The Nets had Friday night off, so several staff members — including head coach Jacque Vaughn — traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike to watch Mikal Bridges have his jersey retired at halftime of Villanova’s win over Maryland.
“Very cool just to see him recognized for being a part of some special teams and a lot of history at that university, and for him to be a part of that moving forward, have his former teammates acknowledge him.
Pretty cool night for him,” Vaughn said of the humble Bridges, who spent the time praising his former Wildcat coaches and teammates. “And he still turned it into recognizing his teammates and all the people who support him. So it was typical Mikal of taking the shine off himself. But he deserves the shine. And I’m glad I was able to be there and celebrate with him.
“I think that’s the most important thing to celebrate individuals, the different accomplishments. Sometimes we just gloss over it like they’re easy. But if you take time and acknowledge it and the gratitude behind it, it puts things in perspective, but also humanizes us and appreciate each other.”
After taking a DNP in five of the Nets’ first seven games, Trendon Watford has played his way into the rotation.
“Just staying ready. I attack every day like I’m gonna play. Even the game before [Miami] I didn’t play, and then turn around and end up playing in Miami. So just having that mindset, it’s just on me to stay sharp and stay ready. That’s what I’ve been doing,” Watford said. “They’re confident in me, they trust in me. [Vaughn], he loves my game, so it’s easy for me just to go out there and do what I love to do.”
Watford has played in four of the past five, averaging 7.3 points and 4.3 boards in 16.4 minutes.
“I’ve had the conversation with Trendon, man-to-man, that the best thing about him for me as a coach is that I know he’s capable of playing with the first or second group. He has a versatility that I appreciate,” Vaughn said. “It’s just a numbers game, so his challenge is to be an extremely good teammate, to be ready when his number is called, and that’s what I’ve challenged him with.
“We literally had that conversation the morning of the Miami game, where he didn’t play the night before but then he ended up playing the Miami game. I wanted him to know that when he’s on the floor, that I trust what he’s able to do to this team. Hopefully that gives him comfort to be ready when his number is called.”
Dennis Smith Jr. (lower-back soreness) is questionable for Sunday against the 76ers. Ben Simmons (nerve impingement), Cam Thomas (left ankle sprain) are also out.
Noah Clowney, Dariq Whitehead, Armoni Brooks, Keon Johnson and Jalen Wilson are all out, as they are with G-League Long Island.
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