What's with all the T's AJ?

[ChumpDumper]

:nope

[Experiment2100]

Way off topic, but while googleing to find a hilarious picture of AJ I found this instead




http://www.usatoday.com/sports/photos/basketball/02kidd.jpg
Where the hell was this picture for the Finals two years ago?

[Brodels]

Avery Johnson will be a failure as an NBA head coach. He's too fiery and doesn't appear to have that personality that is both calming and demanding of respect in my opnion. There are other fiery coaches out there, but I'm not so sure that Avery can temper that with something that will allow his players to relate to him.

I just don't think he has what it takes from a personality standpoint.

[GrandeDavid]

I think Avery would make a fine college coach, but I'm skeptical about his NBA coaching ability. I guess we'll soon find out.

[Kori Ellis]

I think AJ will be a good NBA coach. The players in Dallas love him and respond to him very well. He's getting huge props from them already. I think he has a great balance of fire, disclipline, and personality to do very well. Plus, he already knows what Nelson doesn't -- defense wins Championships.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

What would you expect the players to say about their probable future coach? "Man, that guy sucks!" :lol

I thinK AJ will follow in the footsteps of John Lucas - a real rah rah type that will be above average but never take a team anywhere.

[Kori Ellis]

I didn't just say they like him .. they RESPOND to him very well. That means that listen to him and they do things on the court that make them better.

[ChumpDumper]

I think Dallas is a really good place for him player-wise -- all pretty coachable guys. He might have problems similar to Mo Cheeks and Sam Mitchell if he had the same malcontents on his team.

[Brodels]

He'll do fine as long as the team is doing well. But if the team goes through a bad stretch or Dirk and some others get hurt and the team starts to lose games, it will be interesting to see how the team responds to a coach like AJ. It seems to me that he can be a little overbearing and dramatic, and I can see his players having confidence in him as long as they are winning but not when they are losing.

Most coaches don't have top talent to coach every single season. There are a few exceptions, but this is generally the way it is. To me, a good way to judge a coach's effectiveness is by looking at what he does in the bad moments. How does the coach respond when the team loses or has poor chemistry?

And to some extent this can apply to everyone. If a team is losing, players will often give up on the coach. The best coaches have the ability to hold the team together and get them to compete in difficult circumstances. Does AJ have the personality to get respect from his players in the long term? If he pulls what he did against Mike Finley today over and over again, I say that he'll be a failure.

[Kori Ellis]

It seems to me that he can be a little overbearing and dramatic

In the public eye, yes. But I think AJ is also down-to-earth, caring, calming and focused. We'll see how it all pans out. But I don't think you can judge today, or even these little interim coaching stints, to see how he'll be in the future.

[timvp]

I thinK AJ will follow in the footsteps of John Lucas - a real rah rah type that will be above average but never take a team anywhere.

Nice assumption there, chief. That is about as stereotypical as saying Brent Barry is a gritty, gutty player with a high basketball IQ who will always make the smart play.

AJ is an X's and O's coach. Most of the pick-and-roll sets the Spurs use were drawn up by AJ when he was a player. In fact, Pop has said on numerous occasions that AJ taught him how to be an NBA coach.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

It took AJ to draw up a pick and roll? No wonder Pop's sets at the end of games are as original as TPark's takes on this board.

[Spurminator]

All I know about AJ from watching him in Dallas is that he's a better coach than Don Nelson.