with peace of mind.

So he is not a qualified coach candidate.

But you have to admit that Redick did a good job in the regular season after getting Doncic.

After losing the inside big daddy Thani, he quickly adjusted the starting lineup, and while promoting Hayes as the starting lineup, he also adjusted the rotation and greatly improved the role of Vanderbilt, Korlock and others.

With LeBron James' best-level performance in the month, the Lakers achieved an excellent record of 10 wins and 2 losses in February, and also conquered the Nuggets' home court, beating the Warriors and the Clippers.

During this period, Redick's adjustment to the lineup rotation was very successful. Not only did he adjust his tactical thinking in the shortest time (almost considered a knockdown and restart) to match Doncic, but he also used Goodwin, who had a two-way contract to survive, so that the Lakers' defensive power from the outside was not at least in the regular season after losing Christie.

By March, the Lakers encountered an unprecedented difficult schedule, 8 days, 6 games and 3 games back-to-back games were a hard journey that had never been seen in history.

But the Lakers still made a smooth transition with a record of 9 wins and 8 losses in March. Compared to Ham's repeated explosions and losses in both back-to-back schedules, Redick and the coaching staff behind him are indeed much more delicate in controlling the schedule.

In the final schedule in April, the Lakers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder away, defeated the Rockets at home, and finally won third in the West with 50 wins and 32 losses. This is the team's first 50-win season since the 19-20 season. I knew that as a top giant in the league, the Lakers had only 50 wins twice since 2011.

At the same time, when facing the Western Conference opponent, it ranked second only to the Oklahoma City Thunder with 36 wins and 16 losses.

It can be said that the coaching staff led by Redick's work at least during the regular season was very satisfactory.

He learned from the successful experience of the two head coaches of the previous two (using Thick Eyebrow, politeness and then trooping Russell), and also learned from the wrong lessons of his predecessors (the adjustment of the Devil's schedule, and the adjustment of James' Eyebrow's rest), and also added his own new things (exploration of Christy and Goodwin, further development of Reeves, etc.).

It can be said that he only looks at the regular season. If he scores in ten-stage system, he can score 8 points or even higher.

If Redick's regular season is satisfactory, the playoffs will be paid tuition completely.

Not only was he led by his opponent Coach Finch as a pre-match arrangement and on-the-spot performance, he was not at the same level as his two exes, Vogel and Hamm. It can be said that this is the tuition fee that the new coach has to pay.

Without playing games and holding home advantage, not only did they not play momentum and set the tone in the first round, but they also had many cards in their hands to play the rotation shorter and shorter.

In the fourth game, there was even an embarrassing scene where Zhan Dongli had no one to play for 24 minutes without substitution, and was eventually turned around by his opponent.

Redick in the playoffs did not show his wit and courage in the regular season. Almost every hand he played would be cracked by his opponent. In the end, he simply played badly and was saved by the players.

If you don't like Ham's performance in coaching with the Lakers in those two years, Redick this year's playoffs will be even more a disaster. In the new season, the Lakers' game logic will change again after losing Finney Smith, getting Ayton and Smart.

The Lakers have lost Redick's most convenient small ball lineup, and the biggest signing this season is undoubtedly center Ayton.

This requires him to adjust his tactical thinking again to cope with the current competition in the Western Conference year by year.

Although the Lakers are adjusting and transitioning in the new season, they are actually Redick's final probation period. If they cannot achieve a convincing record (above the Western Conference Finals), then it is proved that he is not as good as his ex Ham.

It is said that the Lakers have a 2027 plan to add strong aid to Doncic, but before that, the first thing is to optimize this rookie coach.