Avery Johnson Dismissed as Mavs Head Coach

"I would like to thank Avery for his valuable contributions to the Mavericks organization," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. "Over the past four years, he has been an integral part of our team’s success. We wish AJ nothing but the very best in his future endeavors."

"It is never easy to relieve a coach of his duties, especially one of Avery’s caliber," owner Mark Cuban said. "He is a talented coach and I want to thank him for his efforts over the last four years and what he has done for this franchise. We wish him well in the future."

Mavs Moneyball | Dallas Morning News Mavericks Blog

2 months ago Atma Brother ONE Comment 26 comments 0 recs |

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omg

who didn’t see that one coming…hahah…two first round exits in a row? with the highest payroll in the nba? cuban is a business man he knows when to cut his losses.

by saintdee on Apr 30, 2008 11:48 AM PDT 0 recs

Who the Hell is

Dallas going to get as a coach who is better than The Little General? Same with Phoenix, who are they going to bring in who is better than Dantoni or how ever you spell his name…

A D D. Thats all I have to say.

No matter the situation, teams like Denver, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix were going to be ousted from the Playoffs in round One-its just that difficult in the West. Why would you need a better coach when you’ve already won 53+ games for the past 4 years as is the case with Dallas and Phoenix. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Who ya gonna get- Saul Finklestein?

If Don Nelson decides not to come back for the ‘08-’09 season, we need to bring Avery back to the Bay!!!

by gabezgsw on Apr 30, 2008 12:07 PM PDT 0 recs

asdf

i bet you a red nickel D’Antoni ends up in Dallas and Avery ends up in Jersey.

This message has been brought to you by Stix.

by STIX on Apr 30, 2008 9:22 PM PDT up 0 recs

dantoni

will end up here

So I don't have a signature well these words would do! Who knew that upgrades can have downgrades too!

by 24k state fan since 87 on May 1, 2008 1:46 AM PDT up 0 recs

you mean

jersey and new york, don’t you?

by oldskool on May 1, 2008 11:09 AM PDT up 0 recs

avery did good in the regular season

but not so well in the PO’s. it’s too bad, he probably doesn’t deserve to get fired as he didn’t assemble that weak hearted team, but, SOMEBODY has to put some fire up their asses, and it wasn’t the A.

"i'm just trying to follow my dream, dad."
"but your dream is stupid!"

by pervisNeverNervous on Apr 30, 2008 12:10 PM PDT 0 recs

If Nelso Leaves

I would be on top of Avery. Not literally speaking though.

by ejdacanay on Apr 30, 2008 12:50 PM PDT 0 recs

if nelson left i might advocate the warriors attempting to pick up d’antoni over johnson.

by so ill so d0pe on Apr 30, 2008 12:59 PM PDT 0 recs

D'Antoni

is a run-n-gun coach. Once Nelson leaves we should convert to traditional play style.

by ejdacanay on Apr 30, 2008 1:13 PM PDT up 0 recs

knew someone would bring it up

and i hafta say nooooooooooooooo. if u think nelson doesn’t use his bench enough, u don’t wanna see d’antoni’s rotation

by AJC3317 on Apr 30, 2008 5:22 PM PDT up 0 recs

Nellie's Assistant

We could do it all over like in Dallas. Hire Avery as the assistant with the condition that when Nellie leaves at the end of next year (or it could be this year), Avery is guaranteed the coaching job.

This is just wishful thinking since I don’t see Avery taking an assistant coach position.

by Fantasy Junkie on Apr 30, 2008 1:13 PM PDT 0 recs

Here's a crazy idea

Fire Nellie, hire Avery. We guarantee ourselves a good coach for the next 3-4 years and might get this team to play D.

by Fantasy Junkie on Apr 30, 2008 1:14 PM PDT 0 recs

here's a better idea

fire Nellie and hire Isiah Thomas. He will be the key to the Dubz success for the next 10 years. Him and his “bitches” will take us to championships galore.

You guys need to realize that without Nellie and his system, the Dubz would have won maybe as many games as Monty and Muscleman did these last 2 years. Give the man what he deserves and that’s some credit. Dubz have a roster with many holes and question marks. To win 48 games in the West this year is an awesome job by Nellie.

by misterjennings on Apr 30, 2008 2:05 PM PDT up 0 recs

Okay how about this...

When Nellie leaves next year, who’s going to replace him? Keith Smart? Why not just go grab Nellie’s previous and proven student? How much do we lose in terms of coaching ability?

Look, I appreciate what Nellie has done. He’s done amazing things. But just because I appreciate what he’s done in the past doesn’t mean I’m going to wait for him to make a decision – which could happen in August (again). And if he decides to leave, and all the good coaches are gone, we’re screwed. Remember, he hasn’t even committed to staying for the upcoming year.

I’m not saying it’s a great idea to fire Nellie right now, I’m just throwing it out there as food for thought, – as an insurance plan for the future. For another idea, see my comment above “Nellie’s Assistant”

by Fantasy Junkie on Apr 30, 2008 3:00 PM PDT up 0 recs

will

any of the dubs respect avery though? avery is not exactly a likeable guy. Look at how the mavs basically ignored avery toward the end. Also I don’t think they will respect avery after humiliting him after last years playoffs after seeing him getting outcoached.

by saintdee on Apr 30, 2008 3:12 PM PDT up 0 recs

Good question

I have no idea if they’ll respect him but it’s something to consider. He’s been to the Finals. Was within 1 win of a championship – closer than Nellie’s ever been. I respect that, not sure if the players would. I would think/hope so though. Avery has won championships with the Spurs. Did Jax and Avery play together while on the Spurs?

If Nellie leaves this year or next year, I just hope we have a top coach to replace him – not another Musselman or Montgomery. Outside of loyalty issues, would you fire Nellie (and his commitment issues) right now to get a few years of Avery (or D’Antoni if he gets fired)? I don’t know if I would, but I’d consider it.

by Fantasy Junkie on Apr 30, 2008 3:24 PM PDT up 0 recs

no way

avery takes over a team, that just fired that guy that got him his first coaching gig
plus mullin isnt firing nelson
we got nellie for one more year cuz we all know don nelson isnt leaving 5 million on the table

anyway d’antoni would be a better fit, hopefully he takes a year off and we scoop him up next year

Alot of people say bad things about Stephen Jackson, but don't give him credit for being a good basketball player.

by norcalsoldier on Apr 30, 2008 4:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

Good call

Forget what everyone else is saying, Fantasy Junkie, you hit that one right on the head. Everyone’s saying look what Nellie’s done for the Warriors. What has he done? To me, Nelson gave up on the Warriors last season after that Washington game they lost. He didn’t start coaching better, the team just got fired up. He doesn’t preach defense, and he helped give this season away by not getting on BD and Jackson when their play was bad (which it was for the last 8-10 games of the season) like he does everyone else. AND, he didn’t play Adonal Foyle or Josh Powell in last years playoffs to get bodies on Utah’s big men, which is why the Warriors got pounded on the glass and ousted in the 2nd round. He never plays his full roster, and waited too late in the season to develop Brandan Wright. Avery preaches defense and plays his rookies, and I don’t think he’ll defer to his “star” players (Even though, and I mean no disrespect to them, I think that’s why Baron likes playing with Don Nelson so much).

by GSBoi86 on Apr 30, 2008 11:15 PM PDT up 0 recs

I loved this quote by Dirk

“You don’t basically want to go back to the Nellie days where we just run and gun and have fun, and you get scored on every time down,” Nowitzki said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hItrG_201rB28kcmbzrGqCWq9JnAD90CGA800

Is it just me or is Dirk basically saying he doesn’t think Nellie is a good coach? I keep remembering how Nellie went over to embrace the golden boy when he returned from his injury in that last Dallas game.

by centerre on Apr 30, 2008 5:51 PM PDT 0 recs

that's funny

considering Dirk can’t D if his life depended on it. He should change his name to Irk from now on.

by misterjennings on May 1, 2008 9:56 AM PDT up 0 recs

lol

Dirk can’t play defense even if popobitch coaches him. LOSER!

brb, going to ORACLE

by warrior510 on Apr 30, 2008 6:39 PM PDT 0 recs

The Warriors should try to get Johnson. He preaches defense, which Nelson doesn’t, and you can tell this is a team that actually can play defense, they just don’t have a coach that lets them know how important it is. A coach that doesn’t teach his squad to focus on defense has never and WILL NEVER win an NBA championship, bottom line. On top of that, Nelson only likes to play about eight or nine players for the entire season, as well as the playoffs. What happens, however, when those players get injured, or just exhausted in the run-and-gun style? If the Warriors want to win, they need a coach that is going to make them hustle on both ends of the court, which Johnson certainly can and will do with a squad like Golden State’s. They should also be looking to draft well. I think they should trade one of their draft picks and another player (Barnes, O’Bryant, Perovic, Pietrus, Watson) for one of the top five point guards in the draft, so Baron knows if he doesn’t play smart ball next year (which he certainly wasn’t doing at the most important time of this season), he might soon be riding the bench. They should also be looking very hard for a good backup center for Biedrins in the offseason. I honestly think they could become a Finals caliber team if they play their hand right before next year.

by GSBoi86 on Apr 30, 2008 11:00 PM PDT 0 recs

why bother arguing about Nellie?

At this point its up to Nellie not the FO. Nellie already has guaranteed 5 million for next year its up to him whether he wants to coach. I highly doubt the FO will let Nellie walk away with their 5 million next year and fire him and also since he already said if he comes back it will be his last year nellie will definitely be gone anyway..

by saintdee on Apr 30, 2008 11:26 PM PDT 0 recs