Jordan ‘shocked’ to hear about coaching switch
DeAndre Jordan says he was shocked to learn the Nets had parted ways with Kenny Atkinson on Saturday. “I was definitely shocked. I thought Kenny did a great job with us,” he said after putting up 11 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in his first start against the Bulls under interim head coach Jacque Vaughn. “I thought Kenny did a great job with us. This is my first year with him obviously and they guys who had been here love him so I’m sure it’s tough for them.
“But at the end of the day, this is a business. Coaches get fired, players get cut, traded, whatever it is so we still have a job to do and we kind of have to focus on the present and what’s in front of us right now.”
Jordan also refuted any reports that players who signed with the Nets over the offseason and are close to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant had anything to do with Atkinson’s firing.
“Yeah I’m close to Kyrie, but (Wilson Chandler is) a new player. Garrett Temple’s a new player,” he said. “We’re all new players. So if you’re going to say new players, put it on all eight of the new players. I think whatever the new reports are are (BS).
“They’re just trying to get in the locker room, make it a thing about the guys who aren’t even here playing, who are getting healthy. That’s what we need to focus on is those guys getting back right so they can help our team be successful. I don’t care about what the media says about our team. We know what’s going on in here and where we want to be, and this is just something to divide us as players and as an organization.”
CHANDLER STEADIES SHIP
Chandler scored only six points, but led the team in plus-minus at plus-21. It was his second consecutive start after Atkinson made the switch in his final game as head coach.
“Somehow, you just want to put him on the floor,” Vaughn said. “He’s gonna give you all that he has. We appreciate that. He’s stable each game, and that’s a great place for a coach to be in where you can count on that individual. He gives the coaching staff confidence.”
Chandler told the Daily News playing under Vaughn was no different from playing under Atkinson. “I’ve been in the league 13 years and have had nine coaches,” he said. “It’s what we get paid to do.”
EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION
The Nets turned the ball over 29 times in their win over the Bulls on. It was the NBA’s highest turnover total since the Suns turned it over an equal amount on Nov. 22, 2017.
But not all of the turnovers were a product of the Nets’ ineptitude.
“We even ended up changing the basketball throughout the course of the game, which doesn’t happen too often,” Vaughn said after his first win. “We complained that it was a little bit too slippery, and Chicago did too, and they changed the ball.”
That doesn’t cut the Nets a break at all for their other miscues.
“I think that was the first seven (turnovers),” Vaughn said. “The other 21 we’ll have to look at.”
CORONAVIRUS CAUTION
Harris says the Nets have not spoken internally about the possibility of playing without fans in the stands as a method of preventing the spread of the coronavirus among NBA players.
“At the end of the day, we all just work here so we’ll just play when they tell us to play,” he said. Asked if he’d play in front of no fans, he said: “Whatever they tell us to do.”