Nets players heap praise on interim coach Jacque Vaughn
Nets interim head coach Jacque Vaughn looks on in the first half of an NBA game against the Bulls at Barclays Center on March 8. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
When the Nets fired coach Kenny Atkinson on March 7, just one day after they scored a 19-point win over the Spurs, of all teams, it was utterly shocking. They were 30-34 without Kevin Durant the whole season and with only 20 games from oft-injured Kyrie Irving. Atkinson had built them from a 20-win team his first season to a playoff team in 2019.
Atkinson’s replacement was Jacque Vaughn, who was the lead assistant for four seasons and who has gone 5-2 since he ascended to the head job with a road win over the Western Conference-leading Lakers in real time, a win over the NBA-best Bucks in the bubble and a 119-106 win over Sacramento on Friday that clinched the Nets’ second straight playoff berth with a 33-36 record and three more seeding games to come. They are seventh in the Eastern Conference.
Originally, it was believed superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving might return from surgery to play in the restart. That didn’t happen. Then, remaining leading scorer Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince tested positive for COVID-19 and dropped out, Wilson Chandler opted out for personal reasons, Nic Claxton underwent shoulder surgery, and Theo Pinson was traded. Then, free agent Michael Beasley tested positive and never made it to Orlando.
The Nets since have added five new players to replace the six they lost, and Vaughn has them at 3-2 in the “seeding games.”
Describing the job Vaughn has done, leading scorer Caris LeVert said, “He’s done an amazing job. Everybody trusts Jacque in the organization, everyone trusts his decision-making. He’s made several switches with the lineup, how we’re playing offensively and defensively, he’s been great with adjustments.
“It’s been tough with the roster we had, and I think he’s done a great job of adjusting and being adaptable.”
Third-year center Jarrett Allen, who is averaging 10.9 points and 9.4 rebounds under Vaughn, agreed with LeVert’s assessment after the Nets’ clinching win over the Kings on Friday. “He’s done a great job,’ Allen said. “It would be hard for me to be able to task somebody with keeping a team — let alone having to bring a bunch of new guys in, having to get a lot of people accustomed to the team and to how we play, bringing us into a bubble, just all the factors going against him. He’s been able to rally us together, rally us under his system, help us believe in him and believe in the things he’s doing for us. He’s just done an unbelievable job.”
Vaughn has used different starting lineups in each of the five “seeding games.” But he might have hit on a winner against the Kings with LeVert at point guard, Garrett Temple at shooting guard, Joe Harris at small forward, Rodions Kurucs at power forward and Allen at center. Don’t be surprised if he goes with the same lineup against the powerful Clippers Sunday night at Disney World in Orlando.
The Nets brought shooting guard Tyler Johnson in on a trade after previously trying to sign him as a restricted free agent in 2016. He has struggled in the bubble but played well and had a strong 14-point game in the clincher.
Describing how the Nets clinched a playoff berth, Johnson said, “We’ve got good veteran leadership. We’ve got guys who don’t allow you to stay down on yourself. We’ve actually got a group of people who really like each other, so, we regroup the next day.
“It’s actually a telltale sign of a maturing team because, when everything goes well, it’s easy for everybody to be up. But we have a couple of rocky games and then play as well as we did [against the Kings], that feels good.”
In the end, the Nets’ success is a tribute to Vaughn’s job, and he is grateful for how his players have responded to the coaching change. “It easily could go the other way,” Vaughn said. “This group has not given in to that. It says a lot about the group that they see the challenge ahead of them and know that they can meet the challenge by doing it together . . . It’s been great to see these guys trust each other in the limited time we’ve been together and embrace playing together.”
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
