DENVER — Jordi Fernandez has identified Nuggets coach Michael Malone since their days in Cleveland, and he spent six seasons as an assistant beneath him in Denver.
He credit these years — serving to mould the Nuggets into winners — for not solely getting him the Nets job however laying down the blueprint he’s making an attempt to observe.
“Six years of my life with my family were here, my kids were born here, so great memories, not just professionally but family-wise,” Fernandez mentioned earlier than Friday’s 124-105 loss at Ball Enviornment. “Yearly I used to be right here helped me put together for this job. Michael Malone, the group, the teaching workers, possession, entrance workplace, each expertise … it was one of many causes I’m within the place I’m in proper now.
“I was able to experience a young team, the majority of guys were drafted that we built into a playoff team, made it to a conference finals and then won a championship. So the process really helped me to understand how things work. It’s never going to be the same, and it’s not going to be perfect, but going through it here and being part of it, I think it was a great experience for me as a coach.”
Fernandez joined Cleveland in 2009 as a developmental coach whereas Malone was a Cavaliers assistant.
And later, the 12 months after Malone turned head coach in Denver, he introduced the younger Spaniard in as an assistant.
Fernandez spent 2016-22 with the Nuggets, constructing a contender that received the title the season he departed.
He left an impression on Malone.
“[Fernandez had] just a hunger and an appetite for learning and growing, and his ability to just relate and get along with the players,” Malone mentioned. “You can simply inform that it was only a matter of when he was going to be given that chance. And clearly, Brooklyn gave him that probability.
“It’s been a tough year for them, but when you look at everything they’ve gone through this year — the trades, the players and all that — the most important thing for Jordi and any young coach is to establish a culture. And then as you add pieces to that culture, then the wins will come. And that’s what I tried to do here in Year 1, 10 years ago. But before the wins are going to come, you’ve got to create an identity, you got to create a culture. And Jordi is on his way to doing that.”
That features his no-excuses tradition.
“Once you’re doing your job, there’s no friends. And the same way I want to beat them, they’re going to want to beat me. I know for sure Michael Malone feels the same way,” Fernandez mentioned. “Yes, obviously you want to say hi before the game or after the game, and then during the game be ready to compete all the way through.”
Ben Simmons, who scored 10 factors and had seven assists, and Day’Ron Sharpe (seven factors, 5 rebounds) returned to the court docket Friday.
Cam Johnson (proper ankle sprain) and D’Angelo Russell (proper shin contusion) have been out and are thought of day-to-day. Fernandez has mentioned he hopes the previous will return in some unspecified time in the future on this journey.
However Trendon Watford (left hamstring pressure) almost certainly received’t play till the Nets return dwelling.
