The Los Angeles Lakers improved to 5-2 with a 131-125 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, but head coach JJ Redick was far from satisfied
Redick was particularly annoyed with certain players who passed up wide-open threes.
“I know in the second half, I can think of four times that we turned down wide-open threes,” Redick said, via BasketNews.
“I’ll take these guys out. You gotta shoot the ball when you’re open,” he added.
Redick was presumably referring to Quentin Grimes — who had four turnovers and only four shot attempts in 26 minutes — while also faulting the Lakers’ “new group” of acquisitions for failing to play their roles.
JJ Redick Calls Out Quentin Grimes?
“Again, it’s the new group thing,” Redick said, referring to Grimes and others. “These guys gotta understand what the purpose is of what we’re trying to do.
“When you get an advantage, you gotta keep the advantage and shoot it.”
Lakers beat writer Jovan Buha also feels Redick was being critical of Grimes, who has shot a disappointing 25% from three through seven games thus far.
“He’s turned down way too many shots,” Buha said of Grimes. “He is just overthinking it completely, and he needs to be aggressive.
“JJ was pissed after the game. JJ was upset. If guys are passing up shots, I’m just gonna pull them from the game. I think the prime example of this is Quentin Grimes.”
Lakers Nearly Blow Big Lead
Redick also appeared to send a warning shot to the Lakers’ bench after they nearly squandered a 14-point lead in the final two minutes.
When Redick pulled his starters, Los Angeles led 123–109 with 1:43 left. However, a unit of rookie Cameron Carr, Jaden Hardy, Bronny James, Jarred Vanderbilt and Grimes quickly let the game slip away through careless turnovers, missed free throws and open misses. A rapid 11–2 run brought the Raptors within five at 125–120 with 43 seconds left, forcing Redick to rush his starters back onto the floor.
Redick admittedly learned his lesson.
“…I won’t make that mistake again,” Redick said of pulling his starters in favor of Bronny James and Co. in the final two minutes, via Fadeaway World.
“I’ll leave the guys in. You got to play to the final buzzer, and if guys are not ready to play, then I just won’t put them in.”
Redick said he was disappointed with the second-unit players for not performing the simple task of taking care of the ball with a double-digit lead.
“…It’s literally grab and hold, foul, trap, foul, and we just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball in that situation.”
The Lakers (5-2) will next host the Miami Heat (2-4) in the second night of a back-to-back on Monday.
Lakers’ JJ Redick Warns Bronny James, Others: ‘I’ll Take Those Guys Out’