JJ Redick gives stark assessment of Lakers’ catastrophe

After a disastrous defeat to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, Lakers head coach JJ Redick did not mince words when assessing his team’s play. Los Angeles were beaten 132-108, undone most notably by a catastrophic third quarter in which Phoenix took command and put the Lakers’ defensive issues on full display once again.

When asked if his roster was built with enough players wired for consistent effort and physicality, Redick’s response was stark: “No.” The blunt reply underlined his growing frustration with the Lakers’ inconsistency on the defensive end and potentially hinted at deeper concerns about their mentality.

This loss is not an isolated incident. Los Angeles have struggled in several recent outings, surrendering high point totals and failing to protect leads. In Phoenix, the Suns overwhelmed the Lakers inside and out, exploiting a defence that looked slow and unprepared, something that reflected badly on everyone involved.

“We doing shit, we’re being real shitty right now”

The Lakers were outscored 45-29 in the third quarter and saw the Suns to shoot 72.7% from the field during this period. After the game, Redick fumed to the media, rueing the poor decision of his players: “We practice this stuff enough,” he said of the defensive principles. “We review this stuff enough. We show film on this stuff enough that to me, it like comes down to ... just making the choice. It’s making the choice.

“There are shortcuts you can take or you can do the hard thing and you can make the second effort or you can sprint back or you can’t. It’s just a choice. And there’s a million choices in a game, and you’re very likely not going to make every choice correctly. But can you make the vast majority of them correctly? It gives you a chance to win.”

Former Defensive Player of the Year, Marcus Smart, was even more scathing than his coach in his postgame assessment: “We doing shit. We’re being real shitty right now, and it’s showing. ... Every team goes through it trying to figure it out. You just pray that it happens early and we can fix it before it’s too late. But yeah, there’s really no defense, no scheme we can do when we’re giving up offensive rebounds in crucial moments like we are, or guys are getting wherever they want on the court.

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“And there’s no help, there’s no resistance, there’s no urgency. So, it’s tough. And JJ is right. There’s really nothing he can do. It’s on us.”

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