Nets general manager Sean Marks made the decision to dismiss Jacque Vaughn as head coach on Monday, but there is plenty of blame to go around for the organization’s shortcomings.
Marks, who met with the media on Tuesday evening, made it clear that this season is just as much on him as it is on anybody else and that it's his job to turn the direction of the team around.
“First and foremost, we all need to take accountability,” Marks said. “I need to take accountability. The roster is my responsibility. I’m not shying away from that. When you have to make a decision like moving off of a head coach -- it’s not entirely JV’s fault here -- we can all look in the mirror on what we could do differently, what we can do better?
“I think we do need to get back to playing hard and competing. That’s what the borough of Brooklyn deserves and rightfully so. I think we’ve seen that in the past we have young men go out there and compete with a chip on their shoulder.”
Of course, last season Vaughn had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on the roster before both players requested to be traded at the deadline.
Without those two stars, Vaughn was 35-50 as head coach, with a 50-point loss to the Boston Celtics prior to the All-Star break as seemingly the final nail in the coffin, although Marks said that was just “one factor” in the grand scheme of things.
“At the end of the day, we’re in a results-driven business,” Marks said. “I look back and this isn’t where the team needs to be and isn’t the direction we need to be heading in.
"That’s when you have to make these tough decisions and you move on from here and hopefully it sends a message, not only to the players out there on the court, but also the fanbase and organization as a whole that our expectations are more than what we’re currently living up to.”
