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Q&A with Jacque Vaughn

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

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By John DentonSept. 29, 2014

ORLANDO -- Orlando Magic coach Jacque Vaughn met recently with OrlandoMagic.com for an extended question-and-answer session to preview the upcoming season.

The Magic open training camp on Tuesday at the Amway Center and kick off the preseason in Miami next Tuesday night. The regular season tips off for the Magic on Oct. 28 in New Orleans and the home-opener is Oct. 30 against the Washington Wizards.

Here is what Vaughn is looking for this season from his steadily blossoming players and the growth he hopes the team can make during his third season as head coach:

QUESTION: Since you have been the head coach of the Magic you have always impressed upon your players how being a NBA player is a 12-month-a-year job and the need to get better in the offseason. How proud are you of the individual work that your team has put in over the summer?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``I think it shows a continual growth from our guys that they understand the need to get better every summer. Whether this is your first season and you listen the vets and understand how important it is to come to camp in shape or whether you are a returning guy and you realize how long the season is and you know how prepared you need to be, across the board we had a strong commitment from a lot of guys this summer.

QUESTION: Coaches love having a roster where there is an intense competition for minutes and playing time at each position. At just about every spot on the team, you have three or four options as to who could start or play big minutes. How will that level of daily competition help to enhance your team’s toughness and fight throughout training camp?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``From a coaching standpoint and an organizational standpoint, we’re extremely excited about the depth and talent on this roster. These guys started playing basketball because they love competition. We’re keeping things that simple: We want them to love the game of basketball and compete as hard as they can every single day.’’

QUESTION: In Victor Oladipo you have a guard who can play two positions. Tobias Harris has the ability to face the basket or play with his back to the rim. Kyle O’Quinn has played multiple positions for you, Channing Frye has split time between being a stretch four and an emergency center when needed and Evan Fournier is a 6-foot-7 wing capable of playing three spots. How promising is the fact that you have a team loaded with versatility and you have plenty of options with your rotations?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``I think overall on a nightly basis our versatility will make us tough on a variety of levels. We have multiple lineups that we can put on the floor throughout games and we can put multiple ball-handlers out there to initiate the offense. It makes everyone have to play basketball and being basketball players who aren’t so locked in to certain positions. We want them to produce in all areas as basketball players.’’

QUESTION: Victor Oladipo had a lot thrown at him during his rookie season – whether it was starting or coming off the bench, playing point guard or shooting guard, running the team or being a complementary piece – and handled it all with grace. What’s the next step for his development as a second-year player?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``I think the USA Basketball experience (as a member of the Select Team) was great for him, seeing some of the best players in the league and how they work out and prepare every day. And he saw how serious they are about the game. That was a great lesson for a young guy like Victor to see – it takes a lot of work and there has to be an extreme competitiveness to your makeup. Guys in this league are great because they are extremely competitive. Victor has that in him and we think he’ll just keep getting better as he continues to work at his craft.’’

QUESTION: Two of your players, Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris, are headed into their all-important fourth seasons in the NBA. Both are extremely hard workers and the consummate professionals, but they carry themselves in a quiet, understated way. How much do you need them to grow as leaders for this young team?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``They are going to be two of the guys who are going to help set the tone for this team this season by the way that they work and prepare. I’m not sure that I am going to say `young guys’ anymore when talking about our team. Nik and Tobias have experienced a lot in this league and they should be ready to help the guys who are younger than them and show them the way.’’

QUESTION: I had a lengthy conversation this summer with center Kyle O’Quinn, who spent much of his downtime in Las Vegas working out at Impact Sports. Kyle pointed out that it’s time for this team to stop thinking of itself as a ``young team,’’ and it was time to show a maturity and turn the corner. What are your thoughts on hearing that kind of message from one of your leaders?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``I don’t know if I’ll say (improvement) is the next step for us, but what I will say is that it’s time for us to push the growth. Part of that growth is our guys realizing that they are mature enough and they have been in the situations before and they know how to handle them. It’s time for us to handle tough situations on a more consistent basis. That’s how a team shows maturity and gets better as a group.’’

QUESTION: Are you a believer in the theory that if each player can show a bit of growth in several areas that it will add up to the entire team being significantly better? I know it doesn’t always work that way, but is it possible to make major strides as a group with each of your young players maturing?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``Each guy has to do their part. So the guys who worked on their games and dedicated themselves throughout this offseason, when we come together as a team we’ll take all the facets we have – whether it was adding players through free agency, or the draft or guys who were already here – all of those guys have to come together. That collective group has to work together to keep getting better for us to move forward as a team.’’

QUESTION: You made playing better at the Amway Center a priority last season and your team showed a seven-win improvement in home games. However, you struggled mightily on the road last season. The schedule-makers did you no favors with a road-heavy slate early in the year. How important is it to the psyche of this young team to weather the tough start and show progress on the road?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``It’s a mindset that needs to be created when you are playing on the road. We’ll get that challenge of playing tough games on the road early on. We need that same mindset that we had last year of protecting our home floor. We need that same mindset when we go on the road. The message doesn’t change and that’s the consistency that we’re searching for.’’

QUESTION: You are a person who always looks inward and self-evaluates your performance once a season in complete. You have been faced with plenty of challenging circumstances in your first two years as a head coach. How do you evaluate the job you have done the past two seasons while trying to instill good habits into a young roster?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``What I look at is this, `Was I authentic in what I did?’ Whether it was my approach to the game, my communication with players or it was the honesty with the front office, coaching staff and players – that’s how I measure my work. I ask myself if I pushed guys and held them accountable every day. Overall, I want to have the best interests of the organization and guys and I think that I’ve done that. If I do that, that’s a good thing.’’

QUESTION: Magic CEO Alex Martins and GM Rob Hennigan have used the phrase ``turn the corner’’ for this season, meaning their expectations are in place for growth from the squad this season. How much of a leap can this team make now that it has added some experienced free agents and gotten another year of maturity from the young players?

JACQUE VAUGHN: ``I’m not sure that I’m going to say `turn the corner,’ but what I will say is that I will expect more and demand more from our players. But ultimately the great thing is that they should all want more from themselves. We’re excited to get started and see what this season produces.’’