MAVERICKS RELIEVE AVERY JOHNSON OF COACHING DUTIES
DALLAS— The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have relieved Avery Johnson of his coaching duties. Johnson became the eighth coach in Mavericks history on March 19, 2005. He collected a record of 194-70 (.735) during his tenure with a postseason record of 23-24 (.489).
“I would like to thank Avery for his valuable contributions to the Mavericks organization,” President of Basketball Operations/General Manager 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.”
In his first full season as head coach (2005-06), Johnson guided the Mavericks to 60 wins and their first appearance in the NBA Finals. He became the fastest coach to reach 50 wins (62 games), coached the Western Conference All-Star team and was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year.
In 2006-07, Johnson led Dallas to a franchise-record 67 wins (67-15 overall) and the NBA’s best record. The mark was also the sixth best in league history. Following a 10-0 month of February, Johnson garnered Western Conference Coach of the Month honors, an award he won three times in his career.
This past season, Johnson became the fastest coach in NBA history to reach 150 wins with a victory over Memphis on November 17, 2007. He accomplished that feat in just 191 games.
“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.”
New Dawg Blog 
I have followed the little General from the Spurs, away from the Spurs and back to the Spurs. When he became head coach of the Mavericks, I tried really hard to like them. (It was kinda of like trying to like Sauerkraut) but I watched them off and on just to see Avery. Now that he is gone, I will not have to do that anymore. I will have to say, after listening to his phone interview, he is good folk, as I already knew. He maintains his integrity, his spirtual side and what a man he is. No bashing of anyone. I would like to se Mark Cuban take the high road as well. LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AGAIN LITTLE GENERAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Avery’s firing is ridiculous!!! What does a brother have to do? Here’s a coach who has won over 3/4 of the games he’s coached and yet that’s not good enough. So he’s lost in the championship game and in the first round over the last three years.
There are coaches in the NBA who haven’t come close, but didn’t get fired. Pat, and Phil are supposed to be good coaches, but look at their records over the last 3 years.
No matter how much the radio commentators tell you it was Avery’s fault or that he just got out coached, don’t believe the hype. It’s not the coach!! It’s the players they have to work with. For example, Pat Reilly looked liked the best coach in the world when he had: Kareem, Magic, Rambis, Worthy, Wilkes, Cooper, Scott n Nem. When that group went on, Pats greatness seems to have disappeared.
Phil looked like the smartest coach in the world when he had Jordan, Pippen, Paxton and Nem. He went to LA and inherited Kobe and Shaq and again looked like a genius. For the last three or four years, Phil’s great skills haven’t been able to buy a playoff win, until this year.
The great Pat Riley won a championship 2 years ago, but hasn’t done anything since when Shaq and D Wade were unable to perform up to snuff.
Suddenly, Doc Rivers and Byron Scott look like they are ready for Mensa. Doc just happen to get 3 of the top players in the league for over the last 6 or 7 years. Scott got a Super Star Guard in CP3. A super power forward, or a super big man only touches the ball a relatively few times when compared to a super point guard who has the ball in their hand practically all the time on every possession.
What did Avery have to work with? Not very much!! Make no mistake about it, Dirk is a superstar, but someone has to get the ball to Dirk in a position where he can score. This is unlike a Paul who naturally has the ball most of the time. After Dirk, there is no other constant. I thought Josh Howard was going to be last year, but he just seemed to disappear this year. In the playoffs, instead of rising up and taking the ball to the hole, he dribbled the shot clock out. Jason Terry was inconsistent. Stack wasn’t very reliable this year. Damp was up and down. The last time Devin George, Theron Lou and Eddie Jones had a good game was when they were with the Lakers some 25 or 30 years ago. Bass was a pleasant surprise. Jajuan Howard’s last good game was when he was with the “Fab 5” back in the 60’s. Barrera seems like a nice guy, but certainly not a superstar.
Jason Kidd is a hall of fammer, but for him to be at his best, he needs certain companion pieces to make him complete. First, he needs a big rebounder who can pull the ball off the glass and kick it out quickly. Kidd can then take the ball coast to coast before the other team knows what hit them. Secondly, Kidd needs an alert closer who can finish. Several years ago in Utah, Karl Malone would pull the ball down, kick it out to Stockton, run the floor and Stockton would get the ball to him in a scoring position and Malone would finish.
When Kidd got here this year, he was hitting the other Mavs in the back of the head. They weren’t accustomed to having someone assist them. They were accustomed to shooting threes.
Should Avery have been fired? Absolutely not!!! No coach could have won with the crap Avery had to work with this year. As a matter of fact, I don’t see how he managed as many wins as he did. Don’t confuse this bunch with the same guy’s that lost in the championship game 3 playoffs ago!
You didn’t deserve this Avery!!!! And because of this error, I am restoring the curse I put on the Mavericks years ago, following what I deemed to be the mistreatment of Mark Aguirre. –Harold