Jacque Vaughn praises ‘tenacious’ effort in win over OKC

Jacque Vaughn praises ‘tenacious’ effort in win over OKC

JACQUE VAUGHN. >> JV, 75 POINTS IN THAT FIRST HALF. THAT’S A HIGH FOR THE SEASON. WHAT HAD YOU GUYS, WHAT MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU GUYS TO GET OFF TOE THAT START, WHAT DID YOU SEE POSITIVE? >> YEAH, I THINK THERE WAS A LOT OF THINGS THAT WENT REALLY WELL FOR US.

WE WERE ABLE TO GET STOPS AND GET OUT IN TRANSITION. I THINK WE WERE ABLE TO GET DOWNHILL. SPENCER TURNED THE CORNER. NIC’S ABILITY TO HAVE AN IMPACT AT THE RIM. I THINK WE HAVE 20 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS, SO WE TALKED ABOUT THAT ABILITY TO CRASH OFFENSIVELY. REBOUND THE BASKETBALL, BUT

ALSO SPRINT BACK AND KEEP THEM UNDER CONTROL IN TRANSITION. WE DO BOTH IN THAT FIRST HALF WHICH WAS GREAT, THEN SOME SHOTS WENT IN, SO THAT ALWAYS HELPS ALSO. >> ENDING THE LOSE LEWISSING STREAK, NOT ONLY ENDING IT BUT AGAINST A TEAM LIKE THIS WHO’S SECOND IN THE WEST COMING IN,

FURTHER-BEST RECORD IN THE LEAGUE. WHAT DOS THAT MEAN FOR THIS CLUB RIGHT NOW? >> YEAH, IT SHOWS REALLY WHO WE ARE. THE NO-QUIT IN US. WE TALKED ABOUT HAVING FAITH AND TENACITY. THE FAITH IS GOING INTO THE GAME BELIEVING THAT YOU WERE GOING TO WIN THE GAME. I REALLY THOUGHT THAT WE HAD

THAT SENSE THAT WE WERE GOING TO WIN THE BASKETBALL GAME. THE PREPARATION BEHIND IT. AND THEN THE TENACITY GOES TO THE ABILITY TO HAVE URGENCY, BE ABLE TO HIT PEOPLE AND UNDERSTAND YOUR ROLE, AND VALUING EACH POSSESSION. I’M GOING TO KEEP PREACHING THAT AS WE CONTINUE TO GROW

TOO, BUT I THINK WE REALLY WENT INTO THIS GAME BELIEVING THAT WE WERE GOING TO WIN. >> LONNIE’S FIRST GAME SINCE NOVEMBER 30. WAS DENNIS’ FIRST GAME BACK TOO, ALTHOUGH HIS ABSENCE WASN’T AS LONG. HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THOSE TWO TONIGHT? >> I THINK YOU IMMEDIATELY COULD SEE THEIR IMPACT WHEN

THEY ENTERED THE GAME. LONNIE’S ABILITY TO GET A STEAL AND PUSH THE BREAK FOR US. I THOUGHT THE LOOKS THAT HE HAD WERE, YOU KNOW, REALLY GOOD. HE HAD GOOD BOUNCE TO HIM. I DIDN’T GO BACK TO HIM WITH THE SECOND STINT JUST BECAUSE THAT GAME STARTED TO GET A

LITTLE CLOSE ON US. AND THEN DENNIS, HIS IMPACT EVEN TO THE END OF THE GAME, WHERE HE IBRAHIM’S THE BALL, SHORT CLOCK, WE MISS IT, HE GETS THE OFFENSIVE REBOUND. SO HIS ABILITY TO GUARD DEFENSIVELY, MAKE SHOTS TONIGHT FOR US, DRIVE THE BASKETBALL, BUT OVERALL JUST HIS SPIRIT FOR OUR GROUP IS SO

HUGE, IT GIVES US, I DON’T KNOW, AN EDGE, A SWAG ABOUT US THAT KIND OF GOES THROUGH THE GROUP WHEN HE’S PLAYING. >> YOU HAD TALKED EARLIER ABOUT HOW THE WAY YOU GUYS WERE PLAYING, YOU WERE PLEASED WITH THE PROCESS. >> YEAH. >> JUST ONE GAME, THE RESULTS.

BUT DO YOU GET A SENSE OF HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS FOR THIS GROUP TO GET A POSITIVE RESULT? >> FOR SURE. DEFINITELY. AT THE EPIDEMIC OF THE DAY, THESE GUYS WANT TO WIN, AND YOU WANT TO BE REWARDED FOR YOUR WORK. AND YOU KNOW, I WAS REALLY TRYING TO STRIKE A BALANCE

WITH THIS GROUP OF COACHING THEM AND LETTING THEM KNOW, LIKE, THERE ARE SOME MISTAKES WE’VE BEEN MAKING THAT WE CAN COVER UP FOR. LAST TIME WE PLAYED THIS GROUP WE DID SOME REALLY GOOD THINGS WELL, BUT THE TRANSITION DEFENSE WAS NOT VERY GOOD. THIS TIME WE WERE ABLE TO, YOU

KNOW, AT LEAST CONTAIN THEM IN TRANSITION. THEN OUR ABILITY TO PLAY THEM IN THE HALF COURT, WE WERE PRETTY CONFIDENT IN. SWITCH COVERAGES TONIGHT, WHICH IS GREAT, THAT’S SOMETHING WE’VE REALLY BEEN CHALLENGING OUR GROUP WITH AND THAT ABILITY TONIGHT REALLY PAID OFF FOR US. >> SPEAKING OF SWITCHING COVERAGES, JUST IN THE FIRST

QUARTER I THINK YOU RAN EVERY TYPE OF PICK-AND-ROLL COVERAGE THERE WAS TO RUN AT SHAI. WHAT’S THE PROCESS OF THAT LIKE WITH THE PLAYERS IS THAT AN ONGOING CONVERSATION IN TIMEOUTS, SIT HEY, FEEL FREE TO MIX IT UP AT YOUR DISCRETION? WHAT GOES INTO THAT? >> YEAH, LUCAS, REALLY THAT’S

A BUBBLE EXPERIENCE FOR ME. IN THE BUBBLE WHEN THERE WAS NO FANS, AND I COULD REALLY BARK ORDERS FROM ONE END OF THE COURT TO THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, I TRIED TO ENVISION THE GAME AS IT’S HAPPENING FOR OUR GROUP AND I CHALLENGED THEM TO LIKE LISTEN TO ME AS THE GAME

IS GOING ALONG. I GIVE THEM COMPLETE CREDIT FOR BEING ABLE TO CHANGE COVERAGES ON THE FLY, OF SEEING A SITUATION, SEEING THE THREAT AND TRYING TO ELIMINATE THE THREAT. AND SO TONIGHT, LIKE YOU SAID, WE LITERALLY THREW EVERYTHING AT SHAI TO KEEP HIM OFF BALANCE, AND REALLY WE TALKED

ABOUT THAT IN THE HUDDLES THAT WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO DO IT AND I GAVE THEM CREDIT FOR BEING ABLE TO EXECUTE IT. >> HOW IS CAM JOHNSON FEELING AFTER THE GAME? >> YEAH, HE’S GOT THE HAMSTRING CLAMPING — CRAMPING, HE SO DEFINITELY BEING ASSESSED BUT THE FIRST PROGNOSIS WAS HE WAS JUST

CRAMPING. >> JACQUE, IN THAT THIRD QUARTER I THINK IS WHEN OKC’S RALLY STARTED I GUESS. AS WELL AS YOU GUYS PLAYED, I GUESS HOW CONCERNING WAS IT, SOME OF THOSE OLD HABITS STARTED TO COME BACK AND OKC CUT IT TO 6 IN THE FOURTH QUARTER? >> YEAH, IT’S TOUGH PLAYING

WITH A LEAD, AND I THINK THEY DID A GOOD JOB OF JUST REALLY FIRST OF ALL IN THE THIRD QUARTER GETTING INTO THE BONUS EXTREMELY EARLY, WE WERE NINE OR TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK. SO THEY WERE ABLE TO USE THAT TO SLOW DOWN THE GAME AND SHOOT FREE THROWS.

SO THAT’S PROBABLY THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WE’VE MADE. WE HAVE REALLY GOT TO THE BONUS, THEY GOT TO THE BONUS EARLY. THAT LESSON WE GOTTA LEARN FROM THAT THE TEAM IS JUST DRIVING THE BASKETBALL, WE GOTTA BE ABLE TO CONTAIN THE BASKETBALL WITHOUT FOULING. BESIDES THAT, I THINK OUR EXECUTION DOWN THE STRETCH

WAS, YOU KNOW, PAR. >> I WAS GOING TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT BY SAYING, I GUESS WITH THE WIN, DO YOU TAKE MORE FROM HOW WELL YOU GUYS PLAYED IN THAT FIRST HALF OR IS IT MORE OF TAKE THE WIN BUT ALSO, THESE REOCCURRING ISSUES ROARED THEIR UGLY HEAD IN THE

SECOND HALF TOO? >> NO, IT’S INFORMATIVE A COACH, TO BE ABLE TO GIVE THEM SOME CREDIT FOR THE WIN, DOING WHAT YOU DID IN THE FIRST HALF. THAT WAS A CHALLENGE, WE SHOWED TWO CLIPS AT HATCHET HOW THEY WOULD BEAT US, IN TRANSITION AND DRIVING THE BASKETBALL, SO OUR ABILITY TO

CONTAIN THE BASKETBALL WAS HUGE AND THE ABILITY TO GET BACK IN TRARNSITION IS HUGE GOING FORWARD. THOSE ARE THE CHALLENGES, IT GIVES ME A CHANCE TO HIT THEM AGAIN AS WE GO TO THE PORTLAND GAME. >> JV, I ASKED NIC ON THE COURT ABOUT HIS CONFIDENCE GOING INTO THIS GAME BASED ON

HIS PERFORMANCE ON NEW YEAR’S EVE IN OOCTD. HE SAID HIS CONFIDENCE IS ALWAYS HIGH NO MATTER WHAT THE GAME IS BUT THAT’S 38 AND 29, IN TWO GAMES AGAINST THESE GUYS. JUST WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN IN BOTH OF THOSE GAMES AND HIS CONFIDENCE LATELY? >> I JUST THINK HE’S PLAYING REALLY FREE.

AND SO WHETHER THAT IS HIM DRIBBLING FULL COURT AFTER GETTING THE REBOUND AND GOING TO DUNK THE BASKETBALL, WHETHER THAT IS HIS ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE DOESN’T ALWAYS NEED TO USE HIS SIZE TO GET OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS, HE CAN USE HIS QUICKNESS AND SPEED, AND HE’S BEEN DOING THAT AND

HIS LENGTH AT THE SAME TIME. SO I THINK THE GAME IS JUST, EVEN — NIC’S STILL A YOUNG PLAYER, BUT HE’S STARTING TO GRASP CONCEPTS IN HOW PEOPLE ARE PLAYING HIM AND USING THAT TO HIS ADVANTAGE, AND I THINK HE’S JUST GROWING. AND WITH GROWTH COMES THE ABILITY TO FEEL GOOD ON THE

FLOOR. HE KNOWS HIS TEAMMATES NEED

Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn meets with the media and discusses the 124-115 victory over the Thunder in Brooklyn. Subscribe for daily sports videos!

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