Brooklyn Nets Deron Williams Needs To Put Struggles Behind Him And Lead

The Brooklyn Nets are currently 2-8 in the month of December after going a franchise record 11-4 in November and that is the only the tip of the problem for the Nets after their most recent loss to the New York Knicks 100-86.

The Nets are now 13-12 now and looking for answers after their second loss to their cross town rivals in one month.

The Nets All-Star point guard, franchise leader and two-time Olympian, Deron Williams is struggling through the worst shooting stretch of his career at 39 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range and he readily admits that something is wrong with him right now.

If something is wrong then fix it.

Williams decided it would be a good idea during this horrible 10-game December to forget that he would bring up his days of playing for the Utah Jazz and discuss the differences between the Jazz offense and the current Nets offense he now runs for coach Avery Johnson.

“I grew up in high school, my coach wasn’t one of those guys who would just throw out the ball and let us play,” Williams said. “We were a system team. We had a staple of plays that we relied on. We were good at execution. In college (at Illinois), we ran the motion offense. A lot of cutting, a lot passing, a lot of screening, a lot of extra passes. I’m used to just movement. So I’m still trying to adjust. It’s been an adjustment for me.”

This is not the time to start to blame the system that he has been running for almost 100 games and now has a ton of talent around him unlike in New Jersey when the talent was D-League level.  This Nets team is locked and loaded with talent for the next four years.

Johnson was named the coach of the month in November but now the system is hard for Williams to “adapt” too and his funk continues.

“I believe I can adapt to anything,” he said. “We’re still a young team. Things don’t happen overnight. It’s still just December. We’re working on it.”

Remember that just days before the Jazz franchise shipped Williams to New Jersey he was butting heads with head coach Jerry Sloan about this supposed offense he loves to run so much and many said he made Sloan resign.

The Nets will have had three days offs prior to playing the Philadelphia Sixers on Sunday so that should be enough time to make some changes.

Enough with the woe-is-me attitude Mr. Williams and take control of this sputtering Nets team and lead them the way you know how as the face of the franchise.

John Paolantonio is a Featured Columnist for www.RantSports.com, covering the Brooklyn Nets. Follow John on twitter @pingshoops and like his page on FaceBook for all of his latest articles, thoughts, and rants.