B’KLYN SAYS HIT THE ROAD, JACQUE
Jacque’s job was one of the NBA’s toughest, and it won’t be any easier for Ollie now
The Nets parted ways Jacque Vaughn on Monday after a frustrating 21-33 start. The responsibility of getting this seemingly broken franchise into the postseason now rests on the shoulders of interim head coach Kevin Ollie, league sources confirmed to the Daily News.
“To Joe Tsai, Clara Wu-Tsai, Ollie Weisberg, Sam Zussman, Sean Marks and front office, Nets coaches, staff, players, BSE family and the entire Brooklyn borough: It was a pleasure being your Head Coach,” said Vaughn in a statement to ESPN. “I hope each individual I interacted with felt respected and valued. Just know I gave you everything I had every single day. Onto the next chapter. Amor Fati.”
Ollie, 51, has never served as a head coach in the NBA. He did play 13 years in the league and led UConn to a national championship in 2014. Before Brooklyn hired Ollie as an assistant under Vaughn in June, he spent two seasons overseeing coaching and basketball development for the Overtime Elite program.
Ollie has already established himself as a prominent voice within the Nets’ locker room. Now, he will be tasked with salvaging what some already consider to be a lost season. Brooklyn’s 50-point loss to the Boston Celtics ahead of the All-Star break, and growing frustration from Mikal Bridges and others behind the scenes, according to reports, only supported that narrative.
Whether Ollie will be viewed as a longterm solution in Brooklyn will become clearer over the final 28 games of the regular season. Ollie and general manager Sean Marks are expected to address the media following Tuesday’s practice.
Vaughn had a record of 71-68 over parts of three seasons as head coach in Brooklyn. With the organization for eight years total, he was one of its longest-tenured figures.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision, but one we feel is in the best interest of the team going forward,” Marks said in a statement.
The Nets were 15-15 on Dec. 26. They have lost 18 of 24 games since, tumbling to 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. Plenty of the team’s struggles fell directly on Vaughn. Questionable late-game decisions. Blown leads. Inconsistent rotations. An unsteady structure.
But one could also argue that Vaughn was set up to fail. The 49-year-old thought he would be coaching two future Hall of Famers in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving indefinitely, with that duo surrounded by a host of high-level role players. What appeared to be an ideal situation fell apart to no fault of his own. The Nets got decent returns when Durant and Irving were eventually traded, but it created a Frankenstein’s monster of a roster with pieces that barely fit together.
Vaughn made do with what he had last season. He held the stitching in place the best he could. Newly acquired players at the time, such as Bridges and Cam Johnson, averaged 26.1 and 16.6 points per game after the trade deadline. Despite getting swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, the Nets were a playoff team under Vaughn’s tutelage.
Brooklyn’s early success this season should be credited to Vaughn, too. While the team lacked a true No. 1 scoring option, while it did not have enough big bodies on the roster capable of freeing up teammates with hard screens and stretching the floor, Vaughn had this group moving the ball well and knocking down 3s. They hunted mismatches and rode the hot hand. Brooklyn was far from an elite defensive group, but its effort was good enough to win games. And for a while it worked. The Nets were meeting expectations, everything considered. They were fun to watch.
But then opposing teams started attacking the Nets’ weaker defenders on a nightly basis. That limited their transition opportunities, which made open looks from deep a lot tougher to come by. Their schedule got more difficult, and the holidays were a distraction, as they are for most young teams. The NBA adjusted to the Nets’ attack and Vaughn did not counter. He deserves blame for that. But there were still plenty of factors that were out of his control.
Ben Simmons was supposed to be a constant presence at both ends of the court that held things together. Vaughn certainly did not plan on the three-time All-Star missing 38 straight games because of a pinched nerve in his lower back. The team’s offensive struggles and subpar point-of-attack defense can be traced directly back to his extended absence. And while no team is immune from the injury bug, Vaughn could not have anticipated Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, Day’Ron Sharpe, Dorian Finney-Smith, Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr. all missing extended time at various points this season, too.
Many viewed the Nets’ Dec. 27 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks as the moment when their season went downhill, the game where Bridges and Thomas only played a quarter and Johnson, Finney-Smith Nic Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie did not play in what was the second game of a back-to-back set. Vaughn implied it was a front office decision above his head. He was then made a scapegoat as the season began to unravel, whether it was justified or not. Over time it became crystal clear that he lost the locker room. Yet he continued to smile through it all, which rubbed fans the wrong way, especially after difficult losses.
“Jacque has represented this organization with exemplary character and class for the past eight years,” Marks said in a statement. “The consistent positivity and passion he poured into our team daily will remain with the players and staff he interacted with throughout his tenure.”
As losses continued to pile up, it felt as if players did not have aligning incentives when the common goal should always be winning. Smith, Walker and Spencer Dinwiddie — now with the Lakers — were playing for long-term deals. Bridges wanted to prove he is a No. 1 option on
an above-average team. Claxton, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, was trying to showcase his versatility. Johnson wanted to justify the four-year, $108 million contract he received last summer. Thomas wanted to prove he was a star guard in the NBA. When things went south, sometimes it felt as if players were out for themselves despite the constant messages of unity they projected.
This is the delicate balancing act Ollie has inherited. Turning the Nets’ season around will require difficult decisions. An equal-opportunity approach will not work. Roles must be clear and defined. Minutes must be cut. Rotations must be tighter, trimmed down to no more than nine players on any given night.
Some players will be unhappy with their new sets of handcuffs, but better continuity is the only way forward. Brooklyn, just 2.5 games out of the final Play-In spot, have 28 games left to straighten up. It has the third easiest remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon.
Ollie is receiving a lifetime opportunity, but he is not necessarily in a position others should envy. The best way to ensure his own success, and that of the team, is to put his foot down from Day 1.