TORONTO — Terrence Williams is proof good things can come from a bad situation.
Williams has picked it up — really in every category — after he was banished to the Nets’ bench for two games. The rookie sat for a variety of reasons: bad shot selection, missing a team bus, casual defense and bad posts on Twitter.
Now removed from the controversy, Williams can see the positives that came from it.”Sitting out those two games and actually watching basketball and working out with Doug [Overton, assistant coach,] helped me a lot because when you get to the NBA, you tend to watch games on the TV more,” Williams said before the Nets faced the defensively challenged Raptors last night. “Before, when I was in college, I never watched a game. Being a part of it now and being able to watch it up close, you see things and it really helped me out.”
Williams was coasting in the eyes of some. Then the troubles hit, something interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe now just refers to as “old news.” Williams is back, playing better and his eyes are on the future, not the past.
Williams shot 16-of-29 (.552) with games of 17 and 18 points in the four since his banishment ended. He shot .340 in his first 20 games before his benching.
“Honestly, I do think [there is] a real willingness to learn,” said Vandeweghe, who saw in Williams, toward the beginning, a little search for direction. “We’ve tried to be, from the beginning, very clear with him. He’s a rookie and he’s learning. We want him to be full of energy and very aggressive running the floor and if he has the chance, take it to the basket. Then on defense he’s got to really help us. Very simple game plan.”
The step up concerns his play. There also has been a step up in Williams’ attitude. Getting benched can be a tad humbling.
“He’s had a clear direction the last week or so and what I’ve found as a real positive is that he’s really accepted that with a willingness of, ‘What can I do?’ ” Vandeweghe said. “And then he’s gone out and done it.”
Williams readily admits that is the case.
“Yeah, I came back with a different attitude because I felt I could be better than I was showing,” said Williams, drafted No. 11 last June. “I felt like I settled too much on the offense end and the defensive end.”
Defensively, where Williams was projected as a possible difference maker at the start of the season, it is a case of being more aggressive. Earlier, it was a case of “not pressuring my man enough or helping out. I think it really helped sitting out and watching.”
So the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder from Louisville has come out of it feeling better about almost everything.
“I do feel better because I think I’m playing better in the team concept,” he said. “My shooting percentage is higher. I’m taking better shots, getting more effective shots around the basket. My free throw percentage is higher since I’ve been back so I definitely feel very comfortable where it’s going as an individual because I got to sit out and watch.”
*Chris Douglas-Roberts returned to the starting lineup, wearing a brace on the sprained left knee that had kept him out of three games. . . . The Lakers will visit the Meadowlands tonight. Kobe Bryant is averaging fewer points against the Nets than any other team in his career — 21.4 points through 20 games. Bryant’s highest average is against the Bobcats — 34.1 ppg in nine games. . . . Jarvis Hayes (hamstring), out since opening night, said he could play Wednesday. He’ will compete in full practices Monday and Tuesday.