First-year head coach JJ Redick discovered a silver lining after his Los Angeles Lakers misplaced an Oct. 15 preseason sport to the Golden State Warriors.

“When you take a look at it, for us and our group to take 40 3s in a sport, that is promising,” Redick mentioned after the defeat, earlier than making a considerably bold proclamation. “It is promising. We will get it as much as 50, hopefully, however 40 is sweet.”

Clearly, 50 3s per sport wasn’t a practical goal. Redick would later say that he “would love [the Lakers] to common 5 – 6 extra 3s a sport,” however that preliminary quote took on a lifetime of its personal for its mixture of novelty and predictability.

If any coach would push for 50 3’s per sport, would not it’s the previous sharpshooter-turned-analytics savvy media voice? The seemingly sarcastic goal was unattainable. It is also precisely what gawking onlookers had been anticipating out of a coach with such an unorthodox background. Oh, take a look at the podcaster and his mathematical fantasies.

And that is a part of what has made Redick’s stellar begin as coach of the Lakers so spectacular. It is not occurring as a result of he plucked a single piece of low-hanging fruit like shot-selection. It is occurring as a result of he is overhauled the methods wherein the Lakers get to the appears they at all times needed.

By two video games, the Lakers are solely trying 28.5 3-pointers per sport. That is practically three fewer than they did a season in the past, and the second-fewest within the NBA up to now. It simply hasn’t mattered as a result of the Lakers are doing every little thing else completely. They outscored Minnesota by 32 factors within the paint on Tuesday. They assisted on 33 of their 40 subject objectives in opposition to Phoenix on Friday. They’ve gotten to the foul line 64 instances in two video games.

If any of this sounds acquainted, it is as a result of that is how the very best variations of the Lakers have performed through the LeBron James-Anthony Davis period. Their supporting casts have by no means been suited to the type shot-diets different contenders are shifting in the direction of, so when the Lakers have gained, it has largely been via physicality and unselfishness. One of the best coaches lean into the rosters they’ve, not those they need. Redick has completed so up to now, enacting modifications which have made a drastic distinction with out compromising the crew’s core id.

No crew moved much less on offense final season than the Lakers, in response to NBA.com monitoring knowledge. It wasn’t shut, both. The hole between the Lakers and No. 29 Clippers, when it comes to miles their gamers traveled per sport, was larger than the distinction between the Clippers and the No. 21 Hawks. Now you are seeing set performs like this:

It is a tiny pattern via two video games, however the Lakers have 37 factors off of cuts up to now this season. That is a mean of 18.5 factors per sport, up from round 12 final season. After averaging 267.5 passes per sport a season in the past, the Lakers fired off 334 of them within the season opener. Redick has sufficient buy-in from his gamers to include all of this additional motion and passing, and he is utilizing it to generate the pictures they’re greatest at making.

With time, Redick will certainly push the Lakers in the direction of larger 3-point quantity. That has much less to do together with his perceived inclinations as a training prospect and extra to do with each the truth of the fashionable NBA and the methods wherein defenses will adapt to what he is completed up to now. Redick would not simply need to blindly create 3s. He desires to create good 3s, and one of the best ways to try this is to trend an offense wherein defenses haven’t any selection however to give up them in an effort to cease every little thing else.

That is what nice coaches do. They maximize the gamers they’ve to allow them to subtly shift the fashion of video games their crew performs of their most popular path. It is accounting for course of earlier than outcomes and guaranteeing that gamers embrace modifications over time. It’s extremely early, however up to now Redick is doing nearly every little thing proper as a head coach and, even when he by no means will get the Lakers to 50 3s per sport, he is already taken a large step in the appropriate path.