“I just kept doing my job,” Jacque Vaughn said as he agreed to a multi-year contract extension with the Nets a couple of days ago.
Last time Brooklyn hired a coach they passed him over, as it appeared management had someone else in mind when the job became vacant again this campaign. After being an assistant for almost seven years, now Vaughn has the opportunity to concentrate and establish his philosophy well into the future.
The Nets rewarded the current coach for maintaining his squad in playoff position before the All-Star break with a long-term contract than can only mean one thing: trust.
Now that the team heads into the final stretch of a championship without All-Stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, New York Sports Betting sites have the Nets at (+10000) to win the Finals this season with the league’s 13th best odds.
The Nets now rank 5th in the Eastern Conference with a 34-24 record and 24 matches left this regular season. If they are to maintain their position for the top six guaranteed playoff spot, it will be Vaughn’s job to know how to integrate the newly acquired trades that came in exchange for their former stars.
“For me, I’m excited about the challenge ahead of growing with this group, getting the most out of this group and pushing this group,” Vaughn said Wednesday, who else needs to find the correct formula to get the best out of Ben Simmons.
Jacque Vaughn explains the challenges of playing Ben
“You put another big next to Ben, then you got to figure out what the spacing is around him. Then, if you put another playmaker next to him,then you got to figure out what Ben looks like without the basketball.”
(@DimeUPROXX) pic.twitter.com/UU3I2SarOM
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) February 14, 2023
Vaughn has seen many other coaches come and go
The first time Vaughn took the head of the Brooklyn squad was three years ago, when the Nets fired Kenny Atkinson. The interim then led his team to seven victories in his ten matches as coach. Unfortunately for him, the New York management chose to hire Steve Nash even though he had no experience in that position.
Vaughn natural stayed close to Nash, until the Nets laid him off after the squad lost five out of their first seven contests. As the Brooklyn administration was looking into hiring Ime Udoka, the coach who guided the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals last year, they finally decided to give Jacque a chance.
“I’ve seen it all here, whether it’s multiple coaches, it’s the bubble, whether it’s a toenail over the 3-point line, whether it’s trade requests, whether it’s all of the above, and so to still be a part of this organization means a lot to me,” Vaughn said yesterday in press conference. “That means the way I carry myself on a daily basis, people appreciate it. So there’s something to that, but at the end of the day I just kept doing my job and showing up every single day and ready to rumble every single day.”
The only other experience Vaughn had as a head coach was back in 2012, when he took charge of the Orlando Magic for three years and posted a 58-158 record. As he is now 39-22 in Brooklyn, it seems he is having the best performances he’s ever had in his position.
“Just did my job every day and being rewarded for doing that,” the coach shared. “I knew there was some conversation behind the scenes going on, but for me I did not worry about it or get stressed about it or put any additional food on my plate at all.”
