To say Deron Williams isn't trying to get his hopes up as far as being selected an All-Star for the first time would be an understatement. Just take the series of one-word answers Williams offered on the subject Friday.

Asked about Tracy McGrady not being selected a Western Conference starter, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash filling the backcourt, and a potential spot opening up for himself, Williams' answer to all three questions was the same: "Awesome."

"I don't care about the All-Star Game, man," said Williams, who is averaging 19.3 points and ranks third in the NBA with 9.6 assists. "We're trying to win more games. You can't worry about that. I don't worry about that."

Williams has been snubbed three times in as many seasons, but his odds of being selected appear better than ever with Nash passing McGrady in the final returns of fan voting announced Thursday.

With Western Conference coaches choosing two guards, two forwards, one center and two wild-card picks to fill out the All-Star reserves, Williams is likely competing with Portland's Brandon Roy and Denver's Chauncey Billups for one or two spots.

Worst ever?

Even with Brook Lopez , Devin Harris and Courtney Lee , the New Jersey Nets team that arrives in Utah to face the Jazz tonight is on pace at midseason to finish with the worst record in NBA history.

The Nets, who lost Friday at Golden State, now have a 3-39 mark, having beaten only Charlotte, Chicago and New York, and are projected to win all of six games. That would pass the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who went an all-time worst 9-73.

"No letdowns," Williams said. "I just don't want to have a letdown. We've done that before, so you can't just think just because a team we're playing has a bad record we're going to automatically win. We have to go out there and win the game."

Sloan was asked about the Nets possibly finishing as the worst team in all his years in the NBA. The 1972-73 Sixers won their 42nd game and were 4-38 at that point in the season.

"Nothing surprises me in this league," Sloan said, adding, "For whatever reason, somebody might be upset because they didn't get enough minutes or didn't get enough money or have some of those things happen to them and they might not want to play.

"They'd rather look to want to play for another team. That stuff goes on and that doesn't give you much of a chance to win sometimes."

Booting up

Kyrylo Fesenko skipped the Jazz's trip to Denver and San Antonio after spraining his left ankle at shootaround Saturday. He rejoined the team for practice Friday but still was wearing a walking boot and probably is about a week away from returning.

"Yesterday I was actually thinking that I'm going to try to practice today," Fesenko said, "but I went a little bit too hard and it hurts again." Fesenko was pleased that he weighed in at 296 pounds Friday, having worked out twice a day to stay below 300 despite the injury.

rsiler@sltrib.com