Starting 5 Online caught up with Brooklyn Nets guards MarShon Brooks and C.J. Watson after the Nets’ victory over the New York Knicks on January 21st. Brooks says the team’s biggest difference under P.J. Carlesimo rather than Avery Johnson is confidence:
“I think P.J.’s been doing a good job of giving everybody confidence. That’s 50% of coaching, in my opinion. Players go through tough stretches throughout the season, it’s just very encouraging. Even the guys who were lacking confidence, for whatever reason, even our star players that were lacking confidence, it’s a new start for them, a different voice. I think it’s huge.”
Watson echoed Brooks’s sentiments, calling it freedom:
“Everyone’s out there playing free. No one’s really worried about making mistakes. Just playing through the mistakes, playing hard, and having fun.”
Brooks also noted that the Nets-Knicks rivalry has always been one, but now “we’re playing for territory.”
Watch the interviews after the jump:
