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good article... finally
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...N.28eb9b9.html
Vaughn finds his niche with Spurs
Web Posted: 01/13/2008 10:58 PM CST
Jeff McDonald
Express-News Staff Writer
Unlike his first point-guard mentor in the NBA, Jacque Vaughn will never be a Hall of Famer or the league's all-time assist leader.
Unlike the Spurs player to whom he is most often compared, Vaughn will never have his jersey hanging in the rafters of an NBA arena.
He will never be John Stockton. Nor will he be Avery Johnson.
And that's OK with Vaughn.
"Everybody in this game has a role to play," says Vaughn, the Spurs' backup point guard. "The idea is to figure out your role and relish in it."
It has taken Vaughn 10 seasons, with stops in five NBA towns, but he finally seems to have accomplished both of those goals.
An unheralded acquisition when the Spurs plucked him off the free-agent heap last summer, Vaughn has emerged as the team's most important reserve not named Ginobili.
He gives the Spurs valuable minutes behind Tony Parker, another All-Star Vaughn never will be able to emulate.
Rendered the undisputed No. 2 point guard when the Spurs traded Beno Udrih in October, Vaughn has put the team's faith in him to good use.
Plucky, heady and full of heart and hustle, Spurs players see the 6-foot-1, 32-year-old journeyman as an inspirational force. Coach Gregg Popovich calls him "everything you'd want in a backup point guard."
In Saturday's victory over Minnesota, Vaughn didn't score a point. Yet, because of the handful of energy plays he provided, he was the first player singled out for praise in Popovich's postgame pow-wow with the press.
"I thought Jacque Vaughn was the leader in that effort," Popovich said.
"His compe iveness was great. Jacque was the guy who got it done for us."
If Parker plays as erratically tonight against Philadelphia as he has in the previous two games, the Spurs won't hesitate to turn to Vaughn's steady hand.
"He comes to work every day and brings his lunch pail," guard Michael Finley said. "He's going to give his all every day. You never have to worry about Jacque not showing up."
Never blessed with awe-inspiring physical skills, Vaughn instead has been forced to forge a career out of other materials.
Effort. Moxie. Savvy.
One play in the second quarter against Minnesota illustrated all of the above.
Then, with a loose ball bouncing toward the baseline and everyone else on the court seemingly content to let it roll out of bounds, Vaughn raced toward the corner, slid in as if stealing second base and popped up with the turnover.
The AT&T Center went nuts. So did the Spurs' bench.
"That's as fulfilling as a guy getting a dunk or a key steal or an assist," Finley said. "That's what he's all about. He makes the type of plays we've grown to appreciate."
That mind-over-matter approach has allowed Vaughn to remain in the NBA when other players of his size and skill level might have long since fizzled out.
Vaughn, Utah's first-round draft choice in 1998 after a standout college career at Kansas, lasted four seasons with the Jazz, all of them spent with his locker next to Stockton's.
"He taught me so many things about what it takes to stick in this league," Vaughn said.
Vaughn spent the next five years bouncing between three different teams — including separate one-year stints in Atlanta — before the Spurs picked him up.
He was 31 years old the day he signed with the Spurs, a player rumored to be on the downside of his career.
Instead, he seems to have found new life behind Parker.
He has found his role. Now it's time to relish it.
"The average span of a guy's career, I've already surpassed that," Vaughn said. "I've always approached the game giving back what the game has given me."
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good article... finally
I love Vaughn's at ude.
He knows his role, he accepts his role.
In the Wolves post game video he spoke really well.
He seems to be a nice fit in this locker room.
And lately he's off the charts with his hustle.
Jacque Vaughn is the only Spur that looks like he wants to win lately.
That save in the corner in the Wolves game was the best play so far of the season.
I wish his at ude was infectious to others, who seemingly are "half-assing" their way through the regular season.
finally, some love for jacque vaughn-tensity!
Yeah, that was a great play by him...ultimate hustle.
In his post-game interview for the other game he seems like a nice, professional guy.
I'll have to admit, he seems to have meshed well lately, I remember earlier in the season, wincing, and being when he came back and didn't seem to be playing too pretty for us...but so far he's been outplaying most of the Spurs lately, focus-wise. I think he'll do a good job for us again this season.
He's always been a scrappy, hustling type of player and a decent on-the-ball defender. I've been impressed with the development of his outside shot. Looks like whatever work he's done with Chip Engelland is paying dividends.
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