<font size="+1"><a href="http://www.nysun.com/article/12972">Avery Johnson's Coaching Woes</a></font> The New York Sun BY JOHN HOLLINGER April 28, 2005 Come back, Nelly. All is forgiven. If the Mavericks are echoing that sentiment right now, it's because they have good reason to. For the first time since taking over from legendary tinkerer Don Nelson in March, Dallas's rookie coach, Avery Johnson, is looking like, well, a rookie coach. As a result, the Mavericks find themselves trailing the Houston Rockets 2-0 in their first-round playoff series. Having lost both contests at home, Dallas now must win twice on the road to regain its home-court advantage. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Dallas looked every bit the playoff sleeper after a season-ending 16-2 spurt under the Little General. With Johnson's emphasis on defense, the Mavs redoubled their efforts at that end of the floor while their dominant offense remained potent. Thanks to its closing thrust, Dallas finished with 58 wins and nearly wrested the Midwest Division crown away from the San Antonio Spurs. Yet in the first two playoff games, that vaunted defense has been glaringly absent. In Game 2, Houston shredded the Mavs with 54.8% shooting. Yao Ming was especially lethal, making 13-of-14 shots. In the process, he made a mockery of Dallas's Erick Dampier's claim that he, not Yao, was the West's best center. Dallas's unexpected postseason struggles have cast a harsh light on Johnson's decisions. In Game 1, the Mavs were so sluggish that a Phil Jackson-Red Auerbach hybrid couldn't have coaxed them to victory. Of course, that lethargy may have been partly Johnson's doing; while the Rockets were resting up for Game 1, Johnson had his team practicing hard on both off-days. "We looked like we were running in sand," Johnson said after the Game 1 defeat. You don't say. Seemingly intent on giving his critics more material, Johnson unleashed a post game tirade directed at referee Joey Crawford. That didn't reassure anyone that he had things under control, especially since he had to be restrained from escalating things further. A bigger faux pas came in Game 2. With the Mavs showing much more energy than they had in the opener, the contest was Dallas's for the taking - but Johnson opted not to take it. A little background information is in order first. At various times this year when the Mavs played against a big, slow center, they went with "smallball" lineups to outrun opponents and were hugely effective. Centers don't get any bigger and slower than Yao, yet the Mavs tried to play "straight" in the opener and got schooled. Dallas's game plan for the second contest seemed obvious: Go small and try to take Yao out of the game. Accordingly, Johnson unleashed the small lineup in the second quarter - removing Dampier and playing Josh Howard at power forward and Dirk Nowitzki at center. It worked like a charm. Since having Yao guard Nowitzki would be suicidal, the Rockets tried unsuccessfully to put him on Howard. The Mavs' forward repeatedly drove past Yao, scoring four baskets in three minutes. Howard also drew a foul on Yao, who became exhausted from chasing a smaller player around the perimeter. That should have set the stage for the second half. Most observers guessed that Johnson, having seen how effective smallball was in the second quarter, would start his smallball lineup to begin the half. Doing so was of huge importance because Yao was absolutely destroying Dallas at the other end. But Johnson started the half with his regular lineup...and stuck with it. The Mavs' most effective weapon was sidelined when it was needed most. While Johnson is taking his share of criticism, a few other Mavs deserve their share, too. Dampier's boasting would be more believable if he weren't getting lit up like Times Square by Yao, who has 44 points in 56 minutes in this series. Moreover, Dallas's alleged bench advantage has failed to materialize. Houston's reserves outscored the Mavs' subs in both games, as Jon Barry and Mike James have proven far more accurate than Jerry Stackhouse and Keith Van Horn. Then there's Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs' superstar had an MVP-caliber season this year, ranking behind only Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O'Neal in my estimation. But you'd never know that from the first two games. In the opener, Nowitzki seemed half-asleep. Despite a matchup against Ryan Bowen that practically begged for him to dominate, Nowitzki shot just 5-for-19 and committed six turnovers. He wasn't much better in the second game, going 8-for-21. The normally laser-accurate German is shooting a measly 32.5% in the series and has as many turnovers (9) as rebounds. In fairness, I should point out that the Rockets aren't exactly chopped liver. Houston won 51 games in the regular season, which is more impressive when you consider they started 12-14. In the second half, the Rockets were 29-12, a 58-win pace for a full season - which matches Dallas's total. One Rocket in particular has been spectacular. Tracy McGrady's game winning shot on Monday night wrapped up an epic effort that included 28 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds, three blocks, three steals, and one poster-quality dunk over Shawn Bradley. And one could argue that he was even better in the opener. But regardless of the Rockets' exploits, the cold facts remain: The Mavs were favored and riding a hot streak but managed to lose the first two games at home. All eyes are on the rookie coach to see what he has cooked up for Game 3.The small ball lineup certainly should play a part - in fact, he should start the game with it now that he's got nothing to lose. He also should consider finding more minutes for reserve Marquis Daniels, a talented wing player who has been a bystander the first two games. A little pep talk with Dirk wouldn't hurt, either. The big test comes tonight. This is why Mark Cuban is paying Johnson the big bucks. Everything seemed fun and easy when the Mavs were winning, but ultimately, coaches are judged by what they can do to snap their team out of a rut. If tonight's Game 3 doesn't turn out differently from the first two, the same fickle folks who were calling for Nelly's head two months ago might instead ask for Johnson's.
Funny stuff to read - it can't be that the Rockets are that good - it must be the coach's fault. He tries to give the Rockets some props later, but he doesn't sound committed to it. After all, if most of the media picked the Mavs over the Rockets, the Mavs MUST be the better team, right? Does everyone else think that putting Yao on Dirk would be suicide? I'd think that he is slower than Josh Howard and has equal range, so he should be an easier cover. I can only guess that JVG is willing to do anything to avoid Dirk getting in an offensive rhythm.
I think JVG would avoid that much up because Dirk gets every call under the sun. Yao would be fouled out in 5 minutes - well - provided Dirk actually played aggressively.
What's amazing to me is that nobody up here stops to think that JVG might actually have a clue as to what the Mavericks will come out and try to do tonight and will have his team prepared accordingly. Expect the Mavericks to come out and play desperate , one-foot-in-the grave basketball. This should be a war.
This makes absolutely no sense to me. I think Avery has done fine and the Mavericks have played great. That trapping defense they employed in Game 2 caused us some problems. Why can't anyone accept the notion that.....i dunno, maybe the Rockets are just a better team?
All the Mavs fans and the media still refuse to believe the Rockets are the better team. They keep saying it took Tmac and Yao playing a perfect game to beat them by 2 points, and their superstar was having a bad game. Yao will probably not gonna be hitting 90% of his fg again in game 3, but the mavs 70+% 3 point fg will not last either.
I think the mavs have pretty much fired all their bullets from 3, to use a cleaner reference. For them to take a game from us, they're going to have to shoot 60% from 3 again, and I highly doubt that will happen against our D.
I wonder if Nelson saw what the expectations were and what the competition was and got out while the getting was good. Hummm...
Kenny...I fell asleep last night with game higlights running in my head and probable matchups on the floor. After making an offering to the Basketball Gods, I pray again that you are right...hell, maybe I should sacrifice a chicken to Joboo?!
What he fails to mention is when Yao was on Josh Howard and they were fairly successful, if I'm not mistaken TMac was off the court. So Ryan Bowen was guarding Dirk. Later in the game when they tried small ball again, JVG put TMac on Dirk and replaced Bowen with Sura. Done.
Still, Yao has to guard Howard and I don't see how he can. I don't know the solution to Dallas's small ball. The only thing that can be done is to post Yao and cause them more problem at the other end than they cause us. Yao defending Dirk is suicidal. Dirk will take the 3 pts at first. When Yao comes out, he will drive pass him. Dirk is slow but Yao is slower, he is not built to guard 28 ft away from the basket. Another thought is to play a box and one.
I think JVG has to have some kind of zone set up he can switch to if Dallas goes small ball. It will hurt Houston's Defense, but the key is getting an advantage on the offensive end. This is why is was so critical for Yao to dominate, and he must continue to do so. Otherwise Dallas will be able to wreck havoc with him in the game.
I disagree. It's relatively easy to get open 3's against Houston. That's the shot JVG will give you. He likes eliminating all the easy buckets in the lane and stopping penetration. TO do that, we have to play the kind of help defense that opens up the perimeter. Any team with decent ball movement will get some good looks from 3 against the Rockets. Just our strategic decision.
I agree. We will give them all the looks from the 3 point line they want. However i have a hard time believing they'll come out and shoot close to 70% from behind the arc. I think Game 2 was their best opportunity and they let it pass.
They can get open 3's, but our recovery speed is still better than theirs. They hit a ton a shots on Monday with guys flying right at them, while our guys seemingly have all day to shoot. Therein lies the difference, and I think it's a big one. About Yao guarding Howard, I think he will do better. He was kind of taken by surprise on several moves, and the coaching staff will have him better prepared. If the series comes down to Josh Howard scoring on Yao Ming, while they have Dirk guarding him on the other end, I really like our chances. Howard made a lot of nice moves, but I wouldn't bet on him scoring as consistently on Yao in the future.
Not to mention that the score was tied for the second quarter. They outscored us in the third with Dampier in the game and getting all those putbacks.
Have the Rockets played a box and one at all this year? A zone seems like the obvious solution for protecting Yao if Dallas goes small-ball. The team communicates well on defense, and leaving a single guy man on Dirk will still cut down his effectiveness. But a zone defense isn't something you pick up in a 30 minute practice. Gotta be something practiced throughout the season, refined to this point. I think Yao manning up on Howard is a serious liability. It really allows the Mavs to take the initiative. They force the Rockets to take Yao off the court and change from their base offense, while the Mavs can still use on the key offensive guys that've been there all season.
I don't think Avery has done a bad job of coaching. He hasn't been great, but he isn't the reason the Mavs have been losing imo. I think Avery should use the small ball a little more, but unlike what a lot of other people are saying, I don't think the small ball will work for long periods of time. If anyone of the mavs is at fault it's Dirk. But like cabb said, it's just been the better team winning so far.
It's pretty hard to get absolutely everything wrong in a piece of sports analysis. But this guy comes as close as I've seen.
