Nets, Before Taking a Shot, Share a Kumbaya Moment at Training Camp Gerry Broome/Associated Press Jason Kidd, center, presiding over his first preseason practice on Tuesday as the new coach of the revamped Nets. DURHAM, N.C. - The scene at the Nets" team dinner late Monday night, hours after they arrived on the campus of Duke University to begin their weeklong training camp, resembled a support group or an intervention. How else to describe two dozen adults, pouring their hearts out, encouraging one another, securing promises to help one another, always? "That's what it looked like," Jason Terry said Tuesday. We were all in a group. Everybody that's on this team and the coaching staff was all in a circle, and we all just talked. It was great. The meeting opened what the Nets hope will amount to a six-day, get-to-know-you session meant to jump-start a bonding among unfamiliar teammates. The setting made sense for a team that added seven new players and a new coaching staff. General Manager Billy King starred at Duke during the late 1980s and holds close ties to the university. The front office hopes the trip will shelter the players from the news media horde and various distractions they would otherwise have faced at home. "Teams always grow together on the road," Brook Lopez said Tuesday after the first practice. It's your family. The team's growth in camp could be slowed a tad as Deron Williams, who sprained his right ankle this off-season, participated on a limited basis. It was the same for Terry, who had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in June. Terry estimated he could be back at full speed as early as Thursday. Williams seemed to be on a slightly longer timetable. But the players emphasized that what happened off the court mattered, too. Williams, who has been honest about the professional disquiet he has felt the past few seasons, marveled at the fresh feeling at this camp. "The last couple of years, I've lost confidence," said Williams, who was traded to the Nets during the 2010-11 season. Being on a losing team was tough for me. The first time in my career, I picked up bad habits, got negative at times, and it's hard to get out of that, when bad habits set in. Now, I've got great teammates, guys that'll keep me straight if things go south. It was a message that Terry, 36, Paul Pierce, 35, and Kevin Garnett, 37, relayed to Williams, 29, during the team meeting Monday night. "We just told him, "Lean on us," " Terry said. We've seen all types of situations. We're here to help. I think he understands that. Beyond pledging their allegiance to one another, the Nets players used the meeting to speak about a mission statement, laying out who they want to be and what they want to do this season. Coach Jason Kidd said he and his staff mostly kept quiet during the meeting and listened as the players reiterated that their identity would be built on defense and sacrifice. And that was the focus on the court Tuesday. Mike Krzyzewski addressed the Nets before practice. Once it began, the assistant Lawrence Frank led a two-hour session that focused on defensive drills, while Kidd picked his spots for his opinions and instruction. Much more vocal was Garnett, whom Pierce described as "our defensive captain, our inspirational defensive leader." Garnett's voice, his teammates said, was the dominant sound during the team's dinner and meeting Monday night. It continued Tuesday, when he continually yelled out direction and encouragement during defensive drills. When the practice ended, the players huddled at center court and yelled together: "One, two, three, all in!" Lopez, 25, the team's longest-tenured player, bubbled about the team that has sprouted around him. He called it an honor to play alongside veterans he once idolized, to become their peer. "Honestly, I was geeking out a little bit," Lopez said. It was only the first day, and enthusiasm was easy to find. Still, the players acknowledged there was a long road ahead. They would need to keep building trust and continue to preach sacrifice. On a more fundamental level, they would need to learn Kidd's system, which Terry called "gumbo," a mix of ingredients pulled from here and there. "These things take time," Williams said. Knowing this, the Nets have come here hoping to shorten that process.