Red-hot Nets credit turnaround with keeping it 'about basketball'

play

Prior to leading his team to its ninth straight win -- a 125-117 triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night -- Brooklyn Nets coachjacques vaughn acknowledged what he thought was the key to his team's recent hot play.

The basketball player said before the game. We didn't steer away from today. We are trying to win this game. It's about basketball when we go to the gym. It's about basketball and how we're going to take care of each other.

The talented group went from an up-and-down emotional roller coaster to the hottest team in the NBA, one that tied the league's longest winning streak after Monday's performance.

Bickerstaff said before the game that basketball was the main thing.

It did not seem to be the case for the Nets. After getting off to a rocky start on the court, Irving was suspended for eight games after he shared a social media post promoting a movie with antisemitic ideas. Nash was out as head coach.

Staying simple has helped the team get back on track.

After the game, he said he was a simple person. Try to keep things uncomplicated. What was going to benefit our team was stressed out. Whether that was the amount of time we spent in shootarounds, the amount of time we shaved off and kept our guys fresh, in order to give an extreme amount of effort when we play, is something we will never know. We wanted to create a little momentum that way.

Our guys are simple in what they do and we stripped our play book down a bit. If you want your guys to play hard, there is something important in that.

After the Nets parted ways with Steve Nash, he became the full-time coach. The shootaround in Washington, D.C. was a turning point for the group. Less than a day after Irving's suspension was finalized, Vaughn spoke to the group and said that he was as vulnerable as possible.

The message was easy to understand by the man.

He told his team that he would try and be as consistent as possible. I can be as honest as possible.

The Nets have turned their season around thanks to the simplicity in the message and the play of Kevin Durant. Their trust on the floor is high and they are getting contributions up and down the roster. The Nets have won 13 of their past 14 games and are now 10-1 in December.

Nets swingman Royce O' Neale said that they were competing hard. Everyone is taking responsibility. Defensively, we've got each other's back, and we're getting great shots and everyone is being selfish.

The focus of the Nets has been where it needs to be according to the man.

"I think we've always been about ball, to be honest," he said after scoring 32 points. "No disrespect to what you guys do, I just think the outside world, with media and fans, just makes it seem like we don't care about the game or we are not focused on the task at hand." It's a fact that you don't have much to talk about outside of the game, so that's not adding to the discussion.

In the wake of both Irving's suspension and the team's struggles, many within the organization have acknowledged that they are frustrated. The Nets have changed the vibe around their season by going on a winning streak.

"Everyone has a platform, that's for sure," he said. When they don't have an idea, there's a lot of voices speaking on what we do inside our locker room. We have always been interested in the game. We struggled early on, but we always focused on basketball. I believe that other people were looking for something to put on our team. I feel like we've always been about the game, even if it's not what you're talking about.

While explaining the situation to those close to him, he was also praised for the way he has simplified things for the group.

I had a lot of friends asking if I was all right. "I said that." There is a lot of craziness going on. I'm not sure if it's true. It isn't that crazy. We come in, go to work and leave. It has been like that since day one. We simplified both ends of the game.

Coach shored up our roles, and I think that's been the focus. The noise in the locker room isn't like, "Man, finally we got the noise out of our locker room." We've always been locked in on basketball, trying to get this thing back on track.

The key has been group's pushing out all the distraction off the court which has allowed the Nets to focus on improving

It's a part of it. We pledged to each other that it was going to be about basketball when we returned. Our guys have done an unbelievable job of protecting each other and making this thing about basketball and hopefully not let anything interfere with that.

Irving was asked if he thought the focus was back on the floor.

Irving scored 32 points and said that he put himself aside. "Just trust what we're doing and don't pay attention to anything else." I'm focused on being the best version of myself and letting the results come from how well you can trust one another.