Avery Johnson says he can handle any criticism his point guard throws his way.
A day after Deron Williams pointed out some issues he has with the offense Johnson has installed, the Nets coach yesterday said he has no issue with Williams speaking his mind.
“I don’t take anything personally. I communicate with all of our players, and am in constant communication with Deron and [Jerry Stackhouse] and Joe [Johnson],” Avery Johnson said before last night’s 92-90 loss to the Jazz in Brooklyn. “So whether it comes out publicly or the guys talk to me about stuff privately, I’ve got really thick skin and it doesn’t irritate me one bit.
“A lot of his concerns we talked about privately. You guys just heard about it publicly.”
After Monday’s practice, Williams said he hasn’t been the same player since he was sent to the Nets in a blockbuster trade with the Jazz in February 2011. The point guard said he’s a “system player” that enjoyed playing under the motion scheme employed by former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, whom he played for during the first several years of his career.
But the problem for Williams this season, as much as anything, has been his season-long shooting woes. After last night’s 5-for-12 effort, including 0-for-3 from behind the arc, Williams is now shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from 3-point range. And while Avery Johnson said the Nets are working to make Williams more comfortable, the coach also said he felt if a few more shots were going in, many of these concerns would quickly dissipate.
“I think we’re putting more and more stuff in that he’s familiar with, and getting back to some of those things, a lot of the things he did in his Utah system,” Avery Johnson said. “But at the end of the day, when the shots are going down, everybody feels better about the team and their individual game.”
For his part, Williams — who finished last night’s game 5-for-12 and finished with 14 points and five assists— downplayed his comments from the day before.
“You asked me about Utah, my time in Utah,” Williams, who is now 0-3 against his former team, said before the game. “I’m not going to bad-mouth Utah. I had a great time in Utah. I loved the offense.
“I said that we’ve had struggles on offense here, I haven’t felt as comfortable here, which I’ve said all year. It hasn’t changed. My stance hasn’t changed. I said that I can adapt to any offense and I’m working toward that.”