Ziaire Williams should be one of the core guys for the Brooklyn Nets this season. He arrived to the team last season and since then, he earns floor time whenever he’s healthy.
However, that was not the story on Monday when they face the New York Knicks. The 2021 10th overall pick did not play at all in the loss. Head coach Jordi Fernandez explained that it was because of the drop on his performances in the last two games.
“No, it was just my decision. I wanted to challenge him with his defense,” Fernandez told reporters when asked about Williams being benched.
“Last year, he was elite at a lot of the things that we care [about] defensively, from ball pressure to deflections, to pick-and-roll defense to defending isolations,”
The two games the coach was pertaining were against the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors. The first one, which they surprisingly won, Williams struggled big time as a reliever and had the worst plus/minus together with D’Ayron Sharpe.
The Raptors loss performance was not that different as he finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks while playing 28 minutes. He made an attempt to the rim just three times.
Ziaire Williams gets challenged by Jordi
Williams is struggling but Fernandez still believes in him. He said that the DNP is a challenge for him to return to his form.
“He was huge [last season]. I haven’t felt that energy, and then I can go through the numbers, and they were not there,” Fernandez said.
“So, I challenged him to do it. I wasn’t all the way happy with the last two games, and I just gave the chance to J-Will [forward Jalen Wilson], who has always been ready. Whether I play him more or less, he’s always been there for his teammates.”
The Nets will have a three-day rest before returning to action on Friday to play the Philadelphia 76ers.
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