Avery Johnson Downplays Deron Williams’ Critical Comments

Deron Williams raised eyebrows when he said that he prefers the system that he operated under Jerry Sloan as a member of the Utah Jazz. Brooklyn Nets head coach Avery Johnson did his best to diffuse the situation, claiming that he has no issue with Williams voicing his opinion. Per the NY Daily News: “I just think we’re putting more and more stuff in that he’s familiar with and getting back to some of those things he did there a lot of the stuff he did in the Utah system,’ Johnson said. ‘At the end of the day, when the shots are going down, everybody feels better about the team and their individual game.’ On Monday Williams was asked if he has been as good a player with the Nets as he was with the Jazz, the Nets’ opponent Tuesday night and the team he began his career with. Williams, who is shooting just 37% said ‘no,’ and went on to explain that he was a better fit in the Jazz’s motion offense than Johnson’s, which relies more on isolation plays. Tuesday morning, Williams said he was not trying to criticize Johnson. ‘You asked me about my time in Utah, I’m not going to badmouth Utah; I had a great time in Utah. I loved the offense. I said we’ve had struggles on offense here, I haven’t felt as comfortable here, which I’ve said all year,’ Williams said. ‘Hasn’t changed. My stance hasn’t changed. I said I can adapt to any offense and I’m working toward that.’ Johnson said that he and Williams have talked about the point guard adapting to the offense and he was not upset with Williams comments. ‘Not not at all. We talk about it. We have great communication. So the comments are not surprising. Really and truly guys I am 47 going on 48, I don’t take anything personal. I communicate with all my players, I have constant communication with Deron and Stack and Joe,’ Johnson said. ‘Joe really, really loves what we are doing. He loves it even more that he’s shooting the ball better. Whether it comes out publicly or whether guys talk to me privately, I got really thick skin and it doesn’t irritate me one bit. A lot of his concerns we’ve talked about privately you guys just found out about it publicly.'”