Not All Wine and Roses in Mavs Land

by Wes Cox on Mar 20, 2008 12:02 AM CDT in News

There a lot of problems on the court right now. I think all Mavs fans can see that. What we can't see are the problems that are apparently arising off of it. I'll let Jeff Caplan explain.

After the Mavericks' grueling 102-100 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, coach Avery Johnson took longer than usual to make his way to the interview room for his postgame media session.

Turns out there was a good reason. The tenseness of the game and the tightness of the playoff race apparently boiled over behind closed doors. Johnson and Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who watched the game from his usual baseline seat, engaged in a heated argument.

Cuban said the dispute was not over "anyone in particular," and he did not elaborate on what set off the spontaneous dialogue.

"It was one of our `exchanges' we have every so often," Cuban said. "Happens every year with every coach."

Sefko is reporting it as well

Both Johnson and Cuban downplayed the incident Wednesday, saying it was nothing out of the ordinary and there were no lingering problems. Johnson dismissed the situation, saying: "Everything's good."

Considering all the things we've heard from these two this season that turned out to be far from the truth (cough*kiddtrade*cough), it's not unreasonable to think the "everything's good" line might be a load.

I'm not sure why this story bothers me. I know "heated exchanges" happen, and if you're one of the people who think Cuban banned MacMahon for his fireavery.com post then Cuban clearly has Avery's back. But that's not really the point is it. What can Cuban and Avery fighting accomplish? How can it help? Can any good come of it?

Cuban, either fire Avery or leave him alone and let him do his job. Or maybe it was really nothing...

One thing that doesn't bother me at all is Avery taking his frustrations out on the players.

How feisty are the Mavs on the morning after the loss to the Lakers?

Backup players are being made to run windsprints.

Avery Johnson is snapping back angrily at silly media questions.

Johnson barked out the name of a player ("Juwan Howard!'') who had to go to the line and succeed at a pre-determined rate. And if the designated player didn't make the requisite number of FTs?

Windsprints for the rest of the team.

"Up and back!'' Avery screamed. "Up and back!''

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Is Avery's approach justified here?

Backup players are being made to run windsprints.

Hey Avery, I hope by this you mean everyone but Dirk, Jet, Lue, Allen and George (and maybe Bass) ran wind sprints to San Antonio and back cuz it's that group that salvaged that game yesterday from being a complete embarrassment to you and the organization.

Avery Johnson is snapping back angrily at silly media questions

Hey Avery, how about lets forget the "poisonous media" and get the team to snap back angrily at silly Laker games with a blow out win tomorrow and Sunday. Quit being so defensive, get your team to produce consistently and they'll back off. Until then, get ready to be humbled and deal with it.

by Toddy on Mar 20, 2008 1:17 AM CDT 0 recs

It's pretty obvious

that Avery's once motivational coaching isn't working anymore. Now that the media is questioning him more and more and if he is losing the team, I can only say one thing: FINALLY.

It boggles my mind why he insists on continuing to call every single play. What was the point of trading for a "floor leader" then???
Not to mention, getting outcoached by the national TV commentators. And the continuation of the stagnant ISO that failed the team twice in the playoffs.

This reminds of Scott Skiles in Chicago. At some point, the team just doesn't respond anymore to certain kinds of coaches. What this team needs is a cool-headed, more relaxed coach not trying to babysit a bunch of professionals on every play.

Does anyone honestly feels confident about Avery going up against ANY of the western conf coaches???

by aluzzi on Mar 20, 2008 3:08 AM CDT 0 recs

Totally agree

I think most of the people in this blog think the world of Avery as a person, but if it wasn't evident in the past, it is now -- he's just not that great of a coach. The Barry Switzer analogy is not off-base -- Switzer took a very talented Cowboys squad to the Super Bowl (one built by Jimmy Johnson), while Avery took his team to the Finals with the foundation built by Don Nelson. He's probably risen too quickly -- he heard all the praises from people like Don Nelson and Popovich and his ego got the better of him.

I'm glad he won Coach of the Year, and set a record for quickest to 50 wins, but the Mavs made a philosophical change when they brought in Kidd. Avery's got to adapt to his players as much as Kidd, Allen, and Wright have to adapt to him.

I think we all try to learn from our mistakes, but it's maddening to see the Mavs make the same mistakes over and over again -- and ultimately the responsibility lies with the head coach. Remember that Avery just doesn't have a lot of coaching experience and not having Del Harris as a mentor probably h,urts.

Finally, it's funny that the run started (OK some of it was because Kobe was in foul trouble and on the bench) when the Mavs were playing a more up-tempo style and ditched the iso stuff. Avery, let the players play and sit down (and play Antoine Wright more -- as a young coach you'd think he'd like to give the young guys a chance).

by dirk41 on Mar 20, 2008 3:47 PM CDT up 0 recs