Avery Johnson

by jthig32 on Feb 28, 2008 10:33 PM CST Comment 23 comments

Does anyone need ANY more proof that he's a ridiculous control freak?

Anyone?

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Do we need ANY more diaries

about basketball right now other than zywica's below?

A working class hero is something to be.

by t ball on Feb 28, 2008 10:58 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

er, I mean

I'm getting my sports mixed up, tired. Carry on.

A working class hero is something to be.

by t ball on Feb 28, 2008 10:59 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

It's time for him to go. Get through the rest of the season, but fire his ass at the end of it, regardless of how they do in the playoffs. That was absolutely inexcusable not to have Kidd on the floor at the end of the game.

by nrrh on Feb 28, 2008 10:58 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

That final play

Good lord. I haven't seen anything that badly executed in a while.

I'll eat my hat if the Mavericks make it to the Finals in the next two years. I just don't see it.

Baseball Time in Arlington

by jamcadbury on Feb 28, 2008 11:00 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Love how Avery benches Kidd on the last possession

GREAT call seeing we threw up a prayer and a turnover. But, I honestly think we deserved to win and played a better game. It's still early in the process but the team plays real well with Kidd and Josh Howard was not an idiot with the ball tonight. Maybe he got a chance to buy into Kidd on the layoff.

But the ISO crap has got to stop when Kidd is in the game. Stackhouse shooting fadeaways is pointless when Kidd can just feed to him open. Howard ISOed well tonight but he also hit some lucky fadeaways. Atleast we drove to the basket (in particular Dirk and Bass were beastly tonight in the paint).

Overall I was pleased and the result of the game IMO was meaningless since it was a very even game and came down to a phantom foul call for Duncan that sealed the game.

by slimshadty12 on Feb 28, 2008 11:09 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Boring.

There's a long history of control freaks winning titles. Just because you have some laid-back types winning them too doesn't erase that.

Bottom line: there are people here who hate Avery and so everything gets filtered through that lens. The guy makes some mistakes--but guess what: so do Pop, Jackson and Riley. I doubt we'd be talking too much about his horrible style if his players hadn't absolutely rolled over in game 3 and claimed their rightful title.

by brettgardner on Feb 28, 2008 11:06 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Just for myself

I don't hate Avery. He's a great guy. But he has serious shortcomings as a head coach (to go with some serious strengths that have contributed greatly to their success) that are hurting the organization, and to make matters worse, in this situation he doesn't have the proper support to overcome those that can be helped.

Some of his principle weaknesses, imo:

He's good at executing a plan, but he's not good at devising one
He does not have a "GM's eye" for personnel
He doesn't trust young players, as evidenced by Dallas quickly becoming the second oldest team in the league under his few years in charge

One of the main ways that I don't think he's supported well involves the second point above. He is an inexperienced coach with no experience whatsoever in personnel or a front office and no track record of success in personnel decisions, yet he has been largely handed the reigns in determining the direction of the roster. Cuban and Nelson have failed him in that regard. Nelson should have continued to be a strong force in the development of the roster, but he's deferred to Avery on most moves, and Cuban has supported Avery's increased role.

by Brett Perryman on Feb 28, 2008 11:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

Our player scouting/development as a whole has been pretty shambolic.

Just look at our drafts over the past 7 years. We hit on Josh, and that's it. We've had ~15 picks, and we hit on 1 player. I think Najera and Etan Thomas are the only other ones even in the league right now (not counting Fazekas and Ager).

Whenever we draft a dude nowadays, I fully expect that they'll get absolutely no chance and will be sent straight to the D-league. They'll spend a few seasons there, maybe getting a couple of minutes in garbage time, and then they'll wind up getting traded/released, or leave the NBA altogether.

I have no idea how Donnie Nelson still has a job.

by LiamP on Feb 28, 2008 11:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I should mention

I know we haven't had high picks recently, but I mean, 1 hit in 7 years is terrible no matter how you slice it.

by LiamP on Feb 28, 2008 11:45 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Completely disagree...

Despite Nash and Finley walking, we still are loaded with talent with our only real FA aquisition being Dampier.

You forget along with Josh Howard, we drafted Harris, signed guys like Marquis Daniels, Diop, Bass, etc.

Despite the debacle of Antoine Walker, we still got Terry to make up for it. Jamison turned into a great trade getting Stackhouse and drafting Harris with the pick.

I actually find it pretty remarkable that we lost 2 of our 3 best players (Nash and Finley) and nearly soon after won a title.

by slimshadty12 on Feb 29, 2008 12:13 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

But that has all dried up in the last two years, with Avery gaining leverage in the makeup of the roster.

by Brett Perryman on Feb 29, 2008 12:30 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

OK

Well it's fine to say that you'd like Little Don to have more control, but what does that mean exactly? What move was/is out there that he could have done to make this roster appreciably 1. Younger and 2. Better? The albatross contracts on this team were accumulated under the leadership of LD, even though I'll grant you that Damp was pretty much a complete Cuban move.

As for the rapid expansion of age--yeah...and? Every elite team in the NBA right now is acquiring veteran talent rather than relying on young guys to carry them. Suns, Lakers (though they have younger bench guys), Spurs, Cavs, Celts, even the Hornets.

Plus, the Mavs have either not had any draft picks, or have had them so low as to have the entire elite talent already plucked up by the time they pick.

What young players are you talking about? I'm guessing just Devin Harris, because Barea got plenty of looks this year. Same with Bass. Avery played freakin' Josh Powell and Rawl Marshall for God's sake--what more can you ask than that???

As for my critique: it's that the coaching staff seems to have a hard time 1. Making serious adjustments and, relatedly, 2. Giving up on what they love (e.g. endless iso sets)

by brettgardner on Feb 28, 2008 11:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Since this is a baseball board

Just in case anyone in this conversation wasn't watching, Avery benched Kidd with 30 seconds to go and the Mavs down two with the ball.

Then he kept him benched during a subsequent time out in the same possession.

I mean...wow.

by jthig32 on Feb 28, 2008 11:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

If I am

Jamal Magloire right now, I would be saying...

"Why the fuck didn't I sign with Detroit?"

Milton Bradley + Frankie Francisco = team chemistry

by miles on Feb 28, 2008 11:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Miles...

I'm all for colorful language, but can you do me a favor and tone it down a bit? Your recent transition to "the word fuck's biggest fan" doesn't lend itself to people taking you seriously.

"I know you're a bit dense but no, it doesn't. Obviously lying isn't a problem for me."

by benmor78 on Feb 29, 2008 12:43 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

OT: Watching Heat-Lakers now

Two observations:

Kobe sweats more than any person on earth;
Phil Jackson looked absolutely stoned when he talked to Cheryl Miller after the half. He was actually giggling while CM was setting up the first question.

The abc123 outFree Dalworthington Gardens

by abc123 on Feb 28, 2008 11:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Questions 2

Does that suprise you, he IS the Zen master...

He looks like he is high 24/7 like 7-11.

Milton Bradley + Frankie Francisco = team chemistry

by miles on Feb 28, 2008 11:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

doubtful...

I'm pretty sure I sweat more than two sumos in a houston summer street fight

"Look at our current situation with that camel fu#%er over in Iraq. Pacifism is not something to hide behind."

by Walter Sobchak on Feb 29, 2008 1:19 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

x

http://www.fireavery.com/

Milton Bradley + Frankie Francisco = team chemistry

by miles on Feb 29, 2008 12:12 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

we lose on the road.

period. sucks, but we do. we had a chance to win this game, there were some bad calls, there were some horrible technicals earned by our players, Bruce Bowen is a cheating little sheit, and Avery benched Kidd in the most crucial point of the game, giving Terry a HORRIBLE look at the basket. but the point is, we were close, and could've won that game EASILY. I think we'll be fine, once Magloire catches on and provides depth behind Damp.

Damp looked like a beast tonight. Bass WAS a beast. Did you see him make Duncan look silly on 3 different occasions?

"Look at our current situation with that camel fu#%er over in Iraq. Pacifism is not something to hide behind."

by Walter Sobchak on Feb 29, 2008 1:21 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Plus

I think it gets lost in all the other talk about the Mavs, but is there a better and more creative player in the league than Dirk at drawing fouls? I mean, I honestly think that is one of his absolute biggest strengths. That pump-fake/stutter step he does just kills anybody trying to body him up.

by brettgardner on Feb 29, 2008 1:28 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs