{"id":866695,"date":"2026-10-01T05:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866695\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T05:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:12:09","slug":"lakers-training-camp-notebook-two-standout-players-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866695\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Training Camp Notebook: Two standout players emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 The offseason is where rosters and expectations are formed. Training camp is where the process to meet those goals begins, and the Los Angeles Lakers have been putting in the work through the first two days<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Lakers came into the new season expected to take a dip defensively, but if what we heard at training camp on Wednesday is true, two players are looking to turn that perception on its head in Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams.<\/p>\n

Take it directly from the guy who\u2019s dealt with their defensive impact first-hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to score on Matisse and Zaire\u2026is not easy,\u201d Austin Reaves said after practice on Wednesday. \u201cHad to deal with that all day yesterday and today, and it\u2019s not fun\u2026I think that they\u2019re two of the best defenders in the league. They can guard multiple positions. Matisse\u2019s anticipation is top tier. So excited to have them on our team and see what they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thybulle and Williams both come to Los Angeles<\/a> on minimum deals \u2014 the former a veteran, the latter still just 25 \u2014 each looking to prove they still belong in the league. If the impression they\u2019re making on the rest of the roster bears true, they both may be integral pieces in making the Lakers one of the best defenses in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts with the defense,\u201d JJ Redick said of Williams. \u201cHe\u2019s a pest. He\u2019s disruptive. He\u2019s got great length. I think even going back to September when we watched pickup games and through the first two days of camp, his physicality stood out. I know he probably doesn\u2019t have a reputation as being invisible, and you combine that with the length and the instincts, and he\u2019s got just a solid base defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redick has been a coach of great detail in his tenure with the Lakers. So, naturally, when he has to modify practice, you\u2019d think it would be a problem for him. Not on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Today] was great,\u201d Redick said. \u201cI mean, we actually had to modify the latter third of practice because these guys were just giving great effort and physicality. So we cut a couple things, but it was wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redick expanded, saying the wings were the main source of that physicality, especially on defense, being early disruptors, eating at the shot clock and maintaining that physicality off the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been high intensity from the start,\u201d Quentin Grimes said<\/a>. \u201cWe kind of set the tone defensively with who we want to be as a team. Picking up full court, everybody, all five guys trying to switch one-through-five. We went smaller a couple times today, so just having that intensity the whole practice. JJ can see it. We could all feel it. The coaches can feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very intense,\u201d Sandro Mamukelashvili added. \u201cEverybody\u2019s very intense, hands-on, very, very physical. We try to set the tone from the beginning of the practice, make sure we pick each other up. But at the same time, it\u2019s very, very healthy competition and everybody tries to establish themselves and get comfortable with each other and learn each other\u2019s tendency.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut today, it was very, very hard. We were going at it. We\u2019re pushing, shoving, and just trying to make sure we help each other get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imposter syndrome subsiding<\/p>\n

The majority of Lakers fans welcomed Redick with open arms three seasons ago despite no professional coaching experience. Many pointed to his lengthy playing career, the brief, but impactful, media career that followed and the natural charisma he\u2019s had since he was at Duke as reasoning. Outwardly, he\u2019s always had a confidence to him, too.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t always the case internally, though.<\/p>\n

\u201dAs I reflected this summer,\u201d Redick said candidly. \u201cProbably shouldn\u2019t admit this, but early in my coaching career, it felt like I was cosplaying a little bit. It was like I was pretending to be a coach. You get more reps, you get more comfortable. I don\u2019t think the confidence was ever not there, and you also just know what you want.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I played, I played with an anger. There was an inner anger that drove my competitiveness. That\u2019s not always a good thing as a coach, particularly now. So, yeah, just working through all that stuff. But I think the biggest thing is just intrinsic knowledge. You do things enough, you just feel more comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redick led the Lakers to 50-plus wins in each of his first two seasons as head coach, something the franchise hasn\u2019t seen since Pat Riley\u2019s first two years. Aside from the few more gray hairs Reaves jokingly said he\u2019s noticed, there\u2019s been a tangible impact in his coaching style.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been great,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cCare factor is high. Intelligence is high. He cares more than anybody else in the gym. He\u2019s been a good leader since day one. He\u2019s confident in what he wants to do. He\u2019s confident in himself and confident in his basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin Reaves had to pause his media sessions to admire Luka Don\u010di\u0107 hitting five halfcourt shots in the span of 30 seconds.Redick says Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney will be playing closer to the basket on defense while Mamu\u2019s usage in that role will be more matchup-dependent.Mamu is concentrating on learning team principles and being a reliable contributor rather than worrying about starting or coming off the bench.<\/p>\n

You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 The offseason is where rosters and expectations are formed. Training camp is where the process…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[43364,99],"class_list":["post-866695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-lakers-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}