Hornets Monty Williams Talks Nets Coaches

The Brooklyn Nets are coming off a win in New Orleans on Tuesday night 101-97 where Deron Williams came alive and scored a game-high 33 points.  The game should not have been as tight as it was in the end after the Nets blew a 22 point second quarter lead.  The common trend for this team is to have one or two horrible quarters where teams put the pressure on and the Nets fade and lose whatever lead they have acquired.

This is a disturbing trend that has continued from Avery Johnson’s tenure and now seems to be a problem with this P.J. Carlesimo led team.  For some reason the Nets can’t seem to put together a full 48 minutes of solid play and have the same lapses over and over again.

I hear in postgame interviews that sometimes they get “selfish” and get away from the good ball movement and “team play” that got them the lead to begin with.  I do not understand this statement at all.  The ball movement is what got you the lead so why would anyone stop moving the ball?

Why is this still a problem after 68 games?  Should Carlesimo put more emphasis on this problem and change more of Johnson’s system?

New Orleans coach Monty Williams talked about the Nets coaching staff with Johnson and also Carlesimo with the media.

Jimmy Smith, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

In-season coaching changes can often transform the fortunes of a team, alter its course or manipulate its direction, down a path toward success or continued mediocrity.

When the Brooklyn Nets fired New Orleans native Avery Johnson on Dec. 27, when the Nets dipped to 14-14 in the midst of a 3-10 record that month, assistant P.J. Carlisimo was named the Nets’ interim coach.

“That’s a tough one for me,” Williams said. “I’m close to Avery, I’m close to P.J. I just think guys, if you want to play, you’ll play. I’m sure the message was the same: play hard, defend.

“Both those guys come from the same school of thought. So I don’t know how much is going to change. I’ve worked with P.J. I played with Avery. I know those guys don’t mess around. I don’t know if that message changed. I know both those guys were really good to me, especially P.J. when I started coaching. And I know his philosophy is no-nonsense, play the game the right way. Don’t turn the ball over. And he’s a defensive coach. Avery is the same thing. For whatever reason when you have a coaching change, the dynamic, or there’s some phenomenon that tells guys, ‘OK, now we have to play.’ For whatever reason, it happens.”

Carlisimo said nothing really changed when he became the head coach.

“We’re playing better; more individuals are playing better,” he said. “Since (the change) we’ve resembled the November team more than we’ve resembled the December team.”