[Slater] Jacque Vaughn’s comments on Cam Thomas
Jacque Vaughn on managing Cam Thomas' role moving forward:
“The three games of 40 (points) were awesome. (I’m) super happy for him, they can never take that away from him, he’s in the record books. But at the same time, we lost two of those games. So the ultimate goal is to… https://t.co/nRVZOzuhtb
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 22, 2023
by New_Weather_7611
33 Comments
Jacque Vaughn on managing Cam Thomas’ role moving forward:
“The three games of 40 (points) were awesome. (I’m) super happy for him, they can never take that away from him, he’s in the record books. But at the same time, we lost two of those games. So the ultimate goal is to create a team and an atmosphere where everyone can be a participant and we’re gonna utilize and maximize everyone’s talent.”
“What I think Cam can be is a bonafide, efficient and productive scorer for us when asked upon. He’s a guy that can shot create, but we don’t anticipate him playing 40 minutes like he did in those games. The big part of our whole group is we have depth, so why not lean into that. He was extremely efficient last game for us. And I think that’s an area that he can repeat over and over again and be asked upon to do that without it having a negative impact on the team overall. Because at the end of the day it’s about the entire group and I’m gonna continue to push that culture more than anything else.”
https://twitter.com/erikslater_/status/1628448525460680706?s=46&t=m04UPpsnEnnlIRzsfuovfw
100%. Cam’s 40 point games showed who he can be as a scorer but it also shows that his type of scoring isn’t the best for the team overall. If he stays efficient that will be cool but if you look at the highlights to those games some of his shot selection was dog shit. The potential of be a scoring threat is there but I couldn’t guess what his % will end up.
Cam is emergency offense. Break glass when necessary type player. When we have offensive ruts (and we will), he’s the guy to plug in and just say, “Get em”
Ya let’s overthink things. You got a guy who scored 40+ 3 games in a row. Instead of running the offense thru that one dude. Let’s put him on the bench for the sake of efficiency. And this here people is why coaches get fired.
He should have been included in the KD trade it sounds like
This is exactly right, he’s super talented but also has tunnel vision so when he’s not making his shots he will shoot you right out of the game
So he’s Bradley Beal on a rookie contract?
I don’t understand what direction this organization wants to go in. Do they want to develop their young players, are they just trying to be the new Washington wizards and get play in in order to become a first round exit, or are they waiting for a star to become available and make a trade for him with their assets and go back into contending. Either way you’re actively devaluing a player that has the potential to become a star, and hurting his value if you want to trade cam.
If you keep treating cam like a bench role player then other teams are going to view him as such and not view him as a asset worth trading for when you want to trade him. By playing cam as a starter or in high minutes, you either develop him more and see if he can become a star or you raise his trade value. Either way, it helps you with whatever direction you want to take the organization. By doing this, you’re just hurting the organization, while also alienating cam. What it seems to me is there is some weird shit going on behind the scenes that we as fans don’t have access to, or the FO is directionless.
Lastly, I largely think this means that minutes and rotation are going to be based on seniority and favoritism over merit while hiding behind some veneer of “culture.” Overall, I only have one question, WTF is the direction the FO and coaching going in.
Interesting. I still think we’re gonna need him down the stretch of games. Just too good a scorer. These statements are slightly alarming tho. You gotta wonder if they are cooking up a trade package that includes him.
I mean the “we lost two of those games” is just incredibly, incredibly stupid.
Those two losses were close games vs the Clippers and Suns. So we lost to two contenders who were healthy while we played Sharpe, Mills and Dru Smith and you took from it is we lost so Cam can’t be the guy?
I’m not a Cam stan (I thought we should’ve traded him when we had the big 3 and he had no role) but just think he’s vital now that we legit have nobody else that can dribble and score on his on except Dinwiddie.
But that quote is pretty dumb. Like JV was reading the box score and didn’t actually watch the game.
I think JV right. This is how you get him to grow. This is part of developing a player. Had we been a lottery team I would agree run it through Cam T. But we are in limbo right now. Too good to get great draft picks, which we don’t own, but to sorry to compete for a chip. Simultaneously, this is a great opportunity for him to learn playoff basketball. If he’s going to be the star going forward he should take his time and learn and in 2 years when he’s 23 he’ll be our star. And people need to come down the guy’s really really young. There’s still a lot of time left in his career and hopefully he has the right mindset and didn’t learn anything bad from Kai.
I think the problem with Cam T is that he’s just such a ball stopper on offense. He gets the ball he’s shooting it 90% of the time damn near. Him and Spence gotta pass the rock specifically as lead ball handlers for the 1st and 2nd unit. I think Cam having this role of being the premier scoring option on the 2nd unit is best for both the team and himself for where he’s at in his career. Worst case scenario imo his career arc is lemon pepper Lou. Nothing wrong with that if that’s how it goes
So in the 3 games since Cam’s role has been diminished the Nets have went 1-2 and averaged 103 ppg.
In the four prior games where Cam played 30+ min we went 2-2 and averaged 117 ppg.
Eh, i think the heat game showed the potential for this team and he managed cam and dinwiddie well.
Oh he’s not gonna like that.
I like JV’s take here. Putting all the focus on Cam to go score 40 buckets isn’t a winning formula. Between Bridges, SD and a bunch of wings, the way Nets ball should be played is fast ball rotation, spacing and cutting. This isn’t Cam’s MO. He plays ISO ball with with little to no facilitation. Giving him major minutes jeopardizes the whole system and team strengths.
Jacque is a ball knower that prides himself on defense and ball movement. Cam being a spark off the bench that can get you 15-20 points off the bench. This is Mikal Leonard’s team now
Cam is a gifted scorer for sure. The question is…can he be a team player who can make plays for his teammates? Can he make correct decisions on court that contributes to “team” winning? It’s really not all about scoring but keeping everything balanced as a player.
Why word it this way? What good comes from it? Why not just say that Cam is dynamic and blah blah blah but we wanna rely on our depth which is a strength vs making it seem like Cam mindlessly chucking and that’s why we lost?
I like JV but this was a really stupid take.
Cam had 3 very efficient 40 point games. Yes we went 1-2, but they were against playoff teams and outside some fatigue at the end, it showcased that Cam should be someone we build around.
We should be trying to get this guy more in game minutes to help him develop further. Pulling him off and using him situationally like he’s some rebounding big is immensely stupid and hurts his growth. Dude is doing this in his 2nd year. It’s not like he’s been playing for 4 years now and it’s make or break. Give the kid minutes, there’s no one currently blocking him from starting or at least being the 6th man.
This shit is reminding me of the exact same shit that Atkinson used to pull with D’lo with limiting his minutes and putting out weird statements like this pre-and post-game. Stop overthinking and let Cam get 25+ minutes a night.
Hey coach the reason we lost those games wasn’t because of Cam. Maybe look in mirror?
I love this answer from Coach.
Why does everyone expect Cam to be playing big minutes and starting? He’s a 2nd year player. He is very talented offensively, but there’s a lot of growth and development that needs to happen. He needs to earn those minutes.
For now, I like him as a spark off the bench for this team. Plus he’s more likely to have the ball in his hands not playing alongside Spence or Mikal. I would still like to see him play some minutes with them though.
JV probably dislikes Cam and is just finding reasons to justify playing him as little as humanly possible. Losing two games with barely any help to contenders being a reason for the lack of playing time is a ridiculous excuse. Additionally, losing the starting job after one “bad” game where if anything he showed he can still contribute even when not scoring.
Cam Thomas has a higher assist % this season than Seth Curry. Seth curry has 2 assists in his last 77 minutes played. Cam concerns are valid, but it makes no sense to play Seth Curry over him. Seth has a higher turnover % too.
This team might have low expectations but we have a lot of good players now. And all these guys are under 30. I want Cam to get 28-30 mpg but I’m not mad that he has to earn them. If he plays like he did against Miami, his minutes will go up quick.
No the ultimate goal is to not let Houston get good draft picks out of pettiness, because you know good and well that James Harden & Daryl Morey screwed you over.
If the Nets had their own picks for next year, Cam Thomas would be playing 40mins every game.
I can understand some guys like Cam having frustration because KD and Kyrie being out would normally mean there’s more playing time. The reality though is that all 4 guys are better than most of the pre-trade guys except for Clax.
Jacque is trying to build a culture where you put your ego aside when you step in the door. If you think that letting cam start and take 30 shots a game is better than building a team of guys who share the ball than you don’t know basketball.
This makes sense. A great comparison would be Kobe. His greatest scoring years came on bad teams. The championships (post Shaq) came when he had balance and was able to pick his moments instead of being relied upon to go dumb every possession. Coach’s way would extend Cam’s career in the long run and as a nets fan, I want him with us for his entire career.
Well hopefully Cam isn’t as sensitive as some of the people here, it seemed fine to me he’s giving him his credit but acknowledging that he’s not the permanent answer at this point
Absolutely incredible comments here. How can so many fans have such blind dedication to a player after just a 3 game stretch that he played well? Especially after the stuff we went through with fans showing blind dedication to another “bucket-getter” in Kyrie.
Cam is a great scorer, but he has shown that he needs to massively improve his decision-making ability.
Clearly Cam is showing an attitude because he’s not getting the minutes he wanted. If he is doing that, JV is right to call him out.
We aren’t really expecting a 21y to be perfect are we? The kid needs time on the court to understand the flow of the game and adjust to it. At this point we should trade him for a backup center since JV won’t give him any minutes to maximise his abilities.
JV is an excellent coach and, thus far, he has been getting the best out of Cam.
Cam needs to learn that he has a long way to go before he’s an all star (or even a bona-fide starter).
To be a winning player, you can’t just score. You need show good decision-making ability, which cam sorely lacks.