Lakers News: JJ Redick Impressed by Surprise Starter's Defense

JJ Redick is loving what he's seeing so far.

Mar 19, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) and guard D'Angelo Russell (1) celebrate against the Orlando Magic in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers are only a few weeks away from the start of the 2024-25 season. Although they will enter the season with virtually the same team, they appear to have a new attitude and identity thanks to their new head coach JJ Redick. 

Redick will enter his first year as the Lakers head coach, and thus far, he has impressed with his offense and mentality. Redick will have a lot to prove this season, and so will his team.

Redick will learn more about his team and players as the season approaches. So far, he is impressed with the defense of his starting guard, Austin Reaves. After Tuesday's practice, Redick said he likes what he has seen from Reaves on the defensive side of the ball thus far. 

"I never thought he was a chump defensively, but he competes his ass off on that end," Redick said. "He knows what he's supposed to do. He's in the right spots. If he's supposed to veer, he veers. If he's supposed to be the low man, he's the low man. If he's supposed to be at the nail, he's at the nail. He just does a lot of really good things on the basketball floor."

Reaves was asked about Redick's comments, and here's what he had to say. 

"So, he said I was playing good defense, or no?" Reaves asked.

Reporters responded to him, saying, "Yes." 

"Oh, he said that? Oh, wow," Reaves responded.

Reeves said he trusts himself on the floor on that end, especially knowing that superstar Anthony Davis has his back. 

“Yeah, I would hope so. It’s better than not being in the right spot,” Reaves said, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. “No, I think it’s just, you know, having a foundation, having a system, when you know exactly where the rotation is going to be, where you’re supposed to be, where the help is going to be. It gives you a good feeling as you’re guarding the ball, knowing, ‘All right, well, I can be a little bit more aggressive because I got AD [Anthony Davis] on the back row and I know he’s going to be there. But not just AD, if they skip it to the corner, then X [teammate] is going to be there.’

“So, just having faith in what we’re doing and the foundation that we’re putting in is the biggest thing for me.”

We all know what Reaves can do on the offensive end, as his points per game have jumped every season. However, if he can improve on defense, this Lakers team will be much better than people expect them to be. 

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