Among the former coaches of JJ Redickpromoted to head coach at the Lakers this week, Stan Van Gundy is perhaps best placed to discuss the reconversion of the former sniper, who will therefore have his first experience on a bench in a high-pressure environment.
Stan Van Gundy had JJ Redick under his command for five seasons at the Magic, and he made him one of the darlings of the Amway Center at the time when Orlando played the leading roles in the East. Already at the time, he had detected in him his thirst for learning about the game and this fiber of coaching.
“He already had a cerebral approach to the game when he was a player. He knew every aspect of it, because he needed to. He wasn't very athletic, so he really had to know all aspects of the game and apply them.”, he explained. “You only had to listen to him talk to understand how much he knew the game. I didn't know it, but even when he was playing, he was perhaps already preparing to one day become a coach.”
The Lakers face big competition
Jeff Van Gundy's brother recognized that for his first time as head coach, JJ Redick finds himself facing a very difficult challenge. But according to him, his success will first be conditioned by the Lakers' objectives.
“Their expectations have been unrealistic given their numbers in recent years. From what I saw, it wasn't a very good team. Based on their current roster, I think their ceiling for next year would probably be to finish 6th, maybe 5th, if they stay healthy and other teams struggle. But, in reality, I think they will be a play-in team again.”he added. “I hope JJ will be judged based on what I believe to be a fair expectation. If so, I think he'll be fine. If he's judged by people who think, 'OK, we've got LeBron James and Anthony Davis, we should be able to challenge for the title,' then that's a whole different story.”
On the other hand, his age and inexperience will not necessarily constitute a hindrance. The examples are numerous, starting with recent NBA champion Joe Mazzulla (35 years old), even if he spent three seasons as an assistant coach in Boston before becoming head coach. We can also mention Doc Rivers, Steve Kerr and Jason Kidd, who were directly inducted into the leadership of a team without having been assistants, and who knew how to rise to the challenge.
Once again, for JJ Redick's big debut at the Lakers, it will above all be a question of objectivity.
“There is no miracle formula for becoming a head coach in the NBA. There are many different paths to follow. I think JJ will do a good job as long as the Lakers' expectations are reasonable, which hasn't been the case in a long time,” concluded SVG.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| LeBron James | 71 | 35.3 | 54.0 | 41.0 | 75.0 | 0.9 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 25.7 |
| Anthony Davis | 76 | 35.5 | 55.6 | 27.1 | 81.6 | 3.1 | 9.5 | 12.6 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 24.7 |
| Angelo Russell | 76 | 32.7 | 45.6 | 41.5 | 82.8 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 18.0 |
| Austin Reaves | 82 | 32.1 | 48.6 | 36.7 | 85.3 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 15.9 |
| Rui Hachimura | 68 | 26.8 | 53.7 | 42.2 | 73.9 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 13.6 |
| Taurean Prince | 78 | 27.0 | 44.2 | 39.6 | 73.5 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 8.9 |
| Christian Wood | 50 | 17.4 | 46.6 | 30.7 | 70.2 | 0.8 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 6.9 |
| Spencer Dinwiddie | 28 | 24.2 | 39.7 | 38.9 | 88.0 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 6.8 |
| Cam Reddish | 48 | 20.5 | 38.9 | 33.6 | 75.9 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 5.4 |
| Jared Vanderbilt | 29 | 20.0 | 51.8 | 29.6 | 66.7 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 5.2 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 70 | 12.5 | 72.0 | 0.0 | 62.2 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 4.3 |
| Max Christie | 67 | 14.1 | 42.7 | 35.6 | 78.3 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 4.2 |
| Gabe Vincent | 11 | 19.8 | 30.6 | 10.7 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 3.1 |
| From me Hodge | 7 | 5.9 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.0 |
| Jalen Hood-schifino | 21 | 5.2 | 22.2 | 13.3 | 60.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.6 |
| Colin Castleton | 16 | 3.7 | 56.3 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Dylan Windler | 8 | 3.5 | 44.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Skylar Mays | 17 | 4.5 | 47.6 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| Alex Fudge | 4 | 3.6 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Maxwell Lewis | 34 | 3.0 | 19.0 | 11.1 | 66.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Harry Giles | 7 | 2.7 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
