- Deron Williams and Joe Johnson both expressed a sense of frustration about the recent play of their team, from Derrel Johnson of SNYNets: “It’s like we’ve lost a bit of our toughness,” Williams said after the Nets second loss to the Knicks in eight days. “We need to get it back. We’re frustrated, we have to change some things, we have to get better… It is on us as players.We have to come out with more energy and more focus.” Frustration was mentioned by Joe Johnson. “I think we are a confident group but it is frustrating because it is a tale of two halves. We play good in the first half and in the third and the fourth quarter we are not running our sets defensively.”
Whether Williams knew it or not, he put Avery Johnson on the spot by discussing old Utah Jazz offense. Ken Berger of CBSSports has the story: “There are those who believe that Williams knew exactly what he was doing when he spoke of how he yearns for the Utah offense — for the pick-and-roll freedom under Sloan, whose early retirement, you may recall, was prompted by a disagreement with Williams. Now, Williams was laying the foundation for change again. The words sparked a better shooting performance from Williams, who was 7-for-12 and had 16 points and 10 assists, but did nothing for the morale of those around him. With the belief in the organization that the Nets have enough talent to be a top team in the East — straight from the top, straight from Mikhail Prokhorov — it’s easy to see that this will land at Avery Johnson’s feet if it doesn’t get fixed. The coach always goes before the unhappy star in this sport, and that’s especially true with the Nets, whose multi-billion-dollar business plan all hinged on acquiring him from the Jazz against his will and then persuading him to stay.”
- *Update: Avery Johnson’s job may be in jeopardy if things don’t turn for the better soon, according to our radio show host Brian Geltzeiler:
Source tells me this morning that Nets brass is seriously considering pulling the plug on Avery Johnson if things don't turn soon...
@hoopscritic
Brian Geltzeiler
To clarify this Avery thing....he has allies in the organization but there are a few higher ups who want him gone now....
@hoopscritic
Brian Geltzeiler
Dave D’Alessandro of Star-Ledger went off on the play and behavior of Deron Williams: “We figured it was time to have this chin-wag — even after a decent but disappointing night at the Garden — because you’re a sensitive soul who needs to be approached carefully even when we venture into something intended as a friendly critique. This has less to do with how you play — which is bad enough, you readily admit nowadays — than how you act, which is just one evening gown shy of a diva. And by now you may have sensed that everyone around you seems unwilling to share their candid observations with you. We heard you blame your troubles on coach Avery Johnson, and pine for the days when that wise old crank in Utah ran stuff that was better suited to your individual skills. Trust us: The national response was raucous laughter, because you were the guy responsible for getting Jerry Sloan to decide after 27 years that he’d rather live with his 30 tractors in McLeansboro, Ill., than put up with your insubordination. Now you say Sloan was best for your career, not to mention the $100 million contract that validates it? That’s rich.”
- D’Alessandro also quoted Jeff Van Gundy on his thoughts about the play of Williams: “You could easily argue that Raymond Felton is having a better year than Deron,” a former D-3 point guard named Jeff Van Gundy said before this game last night. Then the ESPN analyst said this: “I’m trying to figure out how this guy, who was among the very best point guards, is shooting the ball so poorly — and it’s not just this year. “I mean, does he work at it? For all we’ve heard lately from him by way of explanations, eventually shouldn’t you look in the mirror?”
Dirk Nowitzki detailed his first practice session with teammates, from Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas: “I think the quality of the game wasn’t that high,” Nowitzki said in his typical self-effacing fashion. “I was just chucking some shots to get a little rhythm and I was little tired from doing stuff out there, so the only way I can go is up.” All things considered though, Nowitzki was pleased with his first day of full basketball work since mid-October. “I thought I played decent,” Nowitzki said. “Obviously, my legs are pretty shot. For the first time running and shooting and jumping, so it’s going to take awhile for me to get back in halfway game shape. You can run in the pool and do some elliptical all you want, but it’s not like a 7-foot guy, 250, leaning on you, pushing around and you still got to make a move and jump and then concentrate to make a shot. “So I think it’s going to take awhile to get in halfway decent shape. But for the first day, I think it felt pretty good.”
The savior of the Lakers may finally return for the team by Christmas, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com: “For the first time since suffering a non-displaced fracture to his lower left leg on Oct. 31, Steve Nash competed in a full practice, including a 5-on-5 full-contact scrimmage, on Thursday afternoon. So … when will he play in a game? “I think Christmas is probably the most realistic,” Nash said, revealing that his leg felt “good” in practice but suggesting he needs to see how it responds before drawing a conclusion. The Lakers have only one game before Tuesday’s X-Mas contest with the New York Knicks, a Saturday tilt at Golden State, and Nash said it’s “possible” he’d return to that game. Yet he won’t really know until he sees how the leg feels tomorrow, and furthermore how it responds at shootaround on Saturday.”