D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ repentant level guard who has vowed to be extra engaged this season, answered some questions Thursday as drama-free as potential.
“The main goal is basketball. I think I do that,” he stated. “Obviously a lot of people get distracted from that and everything else matters but basketball. For me, I’m trying to eliminate the distractions that y’all can use against me or say against me. Trying to eliminate it.”
However when the subject turned to the best way the Lakers are getting ready for the season below JJ Redick, concerning the psychological calls for being placed on the group, Russell couldn’t disguise his pleasure.
“Hell yeah. Yeah, it excites me,” he stated. “I haven’t really had the opportunity to — and I’m not throwing shots at anybody, obviously, I know it kinda spins like that — but I’ve never really had the opportunity to build a relationship with a coach over a long period of time.”
Russell talked about spending elements of three seasons with Chris Finch in Minnesota as one instance, however in any other case, he’s lived a reasonably transient NBA way of life.
With Redick, Russell stated, he’s discovered somebody prepared to problem the Lakers and himself with mental concepts whereas forcing them to get into the minutia about how and why one thing so simple as a display can work.
“For me to see how JJ is trying to bring the play calls and just level of IQ into each practice and each film session, to see how he’s prioritizing that. I’ve always been a guy that wants to prioritize high IQ, high verbiage, high film sessions… like, let’s rise to that,” Russell stated. “And he’s obviously doing that. It’s something to look forward to.”
Redick stated he’s been engaged on getting his gamers acclimated, collaborating with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and different gamers who have been away from the health club within the construct to the season.
“I’m confident that given our level of work, and I would call it preliminary install in September, we were in constant communication,” Redick stated. “As we were building out languages and our systems, you know, I would update those guys, you know, every 10 days or so with an updated PDF of all the stuff. If they had any questions, we talked about it.”
Thursday, requested about the reason for these apologies, Russell declined.
E-newsletter
All issues Lakers, on a regular basis.
Enter e-mail handle
Signal Me Up
You could sometimes obtain promotional content material from the Los Angeles Instances.
“I left y’all with what I left y’all with. That’s all I really got,” Russell stated.
However when it got here to specifics a couple of play Redick drew up in one of many first Lakers’ practices of the brand new season, Russell stated he made certain to succeed in out to his coach later within the day to go with his innovation.
“He drew up a play and I don’t even know if it worked. I think Jaxson did a great job of sniffing the play out. And I was on the golf course and I was thinking about it and I sent JJ a little voice note kinda thanking him for putting that out. I’d never seen it,” Russell stated. “I’m not trying to hype it up but I thanked him for showing me that. It didn’t work, but I saw him getting into his bag right there and it’s exciting for players to notice stuff like that.”
Let the video games start
The Lakers open the preseason Friday in Palm Springs towards Minnesota earlier than internet hosting Phoenix on Sunday.
Redick wouldn’t say how a lot James or Davis would play.
“We have a general idea of what that looks like for all of preseason,” he stated. “But just trying to figure out what makes the most sense. Our framework for a plan is based in real-time, based on how these guys feel. I lived this as a player. You can have a three-and-a-half-hour practice where you’re standing around for 45 minutes and people are talking and teaching and we didn’t do that the first two days. It was two hours and five minutes with two water breaks. Today was 60 minutes with no water breaks. One thing to the next. So we gotta see how they feel and we’ll adjust accordingly.”
The group bused to Palm Springs following that tight Thursday apply.
“Today was a ‘tornado,’ that’s what (Redick) said …because we only had a one-hour practice so we were just going to go hard,” Rui Hachimura stated. “…We just wanted it high intensity today so that’s what we did and we had a really good practice today, I think. It was a short time. It’s been great.”
Make a decide
Hachimura stated he’s in a singular place with the Dodgers and the Padres assembly within the playoffs, with two Japanese countrymen starring for the groups in Shohei Ohtani and Sport 2 San Diego starter Yu Darvish.
“Dodgers, yeah. I got to say. You know, actually, Yu Darvish, that’s tough. Yeah, that’s tough. He’s like my mentor, you know. When I got to the league he was always supporting me,” Hachimura stated of Darvish. “He was always there. He came to the game too one time. I remember that. He had like the whole [outfit], my jersey, everything. It’s just one of those [things] where I’m just happy to see those Japanese athletes — they’re playing against each other on one of the biggest stages in the world. So, yeah, I’m just happy to see it and I’m so proud of them, those two.”
