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A highlight from the LA Lakers' latest training camp scrimmage recently went viral on social media. Afterward, some Lakers fans credited rookie coach JJ Redick for galvanizing his team. However, others pushed back, suggesting that LA's fanbase overreacted to a relatively simple play.
Redick has received rave reviews to begin his coaching tenure. Players have reportedly been commending his "organization, structure, discipline and communication" in training camp. That starkly contrasts former coach Darvin Ham, whose schematics were frequently questioned the previous two years.
Ahead of training camp, Redick touched on his plan to implement a modern, analytics-driven offensive system emphasizing paint touches and 3-point shots. He added that he encouraged his squad to prioritize attacking the offensive glass.
Redick's vision was seemingly put on display Wednesday in a now-viral video providing fans with a glimpse of the Lakers' new-look offense.
In the clip, point guard D'Angelo Russell kicks the ball out to superstar big man Anthony Davis for a wing 3-point attempt. While Davis misses the shot, forward Rui Hachimura comes flying in for a two-handed putback slam.
One LA fan shared the video on X/Twitter, alluding to Redick's immediate coaching impact.
"Rui crashing the boards. Thank you, JJ," @CantBeatAudel said.
Afterward, additional fans expressed excitement about the Lakers seemingly buying into Redick's coaching philosophy.
"RUI demon potential unlocked under an actual coach?" @dhshdnf said.
"Rui rebound putbacks. Maybe he might have a career rebounding year," @officialoblizy wrote.
"JJ's got AD shooting wing 3s? It's over," @univalvefoil1 said.
However, others pumped the breaks, noting that LA's fanbase was celebrating too soon.
"Why is JJ getting credit for this? Why [do] y'all MFs act like y'all [have] never seen Rui do a putback dunk? Don't start this bulls**t," @RxShow24 said.
"You already know that’s not gonna happen in a real game," @JBoogie2494 wrote.
"Rui crashing boards, AD jacking 3s, ahh, this is refreshing until they both stop,"@Johnny95613361 said.
Lakers insider says team's training camp vibes "are at an all-time high"
As for how productive LA's first training camp under JJ Redick has been, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha raved about the team's early vibes.
During Tuesday's edition of "Buha's Block," the Lakers insider struggled to recount experiencing more optimism surrounding the franchise entering a season.
"The vibes around the Lakers are at an all-time high," Buha said. "... This is my fifth training camp, and I cannot remember the Lakers having this positive, joyous, upbeat energy around them to this extent."
(from 12:07 mark onwards)
Time will tell whether LA's good vibes carry over into the start of the regular season and beyond. Redick and Co. are tasked with improving upon last season's seventh-place Western Conference finish (47-35) with essentially the same roster.
If the team gets out of the gate slowly, perhaps some fans will begin to turn on Redick as they did with Darvin Ham.
Also Read: LA insider weighs in on JJ Redick's view of deploying a 9-man rotation for upcoming season
