Los Angeles Clipper J.J. Redick’s remedy for a shooting slump: just keep firing away
Clippers guard J.J. Redick goes up for a shot between Warriors guard Patrick McCaw, left, and forward Kevin Durant during the second half on Feb. 2.
J.J. Redick started to fidget when he was stopped by reporters Monday morning, his eyes looking at teammates getting up shots and back at reporters wanting to know how the Clippers shooting guard has been dealing with his recent shooting woes.
Over the first four games of a five-game trip that ended Monday night against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena, Redick’s shot betrayed him.
He made only 31.1% of his shots overall, 21.7% from three-point range.
“Just missing shots,” Redick said of his slump. “You don’t worry about it. You just do your routine. They’re going to go in.”
In Redick’s eyes, missing shots is not a big issue.
He’s a shooter, Redick said, and he’ll just keeping shooting until the ball starts dropping through the net again.
“I don’t worry about it,” Redick repeated, now in a rush to get up his shots. “They’re all good shots. Shooters shot your shots. I’m not going to stop shooting. I’m not going to take bad shots. You shoot.”
The Clippers were about to start their shoot-around when Redick stopped to talk.
So, he was asked, what are you going to do now?
“Go shoot,” he said, smiling. “Go get up so some shots.”
And Redick did, shooting shot after shot.
Before Monday, including his recent slump, Redick had made 44.1% of his shots, 41.9% from beyond the arc.
“It’s the same thing I said at the beginning of the year when he wasn’t making shots and everybody was worried,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “I was like, ‘J.J. hasn’t forgotten how to shoot.’ We’re going to tell him to throw the ball at the rim 15 more times [Monday night]. We hope most of them go in. He’s a great shooter and even great shooters go through four- and five-, six-, seven-, eight-game slumps at times. That’s what it is.”
Rivers said he doesn’t have to encourage Redick to keep firing.
Redick missed his first four shots against the Jazz and finished three for 10.
“He works it out,” Rivers said. “I’m not going to ever try to get into his head. It’s too crowded in there, so I just leave it alone.”
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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