The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to mount any serious defense against the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first round series, managing only to secure a gentleman's sweep. Rookie coach JJ Redick's bold strategy to not use his bench at all in a crucial Game 4 loss has opened him up for all sorts of criticism and the move backfired. Yet anyone who can remember all the way back to Game 1 of this series might recall that it was immediately clear the Lakers were in big trouble against a younger, healthier and hungrier side that made the Western Conference finals last year. So it wouldn't really be fair to put all the blame on Redick's shoulders.
But Kendrick Perkins, Redick's former ESPN colleague, drove pretty hard to the hole pinning the early exit on coaching decisions while appearing on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.
