Coach Avery Gave Deron a Chance to Prove Himself

A huge contract. Tons of hype. Tons of support. Deron Williams had it all setup to uplift the entire Nets nation last night and counter his disappointing season thus far. With a chance to send the game into overtime and 24.1 seconds left on the clock Deron Williams pushed it looking for a three. One timeout remained, and either Coach Avery Johnson or a player could have used it (most likely Deron Williams as the floor general). But it remained unused, and Avery let his players run wild, seeing what Deron Williams could do.

Last season Deron Williams fell short as well in a game against the Knicks, and has since then tried to gain the trust of Avery Johnson in clutch situations. But last night, in front of the home crowd, he just couldn't deliver.

Stefan Bondy of the NY Daily News quotes Deron on his missed shot last season, when Coach Avery did call a timeout.

“I think I have a good enough feel for the game where in certain situations you just got to let us go,” Williams said later. “That was one of those nights where if we just would have went, we could have gotten something a little bit better, a little bit easier... He was receptive. He’s always been like that with me. He knows that since he was a player we see things that he can’t when you’re on the court.”

With the game on the line once again, Coach Johnson baffled Nets fans by not calling a timeout and running a play and instead heeded the reins to Deron Williams just as he was asked. Deron Williams found himself with a wide open look on a scrambled play, and missed.

"It felt good. A lot of my shots have felt good, they’re just not going in — a lot of them are in and out,” Williams said. “I got a good look."

“I need to play better. I don’t feel like I’ve had a good game yet this season,” he added. “Tonight, I had 18 (points) and 10 (assists), but still, it’s not a big game from me. That’s an average game. I need to get back to trying to dominate games. I’m trying to find a rhythm out there, it’s just not happening.”

Without Brook Lopez, the Nets have fallen in five straight games, but showed life in the three games against the toughest opponents (Thunder, Heat and Knicks).

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