Deron Williams was at the Nets practice facility Thursday riding a stationary bike when general manager Billy King delivered the news Avery Johnson was no longer the team’s head coach.
“It caught me off-guard,” Williams said before scoring 19 points in the Nets’ 97-81 victory over the Bobcats last night. “He was coach of the month last month.
“We did struggle the last 13 games or so, but I felt like we have a great team, we had a great coach, we had some good wins, and we just needed to get back to playing the way we were playing in November and forget about the way we played in December. We had some good things going in practice and things we were working on, and it was just a matter of putting it together.”
The Nets were unable to put it together in time to save Johnson’s job, however, having dropped 10 of their first 13 games this month. Much of the blame for that has fallen at the feet of Williams, who became the official face of the franchise’s first season in Brooklyn after his decision to re-sign with the team this summer as part of their massive re-tooling of the roster that cost more than $330 million.
But while Williams insisted he wasn’t included in any discussions prior to Johnson’s firing — something both King and Johnson said during separate press conferences Thursday — he admitted his play on the court, which has been below everyone’s expectations, did play a role.
“Nobody asked me what they should have done with Avery, because if they’d asked me I would have said, ‘He needs to be our coach,’ ” said Williams, who said he texted Johnson after hearing the news. “He was a big reason why I stayed here [this summer].
“That’s how things go nowadays. As soon as something happens, someone has to take the blame, and I guess that guy is me. I can’t fight everything that’s being said. I’m not going to try. I know my teammates have my back, and like I said, I wanted to be here with Coach Avery.”
The decision to fire Johnson came less than two weeks after Williams questioned the team’s offense following a practice session, something the star point guard said he personally apologized to Johnson for doing, adding he didn’t intend it to be a criticism of his now-former coach.
But Johnson’s offense doesn’t explain away the larger issues that have plagued Williams’ play this season, and his shooting in particular. After signing a five-year contract worth near $100 million this summer, Williams is averaging 16.6 points and 8.0 assists while shooting just 39.8 percent from the field overall and 29.5 percent from 3-point range.
“Nobody feels worse about the way I’ve been playing than me,” he said. “Every day I go home, I’ve just been trying to figure out how to get it going, play like I’m used to playing and like I used to play, and it just hasn’t clicked yet.
“My confidence is gone right now, and I’ve just got to play my way out of it, fight my way out of it.”