NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets had an important game on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks, one of the best teams in the NBA, let alone the Eastern Conference. However, instead of making every healthy player available for the game and giving their best effort, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn curiously decided to sit most of his main rotation.
“Yes, it was the ultimate test,” Vaughn said after Wednesday’s 144-122 loss to the Bucks. The game was close until the fourth quarter when Milwaukee blew the game open after putting in some of their better players to finish the game off. Vaughn mentioned that his challenge to his younger players, like Jalen Wilson and Noah Clowney, was to execute against a quality NBA team.
“The challenge that, especially our guys that have been in Long Island, (was) to get a chance to play a high -level team,” Vaughn said. “To be able to execute on both ends of the floor, that challenge of doing that. Nothing like being in the game and having those reps in the game.”
Vaughn’s move to sit some of his better players, especially when the game was still winnable going into the fourth quarter, did not sit well with most fans. Vaughn contends that while he gave his better players the night off, it doesn’t mean that he stopped coaching.
“I coached these dudes as hard as I could tonight because they deserved it. And, each dude that stepped on the floor, they deserve to be coached and they deserve to be on the floor tonight,” Vaughn said.
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