Don't be naive, he honed his skills under Sloan as a professional player and was considered a top 3 PG during his best(s) season. He has been mostly a shell of his former self since then. It's more complicated than Sloan, but it's no coincidence Boozer and DWill played their best under him. And he suddenly forget how to do it when he left Sloan..... Again more complicated than just Sloan but he has not looked like a pure PG in Just say this about your hate for Sloan, which is perfectly fine. Just don't sit here and pretend to be having a unbias Maybe you should burn an effigy of Sloan....
I think his psyche has just been destroyed with his injuries. And he will never be anywhere close to what he used to be. Obviously I'm not likening the two situations since he's a professional basketball player and 290852897235987235x better then me. But in Year 12 at the Nationals tournament our coach was instructed to select 2 players for scouts to watch - I was one of them. Fast forward to two years out of high school and after a couple of injuries - one being a pretty severe arm injury - I couldn't even consistently score 10+ points in Division TWO club basketball.
I think it's a combination of things. He's injury prone. He's overweight, which indicates he doesn't work hard off the court. Most importantly, he's best in certain systems but he doesn't particularly like being part of those systems. Kind of how Dwight is excellent at PNR but prefers to focus on his post game.
Just last season he averaged 19 and 8, with a 57% TS. His numbers across the board were as good as his Utah numbers. His assists were down, but that's only because Sloan ran a very assist friendly system for PGs. The Nets won 49 games last year, when healthy he's still great, but he's never healthy. He's had injury problems in 3 of the last 4 years.
Deron Williams is a beast. The Nets as a franchise are a mess though. It always seems like the Knicks & Nets compete w/ each other on who can make the stupidest front office decisions, just to sell tickets. Um, how about making the team better???
lin and asik wouldve turned that team around. Asik & kg in the front court, lin in a system under kidd getting solid picks from asik and KG, kg pick & pop game, with piere and joe to always kick it to or let them run the show in sets. Then they couldve traded asik or lopez next year to get picks or younger players. Their owner/gm was dumb, but we did dodge a bullet.
He needs to reshape his body. Lose 15lbs at least. Then see if he can return to 80% of what he once was.
Yep Offensive rebound nightmares Rockets became one of the few teams who... -up 2-0 and lose -Lose Game 7 on home floor smh
Deron was a non prospect/late round pick until his last year at U of I and when he lost the fat and increased his quickness and agility. Sloan does deserve some credit for getting Williams to where he was, one of the top 2 point guards in the NBA. People forget, but his first year in Utah, he had some off the court issues and was being disciplined by Sloan. Williams needed someone that would push him hard, demand physical fitness and also have him make smart decisions or not play. Williams started to resent the control that Sloan had, and the control that he was forced to play under... but that is where he became an elite player. Injuries have played a large part too, but Williams has gone through multiple coaches and teammates and really is missing a strong, structured coach and system.
Look, Sloan is not the right coach for every player. There are many players that do not do well in a system like Sloan's that stifles creativity and essentially dictates how all his players will play and if they don't, they sit. Having said that, Sloan certainly got the most out of Williams. His decision making was better under Sloan, he was held accountable on defense and on the decisions he made. When he did not make smart decisions, or when he was not in shape, he was benched. I don't know that the Sloan/Williams marriage would have lasted long time, because as Williams improved, the power dynamic changed....... but it isn't coincidence that Williams was at his best under Sloan.
Every great player had an instrumental Head coach in their success...please dont underrate coaching. Before Stockton was a P&R guru, he learned a system of offense from Jerry Sloan that allowed both players to excel.
just before you speak of things you quite dont understand...how about hearing it from the mouth of the actual player... http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/jazz/57462746-87/sloan-williams-jazz-brooklyn.html.csp
Can't deny that both Boozer and Deron went downhill after leaving Utah. It's probably a combination of getting paid big money and not being under Sloan's discipline anymore.
It should be clear that they left a PG centric PnR system. The same drop in production can be seen in many PG's who leave this type of system. In fact Deron's drop in shooting percentages was immediately after he changed teams and if anything he's just now figuring out how to efficiently manage a team without constant PnR's and having the ball in his hands 24/7.
when he's healthy..he is one of the best pgs in the league. the problem is, he is rarely healthy..can't practice and stay in shape.
