JJ Redick masters key area that Darvin Ham failed in, as per NBA analyst
An NBA analyst has already praised JJ Redick after just his first two preseason games as LA Lakers coach, despite both being losses. "Cranjis McBasketball" or "@Tim_NBA" on X, formerly known as Twitter, of the Basketball Index explained how Redick is already doing better in an area former coach Darvin Ham failed.
In a post on their X account, @Tim_NBA shared that Redick achieved 55%+ organized offense in the first six preseason quarters of his career with the Lakers. It's a much better consistency, which was lacking under Ham, who didn't use organized schemes from his playbook as the game went on.
The analyst added that the Lakers had a record of 20-4 when their organized offense was at least 55%. But most of the time, the former Lakers coach didn't have a good sense of when to use his plays in specific parts of the game.
For those who don't know, organized offense is when a team runs a play during a half-court possession. It's part of the team's playbook, which every coach in the NBA has. Some coaches would allow certain lineups to call plays such as isolation or quick pick-and-roll depending on how the defense is set up.
One of Darvin Ham's biggest problems last year was letting his team play it out and hoping that it could break a run or start its own. Teams run organized plays because they are meant to give the offense better looks. But when it's simple play calls, the defense, especially the better teams, can quickly read them and make a stop.
With JJ Redick at the helm, the LA Lakers are expected to be more analytics-based in terms of how they run the team. It's one of the reasons why Redick is sticking with last season's best lineup statistically: D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
JJ Redick, LA Lakers set to face Darvin Ham in their next preseason game
After the LA Lakers fired Darvin Ham as their coach, the Milwaukee Bucks rehired him as an assistant coach under Doc Rivers. Before Ham went to Hollywood, he served as an assistant under coach Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee from 2018 to 2022.
It's not the regular season yet, but the Lakers are set to reunite with Ham early in the preseason. JJ Redick and the rest of the team are traveling to Milwaukee on Thursday for some preseason action at Fiserv Forum.
Ham led the Lakers to the playoffs twice and even won the NBA Cup last season. However, the source of frustration for the fanbase was that the team could have been much better if it had played more organized basketball.