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"Brooklyn's Backcourt" - Will All-Stars Deron Williams and Joe Johnson Mesh?

Call it a chemistry lesson, these first few days of camp as Deron Williams and Joe Johnson work on how their talents will mix, not in a test tube but on the court at PNY Center.

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Brooklyn Nets/Adam Pantozzi

Can two guys who have had control of the ball most of their careers mesh when next to each to each other? No, we're not talking about Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. That experiment has so far failed. We're talking about Deron Williams and Joe Johnson, aka "Iso-Joe."

That will be the first question that needs to be answered if the Nets are going to move beyond just aspiring to be championship contenders. Already, reports Mitch Lawrence, one of the first "quick action" plays Avery Johnson installed in practice had Williams locating Johnson as his first option. "He and Deron are going to fit in just fine," Avery Johnson said after the first practice of training camp. "I don’t anticipate any problems there."

Joe Johnson thinks it will work out just fine too, telling David Aldridge at Media Day about what the two talked about over the summer in the Hamptons: "Him taking a lot of pressure off me, me getting an opportunity to do a lot more catching and shooting, not having to beat two or three guys. i just dont think youre going to be able to double and triple team guys now because we have such a complete team. I think it's going to be tough but we both understand, man, that it's going to take both of us to try to lead this team in the right direction."

As for D-Will, the bottom line is talent. "I never played with somebody that dynamic in the backcourt," Williams said. "He can do a lot of things on the floor. I’m going to enjoy pairing up with him."

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