A few excerpts from former Mavs coach Avery Johnson's Wednesday appearance on Randy Galloway's radio show:
On the big move:
I would say more than anything I knew that after this year we were probably going in a different direction. Mark has been awesome to me and my family. This was probably something that needed to be done. This is something that needed to happen. It happened. We all need to go our separate ways. There is no animosity, bitterness or nothing. We just needed to go in a different direction.
On how it went down:
Mark was on the cell when Donnie and I were meeting, and you talk about friendly...absolutely. You talk about the whole body of work we put together... Why would anybody in their right mind be angry with me? We’ll put our resume in the last three years up against anybody.
On his tenure:
Yes, in the playoffs we hadn’t fared the way we wanted. We were in the
Finals, which the organization had never been to. That 67-win team
overachieved. This year we overachieved. We felt we got the best out of
what we had.
On the recent controversies:
Whenever this situation happens with a coach you can point the fingers,
but unless you are in our locker room all of it is going to be
speculation. Only we know what the real deal is. I have high praise for
every player who stepped on the court for the Mavericks...It is just
time for a new voice. [Mark Cuban] wanted to go a different direction,
but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.
The Kidd trade:
Well, right now, first of all, I think it would be an injustice to Mark
Cuban, Donnie Nelson, Keith Grant and everybody in the organization and
Jason Kidd and my son Devin Harris, who was like a son to me, whatever
happened happened and now we have to move forward.
On his Finals team:
Our best team was the team that went to the finals. We were fresh, we were new and we had great bench play.
On getting calls about a new job and not having any time to address anything:
This is my first interview [Galloway and Co.]. My agent is fielding
calls and talking to a few folks. My son had an accident at school
today. They had to take him off on a stretcher. He’s going to be fine.
I’ll be back in Dallas [Thursday to address the media].
On what he would do differently:
Hindsight’s 20-20. Maybe I would have given Devin the ball a little bit
earlier, maybe started developing him a little earlier. I don’t know. I
think every thing we did we stand behind it. Every move we made we
thought it was the right move at the time.
On Josh Howard and the players undermining him with the party controversy:
Josh Howard has been awfully good to me. Whatever has happened is water
under the bridge. Right now I am just moving on, and the next coach
that comes in we wish them well. We had some unfortunate situations
that happed in the later part of the season that was poor judgment.
On hearing from his players:
I have gotten 25 missed calls because my phone is ringing off the hook,
and I am almost sure seven or eight have been from players. My phone
has been ringing non-stop.
On his coaching staff:
Those men that were on my staff this year: Paul Westphal, Joe Prunty --
who is up and coming -- Mario Elie, Popeye Jones...If mark wants to
keep those guys, I would be in strong favor of it.
On coaching again:
It depends on how everything shakes out. I am really concerned about
[my coaches]. I’m not sure what my next move is. I’m going to relax and
take it easy for a little bit. I got calls from Doc Rivers, obviously
Gregg Popovich...and I had one of the best calls from Pat Riley.
Ok this year we get rid of Avery, the last few years before this one, Dirk never has shown up in the playoffs just a regular season guy,but we never want to getrid of him. If Dirk stays he can NOT be the number one guy the number 2 or 3 because the number one guy is their when you need him late games or just taking the game over and he can't and has not done that. Look at other superstars that play through double teams. We had Nash,Jamison,Finley(has a ring) etc their is know one left to put around Dirk and he can't play Defense he is just a score who %70 of the plays are call for.
Posted by: jamesl | April 30, 2008 at 05:07 PM
Avery is out, now what do we do, we did,nt want to trade Dirk for Shaq, Kobe,Garnnett,Mcgrady etc and those guys have Rings and one should get one this year. You can Love Dirk, but now it is time to Love him from a distance. Kobe and Mcgrady are winning with less talent.
Posted by: jamesl | April 30, 2008 at 05:42 PM
you clearly have no clue what you are talking about, dude. i dont even know where to begin...
Posted by: vince | May 01, 2008 at 11:32 AM
Folks need quit thinking of Dirk as a superstar and that way they can lower their expectations. He's a nice person, good shooter, hard worker, straight up honest in dealing with the press, etc.,Yada....Yada....Yada. But the hard truth is he is too limited in dimention to be considered more than just a star player. That has been proven. It just ain't fair to judge him for not being able to do more than he has, or, capable of. Take the pressure off him by becoming the 2nd option and he can shine. After saying that, maybe 3rd option would be better. His "teams" will always need a superstar level shooting guard who's seriously quick but productive, take it to the hole and score consistently type,or, score and draw fouls . Abilities to both draw double coverage and escape them will also be on the resume'. He will be dangerously
skilled defensively, also. That's a superstar. A strong low post, back to the basket threat big man with well developed passing prowess and strong defensive abilities within the paint...with the ability to be that 2nd option from there scoring. Then, Dirk can be Dirk, the teaming masses shall forever praise him, any critisms muted, and, the peasantry shall overlook shortcomings along with the history of disappointments past.
Posted by: John D. Scoggins | May 03, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Folks need quit thinking of Dirk as a superstar and that way they can lower their expectations. He's a nice person, good shooter, hard worker, straight up honest in dealing with the press, etc.,Yada....Yada....Yada. But the hard truth is he is too limited in dimention to be considered more than just a star player. That has been proven. It just ain't fair to judge him for not being able to do more than he has, or, capable of. Take the pressure off him by becoming the 2nd option and he can shine. After saying that, maybe 3rd option would be better. His "teams" will always need a superstar level shooting guard who's seriously quick but productive, take it to the hole and score consistently type,or, score and draw fouls . Abilities to both draw double coverage and escape them will also be on the resume'. He will be dangerously
skilled defensively, also. That's a superstar. A strong low post, back to the basket threat big man with well developed passing prowess and strong defensive abilities within the paint...with the ability to be that 2nd option from there scoring. Then, Dirk can be Dirk, the teaming masses shall forever praise him, any critisms muted, and, the peasantry shall overlook shortcomings along with the history of disappointments past.
Posted by: John D. Scoggins | May 03, 2008 at 01:55 PM