Avery Johnson Is STILL Optimistic

In two programs that aired late Tuesday afternoon, Avery Johnson told Dennis Scott and Mike Francesa that he remains optimistic about the Nets prospects, mid- and long-term. Short-term, of course, it's all about getting past the Nets injury-prone winter.

Johnson had particular praise for Brook Lopez and Deron Williams and his young team's ability to recover from the latest medical reports and play hard. Of Lopez, Johnson told Scott "that's an earthquake sized presence we're missing. I think he was underappreicated and we miss him and lot of our shooters miss him".

On D-Will, he echoed what Billy King has said in comments to Francesa: "Our star player has been consistent. he has been really consistent with his approach. He has basically told us he loves what we're doing, he loves the vision, he's excited about playing in the Barclays Center and that's all we can do...show him exactly the blueprint we're trying to do, trying to build."

And on the elephant in the room, Johnson told Francesa, "I think right now everybody wants to get past All-Star. You're probably going to see a lot of movement in the league in March".

• The Jump: 3DTV (Video) - Dennis Scott & Brent Barry - NBA.com
• Avery Johnson Interview (Audio) - Mike Francesa - WFAN
• Mike's On: Avery Johnson on the Nets' season (Video) - Mike Francesa - YES Network