Is Deron Williams' Confidence Back?

Deron Williams has faced major amounts of scrutiny in his days in a Brooklyn uniform. Being the face of the franchise, all the focus was on him. Entering his 5th year with the Nets, many are speculating that this year is a make or break season for Williams. He is no longer the player he once was and his last few seasons have been plagued with ankle injuries and confidence issues.  But, will a new season bring a new Deron Williams?

Last year was tough for Williams because his nagging ankle injuries kept him from playing at a high level. With these frequent and frustrating injuries to his ankle, he was not able to perform at an all-star caliber level. Here is what Williams had to say:

I feel like I’ve kind of let people down, so I don’t like feeling like that. I take my job seriously, I work hard in the offseason, I work hard every day. It’s just real frustrating not to be able to play how I’m capable of playing.”

During the off-season, Williams successfully underwent survey to clean up the bone spurs in his left ankle and loose bone fragments in his right ankle. He made a full recovery and resumes on court activities. This offseason for Deron has been closed off and private compared to previous years. He has been focused on returning to playing like his former-self.

In the opening days of training camp, Deron has been nothing but impressive. There is a new passion in Deron’s game that fans hope can be translated into a better performance on the court. Deron Williams has bought into Hollins defensive grit that Hollins and is ready to incorporate Hollin’s style into his game. Here is what he had to say about the upcoming changes:

” I think we’re really aggressive right now defensively. Of course, it’s a work in progress as well, we’re still learning different calls and strategies, but we work a lot on it in practice — especially early in practice.”

Williams sounds committed to this year and proving everyone wrong. Behind closed doors, Deron has been working on his game and improving the health of his ankle and his overall health. Health will be a determining factor for Williams this year. Along with his health on the upside, his inner confidence in himself is as well. He responded to Kobe Bryant’s 0-9 comment by saying,

“I’m a point guard. If I’m 0-for-f—–g-9, I’m not shooting 20 more shots. Not going to happen. I’m a point guard. I’m going to find somebody else. Kobe Bryant, that’s what he’s supposed to do. He’s got that mentality. That works for him, I got my mentality, it works for me.”

There is a fire within him that will translate back on the court. With his confidence renewed and his health stable at the moment, there is something to look forward to this season in watching Deron Williams. Yet, we haven’t seen Deron play in a real game yet, but indications from training camp says that Deron is playing great. Stefan Bondy was at the Nets training camp and tweeted,

It is only a week into the Brooklyn Nets 2014-15 training camp, but if it is an indication of what to expect from Deron Williams, we can expect to see a possible all-star nod this season. We know his Utah days are over and that Deron Williams is gone, but he can reinvent himself into a consistent and reliable player this season with his renewed confidence physically and mentally.