Nets coach Lionel Hollins has heard all the dire predictions for his team, but doesn’t care. He said Brook Lopez is recovering well and is expected to be ready for the start of the season, and he also said he plans to put the ball in Deron Williams’ hands and let the All-Star point guard do what he does best.
“He’s a point guard,’’ Hollins said. “He’s our point guard. Will we play Jarrett Jack and Deron together? I’m sure we will. But that doesn’t mean Deron has to be off the ball. When you have two guys who can handle the ball, it doesn’t matter who handles it, but he’s going to be the primary ballhandler.’’
Williams, 30, played off the ball frequently last year with the emergence of Shaun Livingston, but this season Hollins said Williams will be the primary playmaker. Either way, Williams has to be better than his last two seasons, when — beset by ankle woes — he shot 44.4 percent and wasn’t his old attacking self.
Hollins also said he was happy with Lopez’s offseason progress.
“Brook’s been moving pretty good. He’s been in the gym working on his conditioning, working on his game and I’m happy with where he is. Health is a big thing,’’ Hollins said. “He’s doing everything now, so I assume he’s going to be ready for the start of the season. We won’t know that until training camp and the stress of going through practice and going through it the next day.’’
Hollins — a longtime Yankees fan who was at the Stadium on Wednesday to see the retiring Derek Jeter — dismissed his Nets being ranked last in ESPN Insider’s Future Power Rankings.
“I hear that from players, different teams over the years, ‘Oh, we don’t get any respect.’ I hear it from football teams, I hear it from baseball teams,’’ Hollins said. “It doesn’t matter to me, because, one, no matter what anybody says we have to go out and do it between the lines and, two, just because they say we can’t doesn’t mean we can’t, and just because they say you are doesn’t mean you are. I don’t read it anyway. It doesn’t matter. How would anybody know? It’s just somebody’s guess.’’