Marks and Nets eye fresh start under Ollie
GM Sean Marks looked back fondly on Jacque Vaughn’s time with the Nets and appreciated the partnership, but with the team sitting at 21-33 with 28 games left, Marks felt he had to communicate to the players and fans that the oncourt product was not living up to his expectations. A change in leadership was ultimately how he got the message out.
“You hope you don’t have to make these decisions,” Marks said. “But at the end of the day we’re in a results-driven business. I look back and say, well, this isn’t where this team needs to be, and this is not the direction we need to be heading in. And so that’s when you have to make these tough decisions.
“If we want to attract not only our own free agents, if we want to attract whatever it may be to come here in future years, we’ve got to show them that there’s a pathway to win here. I think there’s a very clear pathway from draft assets, cap room and space and everything else that we’ve got, we haven’t had a lot of those things in the past… And I think this city speaks for itself.”
Assistant Kevin Ollie, who was hired as one of Vaughn’s top assistants in June, was officially named interim coach on Monday. Tuesday was Ollie’s first practice. And that practice time was infinitely valuable, because the Nets will return to action Thursday against the Raptors in Toronto, the first matchup in a four-game road trip.
This is Ollie’s first head coaching job at the NBA level. He won a national championship with UConn in 2014.
“The expectations for Kevin as the new head coach here is to come in and get that movement, to get help and he won’t be doing it alone,” Marks said. “It’ll be a team effort with obviously the front office, performance and everybody else, we’re all striving for the same thing at the end of the day.
“It’s been fun to watch Kevin grow and really hear his voice. He’s always carried a great voice in there. He’s very direct with the players. He does hold them accountable. I’ve enjoyed watching his scouting reports, and he’s played and won at a very high level.”
Many viewed the Nets’ Dec. 27 loss to the Bucks as the moment the season went downhill. Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas only played a quarter in their 144-122 loss. Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Nic Claxton and Spencer Dinwiddie did not play. After the game, Vaughn implied it was a front-office decision above his head. The Nets were fined $100,000 for violating the league’s
Player Participation Policy and have lost 18 of 24 games since.
Some believe that is the game where Vaughn lost the locker room. Marks clarified the decision was not solely Vaughn’s to make, and that players were not involved in the thought process.
“I don’t think we lost the team that day… At the end of the day, when we make decisions to sit a guy out, there’s a reason behind that,” Marks said.
“We all need to take accountability for this. I need to take accountability for this. The roster is my responsibility, I’m not shying away from that. When you have to make a decision, like moving off a head coach, it’s not entirely JVs fault here. We can all look in the mirror and say, well, what could we have done differently?”
Marks said the organization will cast a “wide web” in the search for its next head coach. It will be the Nets’ seventh head coaching hire since the move to Brooklyn in 2012 and the fourth of Marks’ tenure as GM.
“Joe (Tsai) and I have always been a complete partnership and it doesn’t mean we always agree,” Marks said. “You have to have good discussions and robust discussions. But Joe and I will make this decision and he has given me no reason to believe that I won’t be able to make that decision.”