Nets coach Jacque Vaughn: I make decisions on playing time
Jacque Vaughn head coach of the Brooklyn Nets during game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Barclays Center on Wed. Dec. 27, 2023. Credit: Errol Anderson
WASHINGTON — Jacque Vaughn further defended his decision to sit several starters and pull some players early in Wednesday night’s loss to the Bucks after Mikal Bridges voiced his frustrations over it.
Bridges, who played only the first quarter, told reporters he wasn’t a fan of it and didn’t see why he shouldn’t play more, given that he was healthy. Vaughn noted Friday that it was an organizational decision.
“My ideal world of communication is that I present the information to you, I’m upfront with it . . . and that they understand that I have to make a choice, and the choice will be made,” Vaughn said before Friday night’s 110-104 loss to the Wizards. “Just like with my kids, though; that doesn’t mean you always have to agree. And so the communication is what I want . . . That’s my position as the head coach.”
Bridges hasn’t missed a game in his career and Friday marked the 424th consecutive game he had played, a streak that leads the NBA. Since joining the Nets last season, he had been removed early from only two previous games, including playing only four seconds in April’s regular-season finale.
Vaughn referenced previous interviews in which he said several players had logged heavy minutes. He also noted that the Nets have to be a hard-playing unit in order to succeed and mentioned the uptick in Bridges’ usage rate compared to two seasons ago, when he was second in Defensive Player of the Year voting with the Suns.
Vaughn said he’ll continue to be smart monitoring minutes, even if players don’t agree.
“The intensity level that we play with on a nightly basis in order to give us a chance to win is higher than Spencer [Dinwiddie], Dorian [Finney-Smith], all those dudes that are 30 years old have ever done it before,” Vaughn said. “It’s my job to make those decisions, and I’m fine making those. I’ll communicate it with you, I’ll try to get you to understand, I’ll keep chipping away at it. But you don’t have to agree with it.”
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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