Like so many other Jazz faithful hope, Fisher believes the best is yet to come for the calm-but-competitive Williams, who turns 23 on June 26.

"I think he could probably have a more phenomenal season next year to be honest with you," Fisher said. "I think you can see what you saw in the playoffs 75 out of 82 games during the regular season. He's that good."

While Fisher thought that their backcourt had "synergy," he believes Williams is still learning how to help others get the most out of themselves. He calls him "passionate" about the game. That could explain why the up-and-coming star was upset that some teammates had gone on early vacations.

"He's still trying to figure out how he can be the leader he needs to be for the team and at the same time be able to support guys and push guys in the right way," Fisher said. "He's still learning a lot."

Williams offered no retraction for verbalizing his dissatisfaction with teammates after losing to the Spurs. But he didn't publicly ask to break the team up, either.

"Another year playing with each other is definitely going to help. Another year of experience and going through another season," he said. "If the guys get better in the offseason, which I'm sure everybody will, that's the main thing is improvement and coming together.

"Some guys fall off at the end of the season because it's a long season; other guys prepare for that. I think everybody needs to be prepared for that if we want to make a long run, and I'm sure guys will be next year."

Still, Williams thought the season was good — just not quite good enough.

"We're definitely happy with how far along we've come this year," he said. "We had a great season, a great playoff run and it's just kind of a little bit short. We've got a lot to look forward to next year, and I think we'll bounce right back."

And, he hopes, they'll bounce back a little further.

"Now," Williams said, "I think our focus should be winning a championship."

Deron Williams file

• Years pro: 2

• College: Illinois

• Height: 6-foot-3

• Weight: 205

• May highlights: Scored 31-plus three times (twice vs. Spurs, once against Warriors); had five double-digit assists games, including 14 dishes twice; had five steals in only win against San Antonio; and hit 18 of 41 3-pointers (43.9 percent).

2007 Athletes of the Month

• January: Keena Young, BYU basketball

• February: Jaycee Carroll, Utah State basketball

• March: Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz

• April: Ashley Postell, Utah gymnastics

• May: Deron Williams, Utah Jazz

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E-mail: jody@desnews.com