Los Angeles Lakers head coach J.J. Redick harshly criticized the “lousy” game the team played on Thursday, as they suffered their third consecutive loss against the Houston Rockets and warned: “I’m not going to do another 53 games like that”.
“The two key words of the day were effort and execution. When we’ve done both at a high level, we’ve been a good basketball team. When we haven’t, we’re a lousy team, and tonight we were,” Redick said in a press conference at the end of the game, which they lost by 23 points.
Saturday’s meeting is going to be awkward
Redick believes the team “doesn’t care enough to do what it takes” to improve. “That’s what bothers me the most. We don’t care enough to do what it takes. We don’t care enough to be professionals,” he added.
There are players who don’t make decisions and it’s pretty consistent who they are
The coach also revealed that when he spoke to the squad he warned them that next Saturday’s meeting “is going to be uncomfortable”
“It’s a matter of making a decision, and too often we find players who don’t want to do that,” Redick said.
“It’s pretty consistent who those players are,” he said.
Doncic: “We shouldn’t play like that, we have to be better”
Luka Doncic faced the media after the game and admitted that Los Angeles Lakers are not going through their best moment and that they must start to detect what is going wrong after linking three defeats in recent weeks.
“Definitely something has to change, it looks terrible. We have to realise that this is what we have. That’s what we have to talk about,” said the Slovenian.
Something definitely has to change, it looks terrible
Doncic said the whole team has to challenge itself: “We shouldn’t play like that, we have to be better.”
Downcast and in little mood for conversation after the bitter Christmas defeat, the Los Angeles star said the team must address a conversation that will be uncomfortable, but necessary to continue picking up points.
“The court needs to be well controlled. You need all five players to be excellent,” he said.
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