Avery Johnson Instant Replay Interview

[Wolverine83]

I don't know if anyone caught it, but he seemed to imply he wants to coach here someday. I'm a big fan of POP, so I don't want him to leave until he wants to, but I'd like to see A.J. as an assistant.

[Sausage]

I caught his interview on Sports Sunday on WOAI. He said that he could come into the AT&T Center coaching another team, but nothing will ever take away his love for the San Antonio Spurs and that he bleeds silver and black always.

[TheDarkSide.]

Got those vibes too. I think he wants to coach after pop is done, which he himself said might most likely be after Duncan retires. Wouldn't be opposed to it at all after the pop era.

[urunobili]

I'd rather have Byron Scott to begin the post Pop era... it'll depend... i wouldn't mind AJ to get the gig... BUT... there are gr8 coaches out there as well...

[m33p0]

cue whottt rant followed closely by tmpvp anti-rant in 3.... 2.... 1.....

[dbestpro]

AJ just wants to beat Dallas to a pulp.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

According to reports from Dallas, he apparently was a really bad coach. Notice he has not been rehired by anyone despite the many openings.

I'm not at all impressed with Byron Scott, either.

[Kindergarten Cop]

According to reports from Dallas, he apparently was a really bad coach. Notice he has not been rehired by anyone despite the many openings.

Doesn't that have more to do with him not interviewing jobs. I'm pretty sure that if he were to take another job (or at least was the case immediately after being fired by the Mavs) Cuban would not have to pay him the rest of the money due to him. Please somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

[dbestpro]

According to reports from Dallas, he apparently was a really bad coach. Notice he has not been rehired by anyone despite the many openings.

I'm not at all impressed with Byron Scott, either.

If Dallas thinks he was bad then that means he is really great. Actually it has to do with players not doing what it takes to succeed. Avery was taught by Pop so the egos were brusied in Dallas by Avery.

[tp2021]

According to reports from Dallas, he apparently was a really bad coach. Notice he has not been rehired by anyone despite the many openings.

I'm not at all impressed with Byron Scott, either.

Aren't you the one that wants "quality posts"? Practice what you bitch about.

[phyzik]

According to reports from Dallas, he apparently was a really bad coach. Notice he has not been rehired by anyone despite the many openings.

I'm not at all impressed with Byron Scott, either.

Avery wasn't a bad coach, he took Dallas to the Finals for Christ sake! That team just didn't buy into his philosophy after the finals melt down. Now, after Avery is gone, they are struggling to even make the playoffs.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Here's the entire interview.

http://www.ksat.com/video/18669095/

[EricB]

According to reports from Dallas, he apparently was a really bad coach. Notice he has not been rehired by anyone despite the many openings.

I'm not at all impressed with Byron Scott, either.

Has more to do with Avery not wanting to lose the millions hes getting from the Mavericks than anything else.

[The Truth #6]

I think he would be better the next time around having learned lessons from the Dallas experience. He will need to learn when to relax, which is something that took Pop time to learn as well.

If anything, Avery was a voice of reason in Dallas compared to Cuban. Avery didn't want to do their awful trade for Kidd, so it's hard to blame him for how everything worked out. He quickly turned them around. In some ways he had nothing but success, he just didn't gel with all his players and management. It was a bad fit and it ran its course. Would Pop have done much better in Dallas working with Cuban?

[SenorSpur]

Avery wasn't a bad coach. It's just that he was a YOUNG coach, who took over a ready-made, championship-contending team and experienced a great deal of early success. In my mind, this was the worst thing that could've ever happened to him because it stunted his development as a coach. He never had to experience the trials and tribulations of building a roster and teaching his system to young players and watching them grow. With the tremendous early success he had in Dallas, his ego took over immediately and he began to believe his own press. It's not hard to figure out, when you have peers, media and analysts all telling how "great you are" 24 hours a day.

His critics contend that Avery, while being a very well-prepared coach and one who teaches defensive prinicples and demands defensive effort, was NOT and is not a very good in-game strategist. That was probably his biggest flaw, as a coach. He was extremely slow and stubborn at making adjustments and tended to trust HIS system explicitly - even when it was obvious it wasn't working. Thus he became very predictable and easy to figure out. All of which allowed veteran-savvy coaches, like Riley and Nelson, to outcoach him in two different playoff series. When Don Nelson executed his strategy of running 2-3 defenders at Dirk in the 2007 first round playoff series, Avery had nothing to counter that strategy.

Avery preached accountability and trust, but never demonstrated as much to his own players. He was quick to accept congratulations for team success, but never took responsibility for the team's failures. Instead, he willingly passed it over to the players. The players took notice. Also, he had a terrible penchant for "over-coaching" on each and every possession. When J-Kidd arrived last year, instead of changing his philosophy and allowing Kidd and the team to get out and run more, Avery stubbornly continued to call half-court, isolation sets that put his team at a constant disadvantage. He never trusted any of his PGs with playcalling responsibilities - situational or otherwise. For example, at the start of the 2007 season, he proclaimed he was giving Devin Harris play-calling responsibilities. That lasted about 2 weeks, as he yanked back the responsibility from the 4th year PG.

Another criticism of AJ, was his failure to develop young players. He simply just didn't have the patience. Eventually, he shipped out practically every young player the Mavs had on the roster. Thereby leaving the Mavs with an old, aged roster. No matter what he says publically now, AJ was every bit on board with the dreaded Harris-for-Kidd trade. AJ had enough clout with Cuban that if he wasn't on board with the move, Cuban likely would've relented. As AJ's egomanical and dictatorial style eventually caused him to lose control of the team, his players began to tune him out - especially his best player - Dirk. Once he lost Dirk, his time was up.

Avery will only be successful in his next stop, if he's learned from his mistakes at his previous stop. If he hasn't "gotten over himself", as Pop likes to say, he will likely travel the same, predicatable path again.

[timvp]

Here's the entire interview.

http://www.ksat.com/video/18669095/Awesome video. Thanks for the hookup :smokin

I'm all for AJ taking over after Duncan/Pop reign.

[Slomo]

How quickly we forget...


http://www.cikava.com/gallery/albums/Photoshop_madness/wanted_AJ.jpg

[El Jefe]

I'm all for AJ taking over after Duncan/Pop reign.

It took Pop a few years to learn he couldn't yell at his players 24 hours a day. It's a tough balancing act, demanding excellence while keeping the team loose. Pop was in danger of losing his players early in his career, but at some point made the realization and went from being a good coach to a great one.

I think that was AJ's biggest crime in Dallas. He's not a bad coach in a basketball sense, but his people skills needed a little bit of work. Avery always struck me as a smart guy though, and I'd be willing to give him a shot at the reins once Pop leaves. He just needs to figure out how to relate to his players a little better, and then he has a shot to be a coach in this league for a very long time.

[Spurs Brazil]

Nice interview

I like AJ a lot

:lol at Pop taking him to Taco Cabana

[Chris]

How quickly we forget...


http://www.cikava.com/gallery/albums/Photoshop_madness/wanted_AJ.jpg

Bearhug Defense

[EricB]

Awesome video. Thanks for the hookup :smokin

I'm all for AJ taking over after Duncan/Pop reign.

+1

[Ditty]

Awesome video. Thanks for the hookup :smokin

I'm all for AJ taking over after Duncan/Pop reign.

please no i can see a guy like reggie theus or bud take over when pop leaves and maybe have avery as bud's assistant coach and if newman hasn't found a job maybe have him as coach but that would be great to have pj back also on the bench

[ploto]

Avery wasn't a bad coach. It's just that he was a YOUNG coach, who took over a ready-made, championship-contending team and experienced a great deal of early success. In my mind, this was the worst thing that could've ever happened to him because it stunted his development as a coach. He never had to experience the trials and tribulations of building a roster and teaching his system to young players and watching them grow. With the tremendous early success he had in Dallas, his ego took over immediately and he began to believe his own press. It's not hard to figure out, when you have peers, media and analysts all telling how "great you are" 24 hours a day.

His critics contend that Avery, while being a very well-prepared coach and one who teaches defensive prinicples and demands defensive effort, was NOT and is not a very good in-game strategist. That was probably his biggest flaw, as a coach. He was extremely slow and stubborn at making adjustments and tended to trust HIS system explicitly - even when it was obvious it wasn't working. Thus he became very predictable and easy to figure out. All of which allowed veteran-savvy coaches, like Riley and Nelson, to outcoach him in two different playoff series. When Don Nelson executed his strategy of running 2-3 defenders at Dirk in the 2007 first round playoff series, Avery had nothing to counter that strategy.

Avery preached accountability and trust, but never demonstrated as much to his own players. He was quick to accept congratulations for team success, but never took responsibility for the team's failures. Instead, he willingly passed it over to the players. The players took notice. Also, he had a terrible penchant for "over-coaching" on each and every possession. When J-Kidd arrived last year, instead of changing his philosophy and allowing Kidd and the team to get out and run more, Avery stubbornly continued to call half-court, isolation sets that put his team at a constant disadvantage. He never trusted any of his PGs with playcalling responsibilities - situational or otherwise. For example, at the start of the 2007 season, he proclaimed he was giving Devin Harris play-calling responsibilities. That lasted about 2 weeks, as he yanked back the responsibility from the 4th year PG.

Another criticism of AJ, was his failure to develop young players. He simply just didn't have the patience. Eventually, he shipped out practically every young player the Mavs had on the roster. Thereby leaving the Mavs with an old, aged roster. No matter what he says publically now, AJ was every bit on board with the dreaded Harris-for-Kidd trade. AJ had enough clout with Cuban that if he wasn't on board with the move, Cuban likely would've relented. As AJ's egomanical and dictatorial style eventually caused him to lose control of the team, his players began to tune him out - especially his best player - Dirk. Once he lost Dirk, his time was up.

Avery will only be successful in his next stop, if he's learned from his mistakes at his previous stop. If he hasn't "gotten over himself", as Pop likes to say, he will likely travel the same, predicatable path again.

Excellent analysis.

[G-Nob]

Avery will be competing for the job along with Vinny del Negro

[Tom Nissalke]

How quickly we forget...


http://www.cikava.com/gallery/albums/Photoshop_madness/wanted_AJ.jpg

That is just hateful.

SpursTalk.com is better than this.

[SequSpur]

Avery sucked as a player and a coach. Seriously, if the Spurs hired him to be the head coach, I would find another team to cheer for.

Avery has to be the most overrated NBA player/coach in the history of basketball.

Late.

[El Jefe]

Seriously, if the Spurs hired him to be the head coach, I would find another team to cheer for.
Late.

That's all it would take? If we had known it'd be that easy....

[The Truth #6]

No coach is perfect but I'd much rather roll with Avery then someone like Dunleavy or any other coach who keeps getting work and never gets wins.

There aren't a lot of great coaches out there and Avery has the potential to be a great coach. However, when Pop eventually leaves, the team might very well be in shambles post-Duncan, and so hiring Avery might be much less controversial then people here suggest.