Lakers coach JJ Redick tries to find balance between analysis and instinct

JJ Redick, the Lakers’ new head coach, looked at a set of numbers and discovered that one of his rookies, Bronny James, had made more moves in the team’s first practice than anyone else on the roster.

“I went up to Bronny before practice and said, ‘Dude, you ran six miles.’ And he said, ‘Yes, I know.’ So someone had already shared that with him,” Redick said Wednesday. “I think my experience as a player was very helpful because I had to get to the end of all this tracking stuff. And it was something that, especially as I got older, was important to me in terms of measuring just my capabilities and my load. And if a man has a strong build and feels good, that is important information for him.

But it doesn’t matter to everyone that Redick will have to thread a needle in the way he uses and disseminates information collected through wearable technology, high-definition cameras and sensors near the edges of the practice facility – all of which measure different information and logging . facts.

“I don’t care about numbers,” Anthony Davis said. “Numbers mean nothing. You could get an average of 50. If you’re in last place, what do you get out of the season: “Oh, you had an average of 50.” You don’t get anything for that. For me it’s about winning, winning championships.

“So that doesn’t matter to me.”

For his new head coach it is clearly important: everything matters.

Read more: New voices help JJ Redick coach Lakers on Day 1, but LeBron James’s isn’t one of them

Redick is admittedly inclined to delve into big and small things. Earlier this year, LeBron James told Redick he thought a live DJ would be a nice touch during practice. During two days at the facility, the team had DJ Meel set up in the corner near their weight room. And Reddick liked the atmosphere.

“If the players are happy, I’m good too,” he said.

However, he is not alone when it comes to his passion for information. He said he wanted to make sure that when he formed his first NBA staff, he was surrounded by people who wanted to learn the same thing.

“More information is better,” Redick said. “That’s how I… every person we’ve hired, that’s been a big thing that I’ve told them. “You want to get in the weeds?” ‘Yes, I want to get into the weeds. Yes.’ So as much information as possible.”

But Redick, like any player who has seen analytics enter the NBA world, knows that there is a balance to be struck: that information overload can be just as crippling as physical overload. And there’s an art to sharing things that matter to you with players who might not care as much.

Read more: Lakers star LeBron James is riding the momentum of ‘great summer’ into training camp

“I think it’s good that he’s an ex-player. Clearly the numbers don’t lie. And there is a lot of truth in the numbers. But there is also flow and feeling to the game,” guard Austin Reaves said. “And because he is an ex-player, I know he knows the ups and downs in games and the situations to get out of the numbers. But like you said, he’s a big guy on analytics and I’m really excited to dive into that more and see how I can get better as well.

“…In the past I’ve flushed all that. Yesterday, for the first time, I actually looked at how much I had run in practice. It seemed like five miles. I tend to play more by feel and go with the flow. But I also think there are situations where there are numbers that give you a nudge or a nudge to really see what is working and what isn’t working.”

Comments

Davis shared a fun live-action back-and-forth between LeBron James and Bronny on Wednesday. “It’s fantastic to be able to be here and witness it in practice,” Davis said. “And Bronny hit a three over him today. Everyone spoke in favor of Bronny. Then Bron came down and just bullied someone. Just took it out on (him) – I forgot who it was – and got a layup. Bronny came down and hit another three, I think over Austin. And Bron wanted the ball. So you could see that the competition is there, even though they were not evenly matched. And that is what we like to see.” … Cam Reddish remained a limited participant with ankle soreness, but his injury has improved since Tuesday. … The Lakers have a plan for how they will use their veterans in the preseason, though they are not sharing it yet. … The team has an early practice scheduled for Thursday before heading to Palm Springs, where they will play their first two preseason games.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.