Brooklyn Nets training camp (roster here) started on Saturday at the PNY Center in East Rutherford, N.J. This means that Brooklyn’s first preseason game–October 7th in Israel against Maccabi Tel Aviv–is just a week away!
Until then, all we have to go on about this team is some training camp practices, workouts, and other rumblings from press conferences and assorted print and online articles. That’s where today’s Netlinked gets its basis, from a piece on ESPNNewYork.com written by beat writer Mike Mazzeo.
New Nets coach Lionel Hollins has only been on the job for a few months, but he has already realized what his important objective for this season has to be: get Deron Williams to return to All-Star form, which he’s trying to do by pumping up his point guard in the media.
From Mazzeo’s article: “There are a lot of expectations on him,” Hollins said Sunday. “I don’t [know] the reasons why — [whether it be] the status he had when he was playing here, the contract. Whatever it may be, Deron Williams is a very good basketball player and Deron Williams is going to prove that this year with this team. And you guys are going to love him. Or respect him.”
This came right after Kobe Bryant of the Lakers surprisingly called out D-Will’s notoriously bad scoreless performance in this past year’s postseason against the Heat in a Brooklyn loss.
Hollins backed up his star, who desperately needs to tune out any negativity for the upcoming season in order to have a big bounce back campaign. That’s exactly what he has to do, and it’s something that former coach Jason Kidd couldn’t do very effectively.
This is a great sign for the Nets. Just a day or two into training camp, and the head coach is selling himself out for one of his most important players who has had a rough go of it in recent seasons. If D-Will can get back on track, Brooklyn will be a tough matchup for any team in the Eastern Conference.
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