Lakers Land Investment: Writer vs. VA

If LeBron James is in civilian clothes, on the edge of the field, his teammates sweat with large drops on the parquet floor. Nothing surprising for a start of “training camp”, but at the Lakers, JJ Redick insists a lot on land, and physical condition. In “A NBA that plays at a crazy rate” to paraphrase the expression of Nicolas Batum, it is essential to have players who run quickly, and long.

“I don’t know if they like me now” quips the Los Angeles coachafter leaving an end of sessions with “suicides”. “I think there are three ways to answer this question: ‘Are we in good shape?’ The first would be: ‘Are we sprinting in defense to come back?’ Then: ‘Do we play with rhythm in attack?’ And I would also include our ability to go to the offensive rebound and then come back to defend. If these things are done at a very high level, it is because we are in good shape. ”

If Redick is hated by all his players, it’s good …

To better obtain the involvement of his players, Redick participates in the most difficult exercises, at the end of the session, and even if the legs are very heavy, nobody is reluctant.

“I said to JJ, a week or two a week ago:” If we hate you all, but we all hate you collectively, it’s perfect “,” says Gabe Vincent. “Obviously, nobody wants to run at the end of a long training, but we know the objective that we set for ourselves and we know what we are trying to build for the future … So we accept it all. »»

For Luka Donnteic, who showed the example this summer by losing a lot of pounds, physical preparation is also a mental test. “It is not only a question of physical form, it is also a question of mental form” Concludes the Slovenian Abdick’s approach with his team. “Both are very important. We work in training. It’s great and everyone is in great shape. Everyone runs a lot, so so far, it goes very well. We all run, and we all progress. »»