JJ Redick played has most important and effective minutes as pro during the 2009 postseason in the second round against the Boston Celtics. With Orlando’s starting SG Courtney Lee out with a broken sinus, JJ Redick had to step up and he did. Redick had to defend Celtics sharpshooter Ray Allen and didn’t do a bad job. He also had a few effective scoring games including a 12-point performance in game one of the Boston series and a 15-point performance in game two. He also netted 15 on five three-pointers in Orlando’s closeout game six win over Philadelphia, which Redick also started because of Lee’s injury. He appeared in just one game against Cleveland and played limited minutes in the Finals (except for game two when he forced into action because of foul trouble), but those performances against Boston could give Redick some much needed momentum in his career.
Where he has improved this summer
"I think that the improvement I made was defensively, just being able to stay on the court. I figured out our system, that’s what helped me. Positioning, timing and all that stuff. And just getting down. Obviously all the work I put in for my body helped. Stan and I talked this summer. The most disappointing thing about last season was the way I shot the ball. It’s kind of ironic. I feel like I could shoot a lot better so that’s what I really concentrated on this summer, was shooting. Just getting back to the basics – my footwork, my balance, my follow-through, just a lot of repetitions.Basically what I did was Sunday nights, the sixth day, Sunday nights were just spot shooting. I would come and I would make 200 shots. But every other day was something different. So if it was a Tuesday and I said I was working on catch and shoot, I’d work on catch and shoot for an hour, just coming of screens. Those days, because you’re moving so much, you don’t get off as many shots so it just depended on the day and what I was working on. I worked on ball handling some days. I’d put cones out here and dribble through cones. I worked on pick-and-roll shooting. But the basis of everything I worked on was getting back to the fundamentals of shooting and making shots."
This is good news for Magic fans. Redick seemed to be developing into a better all-around player during last year’s post-season but his shooting was way off. The shots he was missing were wide-open looks and seemingly easier shots than the difficult baskets he famously made look so easy at Duke.
On what it will take to make this team a cohesive unit
"Well, last year’s group had great chemistry because we’d been together a few years and we’re familiar with Stan’s system, so it’s going to take a little bit of time. I think Jameer having his camp again this summer certainly helped. All the new guys came to that. And just being in here all of September and working and learning the concepts, that’s going to help, but there’s nothing that can simulate actual NBA games. So it may take a little bit of time but I’m not going to say it’s going to take a month or it’s going to take three months, but it’ll take some time."
Next, someone (Sorry, I can’t remember who) pointed out that only Jameer and Dwight have been with Orlando longer than JJ. That not only surprised me, but JJ too.
"I didn’t know that. That’s crazy."
On his approach to this season
"My approach is to help this team win a championship. That’s my number one goal. Obviously, there are a lot of variables and factors I can’t control in terms of my future in this league. But the one thing I can control is coming in every day, working, being a great teammate and doing everything I can to help this team win. And if everybody has that mindset, there’s no doubt in my mind that will be very successful this year."
Eddy Rivera over at the Third Quarter Collapse talked to JJ about numbers and some other things, you can see that here.
Next Up: Last but certainly not least, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Magic Center, Dwight Howard.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger. Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)