Los Angeles Clippers: Appreciating J.J. Redick
I can’t really tell if J.J. Redick is over or underrated. People tend to think he’s a pretty good player and shooter who provides at least some value to a team. Most of his value does come from his ability to shoot the ball, but shooting isn’t the only thing he does.
Redick just turned 30 this summer, and you wouldn’t expect him to improve much anymore but every year he seems to get better. Last season Redick posted career highs in points per game and PER, while posting a 59.8 True Shooting percentage, which is pretty great for a guard almost exclusive relying on jump shots.
He has improved his play making tremendously from when he came into the league and is now capable of running a decent pick and roll or putting the ball on the floor when the ball gets winged to him on the weak side.
Redick has become a more versatile an accurate finisher around the rim and has added a nifty little floater game to his arsenal. J.J. Redick is also a very good and smart team defender. Sure, he’s a bit short and over matched physically against most good 2-guards, but he knows where to be and never misses a rotation.
His ability to work in a team concept outweighs his lack of athleticism and size and makes him a plus defender. The fallacy of Redick not being a good defender is just something permeated by people who look at his physical tools and think he can’t contribute.
He’s not a much of a “plus” defender, but his teams have generally at least not done worse on that end in the past few seasons.
Redick’s shooting is what makes him special, but not because he just sits in the corner and makes spot up shots at a high rate. Redick is a pretty special offensive player in his own right and when used correctly can be an extremely valuable part of a well-functioning offense.
Redick is excellent coming off of screens, which is an under appreciated skill which leads to tons of interesting action and options. Coach Doc Rivers used him expertly in interesting single-double sets (where Redick has a choice on both sides of the floor of either taking one or two screens) a-la Ray Allen for the Celtics, where Redick could go and do damage.
This type of action can also be used as all sorts of misdirection and lots of different things can happen; If Redick curls into the lane he can try to find his big man rolling to the rim when the big guys defender steps up to defend the shot.
Or if his man tries to “jump” the screen and get into the passing lane he can flare to the corner for an open shot. If both the screener and his man jump out to him Chris Paul can make the pass straight to rolling big man.
Redick is a special type of shooter as he can shoot off the catch or dribble, or run off of baseline screens for open shots. Those types of shots aren’t easy, even for very good shooters.
Redick has beautiful balance on his shots and gets them off quickly while being squared to the basket. The stuff you can run with a player like Redick is plain cool and Doc Rivers uses his skills really well.
J.J. Redick may not be the most flashy name, but he’s really good NBA starter and has one absolutely elite skill that’s extremely valuable when used correctly.
He still has a couple of years left on his deal with the Clippers and will be a big part of what the Clippers hope will be a deep playoff run leading to a championship next season. Shot Chart by @AustinClemens2 from NylonCalculus.com:
