http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/...s/MYSA010607.07C.BKNspurs.duncan.3623105.html Spurs' Duncan falls for Johnson's verbal deke Mike Monroe Express-News Tim Duncan heard the voice, screaming demands during his first four seasons with the Spurs. There is no mistaking Avery Johnson's high-pitched, nasal intonation and his New Orleans accent, and Duncan grew accustomed to following Johnson's commands when the two were teammates on the Spurs. Now the coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Johnson used that familiar voice on Friday to confuse the Spurs' All-Star power forward in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks' 90-85 victory. As the Spurs ran their offense in front of the Mavericks' bench in the second half, Duncan was well within earshot of Johnson's unique inflection. So the Mavericks coach instructed his defenders to double-team Duncan every time he caught the ball in the low post. Turns out it was a ploy, a wrinkle that perhaps only Johnson could have executed against his old teammate. Johnson had privately ordered his defenders not to follow his directive. Johnson had set up the tactic by aggressively double-teaming Duncan nearly every time he caught the ball in the post in the first three quarters. Duncan grew wary of the double teams and did a good job of finding open teammates. "They came (at me) just about every time in the beginning," Duncan said. "In the fourth quarter, Avery just stood over there on the bench and yelled like they were coming, but they didn't." It was a masterful mind game won by his old teammate, and it rankled Duncan to admit it. "A very bad (mind game)," Duncan said, "but yeah." The Mavericks held the Spurs scoreless for 4:59 in the fourth period, squandering an opportunity to extend the 76-73 lead Manu Ginobili gave them with an end-to-end drive that resulted in a three-point play 8:37 remaining. Their next score came on Ginobili's 3-pointer with 3:38 to play, and Duncan owned up to his role in the critical stretch. "Honestly, I'll take full and total blame for that situation right there," Duncan said. "It was just bad reason my part. "(The Mavericks) were half-and-half (on defense). They weren't double-teaming. They weren't doing anything, and I wasn't drawing anybody to me and wasn't taking the shots when they were there. Just bad reads on my part." Duncan always is candid when he makes mistakes, often more critical of himself than need be. He seemed angrier with himself for falling for Johnson's mind game than for allowing the Mavericks seven offensive rebounds in the second half, most of them critical to Dallas' comeback. Those offensive rebounds, Duncan said, were by happenstance, rather than lack of effort or execution by the Spurs. The most critical was Jason Terry's grab of Dirk Nowitzki's air ball on a 3-point attempt. Terry flipped it in the basket just before the 24-second shot clock expired. "Yeah," Duncan said on his way out the door of the Spurs' locker room. "That's great offensive rebounding. "It just happened," Duncan said of the Mavericks' 41-33 edge in rebounding. "I can't say one thing or the other. I can't say they were just legitimately pounding the offensive glass. I think they got a couple bounces and were in the right place at the right time. That's not taking anything away from what they did. It's just how it went." ---- This is just sad on Duncan's part. Man, the Spurs are starting to look very old and slow. Avery should have saved this trick for the playoffs IMO.
I'm sure Avery still has a couple more tricks up his sleeves for the Playoffs. This mind game on Duncan is probably childsplay. Plus this will probably keep Duncan on his toes for games to come. I don't know how Duncan took Avery's voice for 4 years.. that man's voice is straight up annoying.
True, but you can't argue with his success. And I don't think it's purely a matter of talent. The Mavs are stacked, but the pieces really don't fit very well together, I don't think. Avery took a soft team of prima donas and taught them to play a little defense and to take advantage of their size a little more. If every coach could do that, the Knicks would be the top team in the league. I hate the Mavs but I respect Avery Johnson as a coach, no matter how deformed he looks or how squeaky his voice is.
The Mavs right now are just head and shoulders above everyone else in the league. They're by FAR the most consistent night in and night out, and they look poised to not just get back to the Finals again, but actually win it this time around. The only team I think that can get in their way is Houston, and no I am not being a homer, I am serious. I think the key to beating the Mavs is to play very aggressively/physically and just bully them around...it's time to study those tapes from the finals last season to see how a similarly built team (Heat) were able to get it done.
true.. but I remember watching the first mavs vs. spurs game and Elson was put on Dirk and held him effectively. After a brief time Poppovich stopped doing so and since then I haven't seen Elson guard him. One of the commentators was saying how he is saving it for the playoffs to give Dirk a different look. Either way I hope they all get injured.
Good ploy by Avery and too bad TD fell for it. Right now, the Mavs are better than the Spurs but the playoffs don't start in January.
I certainly think that the Spurs WILL have a chance if / when they face the Mavs in the playoffs, but all this Elson talk seems a little stupid. Does anybody think the guys who defended Kobe & Lebron recently and held'em under 10 points are their Kryptonite and will be able to do so again next time? Ok, thought so. Now why does anybody think that Elson is the Dirk-stopper?
Of course its not purely a matter of talent, but it is mostly. It almost sounds as if you're arguing that Avery could make the Knicks into a top team??? That's just stupid. The Mavs have a top 5 talent team in the league. And the argument that they don't fit together doesn't make sense either. They fit really well together, imo. A star PF. Quick, smart, guard play. A jack of all trades SF who is good enough to merit all-star contention. And then centers that fill their role. Their deep, fast, athletic and all know what they can and can't do on the basketball court - even Dampier has gotten a lot better there...he doesn't try to play above his skill level nearly as much any more. Avery is a great coach. He knows how to win. He knows how to teach. But the Mavs are stacked, in a way that makes them more poised to win a championship than any team in the league. Phoenix still doesn't play defense. San Antonio doesn't have the go to player that Nowitzki is capable of being. Miami (especially this year as both injuries and return to suckiness for role players) and Detroit aren't deep enough. Utah's star players aren't the offensive force that Dallas' are, and their bench isn't as deep. Houston is injury prone and has some holes to fill even when healthy (PG). The Lakers are well coached, and still have arguably the best player in the league, but, like Utah, the talent level after that, while good, isn't anywhere near that of Dallas'. When healthy Denver has a crapload of talent, but even still is a little bit unbalanced with none of that talent really wanting to play inside. Again, I like Avery, too. He's a good guy. He lives in The Woodlands. But, on paper, there is no team quite as talented as the Mavs.
