Don Nelson resigns "for family and other reasons." http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2016984 Johnson to replace Johnson immediately Don Nelson has resigned as Mavericks coach and will be replaced by Avery Johnson with immediate effect, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports. A press conference is scheduled for later Saturday afternoon. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told ESPN.com that Nelson resigned Saturday "for family and other reasons." He will stay with the Mavericks as a consultant. Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history, has missed several games in recent weeks to be with his wife while she recovers from surgery. Nelson had been grooming Johnson to become his successor. Johnson has run most practices this season and has coached several games, sometimes with Nelson serving as an assistant. Johnson also had a 10-game stint in charge while Nelson was out following shoulder surgery. The Mavs went 7-3 in that span. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
This is big! I don't care how highly Nelson speaks of Avery Johnson, this guy have not yet coached a single playoffs game, and personally, I don't think he stands a chance against JVG coaching wise.
If the Mavs are healthy it really won't matter much who the coach is. They just need to get healthy. Under Avery, though, their defense has been much more focused. FWIW
I still, an d will always, believe that the games are won on the court. Coaches coach, players play. Winningest teams coaches get through best to their players. AJ is OK!
Coaches are much more influential during the playoffs than the regular season because game to game adjustments and strategies become much more important. I guess Nellie was running out of gas and didn't have it in him to finish the year. They have other issues, like injuries, and I don't think they ever developed a solid team chemistry. Any way you look at it, having AJ as coach will be a major disadvantage to the Mavs come playoff time. It's not that he can't coach, but being put into this situation is almost unfair to him. He hasn't had the time to learn nuances, test certain ideas he has in mind, make mistakes, etc. AJ has 15+ games to settle into the job but that isn't long enough to prep for playoff basketball.
Well don't forget that Don Nelson will remain on as a consultant and Del Harris is Avery's top assistant.
Avery has been coaching essentially all year, and when he was PG for the Spurs in 99 and they won it, he was running the show then too. The guy isn't dumb and he knows how the game should be played. Dallas is still better than Seattle imo, and if was healthy all season, would have a better record than Seattle too.
YES! Best news I've had in a week! (Just found out that my wife is pregnant LAST Saturday!) Oh man, does news like this turn a team into turmoil. Nelson COULD have waited until the postseason. Too bad for the Mavs. Great for us, since it looks like it's our first round opponent. J!
He has stated that he does not want it. He likes being an assistant and does not want to be a head coach.
I think Avery Johnson will do finem byt I reserve judgement until I hear what "New Yorker" thinks.....
