YES Network.com

There was no backing down, no stepping back. The Nets used Media Day to reinforce what several of them had said over the summer: that they are in it to win it and they think they can...this season.

"This year, the sky’s the limit for us," Joe Johnson said Monday. "Hopefully, we can jell a lot faster than what people think. I think it’s wide open for us. I think we’ve got a chance to win the whole thing this year. I’m not just saying that. I honestly believe it."

Avery Johnson said "the goal is to win a championship this year., amending his comment last month about the Nets not being a title team.“We’re not a championship team today,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, we’ll be one as we move on in training camp and get on into the regular season , and as we move into the playoffs.

Among those who put the coach on the spot Monday was his point guard. Deron Williams sat among the media and asked, "I think what everybody wants to know," Williams asked his coach Monday at Barclays Center, "is, 'Who has the best team in New York?'" Johnson responded, ""It's not about having the best team in New York. My point guard talks about being the best team in the NBA and that's what I want for him."

Originally published at Nets Daily.