Revealing the Lakers' preparation for G2: Focus on limiting the Timberwolves' three-point Redick hinted at the lack of motivation in previous training

On April 22, Beijing time, Lakers head coach Redick said that the team's training today was "the best in recent months", and the Lakers are now preparing for the second game of the Timberwolves' first-round series.

Redick admits that if the Lakers had maintained this kind of training momentum in the offseason before the playoffs, perhaps they would not have been so sluggish in their opening game on Saturday, which the Lakers lost 95-117.

"We could have played a little bit more intra-team play." Reddick said.

Redick revealed that the Lakers reviewed the problems on the defensive end by watching the game footage on Monday — the same problems that allowed the Timberwolves to shoot 21-of-42 from three-point range in the opening game of the series. And in Tuesday's training, the team "had a long practice session" to adjust the attack.

"Hopefully we'll be able to correct our mistakes." Lakers guard Austin Reaves said, "We played badly and they were on fire. Obviously, they're a strong, physical, and we have to match the intensity. Tomorrow's game will be different. ”

Reaves scored just 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting in G1 and had a plus/minus of -25 in 37 minutes of playing time. "Too bad." Reeves commented on his performance after watching the game footage, "I'm completely out of shape, and I don't know why. But I have to find myself on the court, play my style and enjoy the game. ”

Redick believes that the team's overall lack of organization is the main reason why the Lakers trailed the Timberwolves by as many as 27 points at one point.

"A lot of times, when people hear the word 'organizational,' they're like, 'Oh, that's the point guard that's the tactical arrangement,'" Redick explains, "but it's not about all the fundamentals that we emphasize in our day-to-day training." When we get those details right, the team will be outstanding. Organizationality is reflected in effective coverage, reasonable space positioning on the court, and the ability to occupy the corner position in a timely manner whether the shot is hit or not. These are all organizational manifestations. ”

Defensively, the Lakers have suffered especially by allowing the Timberwolves to hit corner-of-the-box three-pointers. According to Genius IQ, the Timberwolves' nine bottom-corner three-pointers tied their second-highest single-game record this season, including the regular season. All nine three-pointers came from moving the ball, and since the 2013-14 season began tracking players, the number of three-pointers from the bottom corner has been the second-highest in a single playoff game. And those corner three-pointers tend to be hugely open, with Genius IQ data showing that in Game 1, the Timberwolves average 8.6 feet between a Timberwolves pitcher and their nearest Lakers defender.

Lakers forward Finney-Smith said part of the reason was the team's lack of defensive awareness. "We're going to have to find a way to keep Naz Reed from getting a shot from beyond the three-point line," said Finney-Smith, who scored 23 points in Game 1 and shot 6-of-9 from three-point range, "and he rarely opts for a mid-range pullup jumper, basically either hitting the basket or shooting threes, so we have to limit his activities from beyond the three-point line." ”

Finney-Smith also admitted that his defensive performance was affected by his own slump in the individual offense due to his 1-of-5 shooting in the opening game.

'I have to be more proactive,' he said, "and in the last game, I had too little ball, which affected my form and I had to make a change. ”

After a disappointing debut, the Lakers had to reflect on what went wrong. After all, they had won a number of key games before they locked up the third place in the West. Redick called the disparity in physical confrontation between the Lakers and the Timberwolves an "anomaly."

Reaves said the Lakers just had "problems that shouldn't have been." Data analysis also corroborates his claim, according to ESPN research data, the Lakers shot just 1-of-8 after receiving a pass from Luka Doncic, and Doncic only handed out 1 assist in this game, far below his career playoff average of 7.8 assists per game.

Eventually, the Lakers will have a chance to equalize the overall score in Wednesday's home game.

'This defeat is a wake-up call for us to take every round seriously. Reeves said. Redick added: "We have to do better in a lot of ways, starting with playing harder and being more organised as a team. ”