Kidd now drawing praise

DISSECTED harshly under the microscope of his miserable first two months as coach, Jason Kidd is now drawing praise and, according to Deron Williams, leaving his “footprint” on Brooklyn’s stretch of winning basketball.

The rookie coach — with the support of Mikhail Prokhorov — has pushed all the right buttons since the New Year, whether it was his smallball lineup change, the defensive game plans or the continued faith in unheralded veterans Mirza Teletovic and Shaun Livingston.

According to Williams, who has always been close to Kidd and an avid supporter, the coach’s identity began forming after he dismissed lead assistant Lawrence Frank in early December.

“I think since Lawrence has left. . . he was leaning on (Frank) a lot,” Williams said. “So now I think he’s coaching the way he wants to and doing things the way he wants to so that’s what you’re seeing.

“I think you see him putting his footprint on the game a little bit more, especially lately,” Williams added. “He’s done a great job. He’s learning on the job, and we knew that coming in. But he’s doing a great job, especially now.”

Kidd has never admitted to a trying transition into coaching, but at times looked overwhelmed, lost and vulnerable to criticism.

Kidd was called bush league for his soda-spilling maneuver, the worst coach in the league by an anonymous scout, and a zombie on the sideline who, according to a report, was losing the faith and attention of his players.

“I didn’t know I had any critics,” Kidd joked last week.

Paul Pierce declared after Tuesday’s win over the Magic — Brooklyn’s eighth victory in nine games — that the Nets (18-22) never pointed fingers during the intense losing, maintaining agreement and loyalty even while falling to 3-10 and 10-21. But that’s misleading. Pierce was publicly criticizing the lack of halftime adjustments less than a month into season, and Kidd later suggested his players were quitting by saying they were comfortable with losing. It was hardly a harmonious start. But now Kidd is the frontrunner for coach of the month, having superstitiously shed his tie to start 2014 while winning without Brook Lopez. The Nets were just three games out of the third seed in the Eastern Conference before Wednesday’s games.

“He’s had to go through some early adversity, which has made him grow,” Jason Terry said.