NBA

Nets stars Deron, Johnson say games fit nicely together

Ever since the Nets re-signed Deron Williams and traded for Joe Johnson in July, much of the talk surrounding “Brooklyn’s Backcourt” has focused on how two players who are accustomed to dominating the ball will accommodate each other.

But, to Williams, looking at it that way is missing the point. To him, the reason both of them have had to dominate the ball in the past — because their teams needed them to — vanishes now that the two of them are sharing the same backcourt.

“Everybody talks about we both need the ball in our hands,” Williams said after yesterday’s morning practice. “Number one, in Utah, I didn’t always have the ball in my hands. With the system we ran, I’d give it up and get it back at the end of the shot clock.

“I like coming off screens, now he can handle the ball and I can come off screens freely, and vice versa. So I think we’ll be a great fit together. He had to dominate the ball in Atlanta because they didn’t have any scorers … same thing last year with me [with the Nets]. I had to dominate the ball because that was the only chance we had.”

The fact Williams and Johnson are both so accustomed to having the ball in their hands and initiating the offense is something the Nets are planning on using to their advantage. Depending on the situation or the matchup, either one of them could run the offense, allowing the other to get freed up for a potential open look at the basket.

“Like I told him, if you want to play the two or come off of picks, just let me know,” Johnson said. “We’ll interchange it and switch it up, because he’s a big point guard and I’m a big two guard, and he’s going to have an advantage a lot of the times. … I think it’s going to be fun.”

In fact, the two of them already have begun discussing that interplay on the court during the first few days of practice.

“He was joking with me yesterday, saying he never got any spot-up looks last year. … He never had [someone] who could penetrate and make a play for him,” Johnson said before adding, with a smile, “So I promised him I’d get him a couple of them a game.”

With just two days of practice in the books, though, they still have some work to do to get things down on the court, despite the good chemistry that already has formed between the two of them.

“They’re still working it out,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “They’re still working it out. When Deron understands where Joe is going to be on the floor most of the time, and vice versa, then we’ll get it [figured] out.

“But there’s some growing pains there, in terms of where they’re going to be, but the main thing is they’ve got great chemistry. They’ve got great respect for each other, and they’re really going to push each other.”

Williams already said he is excited about the potential the duo, along with the rest of the starting five, can bring to the floor.

“It’ll be fun,” Williams said. “It’s like pick your poison. I’ve got a lot of weapons out there, [so] let’s just go play.”