SAN ANTONIO — Deron Williams never took a break this summer to try and be as ready as he could be for the first season in Brooklyn.
But all of the extra work Williams put in may be coming back to haunt him now, after going through yet another rough outing in last night’s 104-73 blowout loss to the Spurs.
“I think we’re a little out of whack right now, as a group,” Williams said after going 3-for-11 from the field and finishing with eight points, two rebounds and an assist. “I know I am, individually. I’ve got to play better. I’ve got to find ways to get going.
“Even on bad nights, I don’t play like this. I don’t even feel like it’s me out there on the court. I’ve just got to snap out of it.”
Williams hasn’t stopped playing basketball since he left for Istanbul, Turkey, last fall to play for Turkish club Besiktas during the NBA lockout. He followed that up by returning to the Nets once the lockout ended and immediately embarking on the shortened 66-game season.
Once the Nets missed the playoffs and their season ended in late April, Williams immediately started working out in preparation for a second go-round with Team USA in the London Olympics, where he won his second gold medal. But even after the Olympics, he immediately returned to the gym in preparation for the start of this season.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself early,” Williams said. “I was really excited about this year. Coming into the season, I felt like we had a good team.
“I still feel like we have a great team. I want to be able to help the team more, and play better. Tonight was just another night I didn’t help.”
It continued a season-long trend of sub-par play from Williams, after the star point guard signed a five-year contract for just under $100 million to return to the Nets and become the face of the franchise’s move across the Hudson River. Williams is averaging 16.3 points and 7.5 assists this season, while shooting just under 40 percent from the field and exactly 30 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
Nets general manager Billy King said in a radio interview Sunday that Williams might be a little worn down after spending so much time in the gym over the past year, and Williams admitted that might be the case.
“I thought it was the best thing to do, and now looking back, it probably would have been smarter to take some time off and get a little bit of rest, especially on my legs, and my ankles in general,” Williams said.
“I took a lot of pounding over the last year because even though we had a shortened season, I was over in Istanbul, so I haven’t had a break since before then. I felt like I could handle it, and at the time I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to get out of shape. I wanted to just keep going.”