EL SEGUNDO — As a player, new Lakers head coach JJ Redick was a student of the game when it came to analytics regarding his on-court work and recovery.
So it’s no surprise that along with the help of his coaching staff and the organization’s performance staff that he’s prioritized the data in his current role – which was evident in his post-practice scrum with reporters on Wednesday.
“I would start with the fact that we’ve been measuring their load capacity throughout the preseason,” Redick said during his opening comments. “And [Tuesday], and we’ve asked a lot of them in our workouts, and [Tuesday] was an outlier in terms of their load, and we brought it again [Wednesday]. I’m very curious to see the data from [Wednesday] compared to [Tuesday].”
Redick isn’t shy about sharing these numbers with his players. And neither are the members of his staff, apparently.
“It’s funny because I went over to Bronny [James] before practice and I was like, ‘Dude, you ran six miles’,” Redick said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, I know.’ So somebody had already shared that with him.
“My experience as a player was very helpful because I got to come in at the tail end of all of this tracking stuff. And it was something, especially as I got older, that was important to me in terms of measuring just my capacity and my load. And if a guy has got a strong buildup, and he’s feeling good, that’s important information for him. It’s important information for the coaching staff. It’s always available for the players.”
For Redick, he doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned.
“More information is better,” Redick said. “Every person we’ve hired, that’s been a key thing that I’ve told them. ‘Do you want to get in the weeds?’ ‘Yeah, I do want to get in the weeds. Yeah.’ So as much info as possible.”
There’s a delicate balance that needs to be found when using analytics and data for players, who for the most part rely on their “feel” and instincts whether it’s concerning their shot selection, decision-making in a close game or how many minutes they can play.
Redick, who played in the NBA for 15 seasons, understands this from experience. And it should help him find that balance when it comes to not only communicating this information with players, but when to applying the information in real time during games.
Austin Reaves, the Lakers’ fourth-year guard, admitted that “in the past, I’ve flushed all that” regarding the data Redick referred to.
But not anymore. Tuesday was the first time he looked at how many miles he ran in practice – around five.
“Obviously, the numbers don’t lie,” Reaves said. “And there’s a lot of truth in the numbers. But there’s also flow and feel in the game. And for him to be an ex-player, I know he knows the ups and downs in games and the situations to go away from the numbers. But like you said, he’s a big analytics/numbers guy and I’m very excited for myself to dive more into that and see ways I can be better as well.”
But not every player feels the same way as Reaves.
“I don’t even know what some of that stuff means, man,” said All-Star big man Anthony Davis, who is entering his 14th NBA season. It doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me if we have more points than the other team at the end of the game. That’s all I care about. These things that they come up with as far as the analytics, these categories and stuff like that, it doesn’t even matter. It has no importance to me whatsoever.”
JAMES’ PLAY
General Manager Rob Pelinka shared the story of LeBron James scoring over his son and now Lakers teammate, Bronny, during voluntary workouts in the offseason in September.
Davis shared the latest on-court back-and-forth between the two during Wednesday’s practice.
“It’s fantastic to be here and witness it in practice,” Davis said. “And Bronny hit a 3 over him [Wednesday]. Everybody was talking smack in Bronny’s favor. Then Bron came down and just bullied somebody. Just took it out on [him] – I forgot who it was – and got a layup. Bronny came down and hit another 3, I think over Austin. And Bron wanted the ball. So you could see, even though they weren’t matched up, the competition is there. And that’s what we love to see.
“Obviously we all know the historic significance of them getting to share the court. So we embrace it. And it will be even better when they’re on the same team and one throws a lob to each other or you get a fantastic play. We get to see that a couple times in practice but I’m just honored to be here to be able to witness that.”
