biba
09-16-2007, 09:57 AM
Johnson optimistic about Mavs' future
Q&A with Dallas' head coach
01:09 AM CDT on Sunday, September 16, 2007
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
The Mavericks' summer has been too long, and just about everybody in the organization is ready to start training camp, which is just over two weeks away.
The Mavericks have been strangely quiet through most of the summer. But that doesn't mean the wheels haven't been turning, particularly inside coach Avery Johnson's head.
Recently, Johnson sat down with The Dallas Morning News for a question-and-answer session to set up training camp. Here are 10 things that inquiring minds want to know.
It was a relatively quiet summer by Mavericks standards. Was that by design? Or were there some things you'd hoped to accomplish and couldn't get done?
It's strictly by design. But again, when we tried to entertain some situations, what other institutions wanted in return, they pretty much wanted us to liquidate our team. And we didn't want to liquidate our team. We really like our team. But we promised our fans that we're committed to winning and committed to winning a championship. And we'll do whatever it takes. But we're not going to liquidate our team for one player.
VERNON BRYANT / DMN
Avery Johnson says he wants to be in Dallas a long time. We like what we've added in Eddie Jones. We like what we've added in Brandon Bass. And we like that a lot of our returning players are going to be 20 percent better. That's what we're thinking. We're hoping they're better mentally, physically and have a better understanding of what we're trying to do. We're banking on that.
Devin Harris has signed a five-year contract extension. What does that say about his importance to the organization?
We think he has an enormous amount of talent and potential. He's scratched the surface a little bit. I wouldn't say he hasn't scratched the surface. And we feel he's moving in the right direction.
Who's your backup power forward right now?
Brandon Bass. He's 6-8 and 250. We have a lot of confidence in where we think he can go. There will be some others who are vying for some playing time. But Brandon was brought in to be a different type of power forward from Dirk, different from what we had.
It's a departure from the past, isn't it, because previous backups to Dirk Nowitzki have been more like Dirk starter kits?
We don't want to go that route this year. We wanted somebody different.
If you had to make a gut guess right now, would Chris Webber or P.J. Brown end up in a Mavericks uniform this season?
Ooh, I hope so. But we'll have to wait and see. Either of those guys would be a tremendous asset in terms of a role-playing guy for a team. But they have some other opportunities that they're looking at. So we'll have to wait and see.
With Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen all heading to the Eastern Conference, did the West perhaps get just a shade easier?
I don't think so because Portland's probably going to be a little bit better, San Antonio and Phoenix and Houston are going to be better. So I don't think the West is going to be any easier.
With Devin Harris signed long term, what does that mean for Jason Terry? The pair was effective last season but was undersized against basically everybody they played.
Fortunately we have two, and they're different. Jet is a huge part of our team. Whenever Jet is on the floor for us, he's a significant threat for us. So whether he starts at guard or whatever role he's playing, if you look statistically at what he's done, we wouldn't be here without Jet. He's one of the best shooters in the league. He is a great shooter. We need Jason Terry. The main thing is Jason Terry is a significant contributor for our ballclub. And we found out that he and Devin Harris can play together. And we found out that they can play independent of one another, too.
Last year, you start 0-4, then go 67-11, then 2-4 in the playoffs. What did you learn from that as a coach?
You learn several things, some you're willing to share and some you're not willing to share. But the main thing is you learn you have to keep focusing on the program. We talked about finishing, and that was our motto. We didn't finish. Now, do we not start again? No. We start and we start strong and we try to stay strong. That's the trick.
What does Dirk Nowitzki have to do this year to improve on an MVP season?
Dirk can get better, and there are some things that Dirk can improve in that may not be basketball-related. It may be leadership-related. Dirk can get better on and off the court. And that's why I've been stretching him. He's the reigning MVP, and if he's not willing to be stretched by his coach, then he never would have improved. So he's willing to be stretched. And his stretching may not be necessarily on the court, but it may be in the area of leadership, and we're willing to help him get better in that area.
One hypothetical question – a few years down the line when you've picked up a championship or two with the Mavericks, what would you see as the next logical step in your coaching career – coaching the Houston Rockets or the New Orleans Hornets, your two hometowns, albeit The Woodlands is your adopted home now?
I would say, really and truly, I want to have a Jerry Sloan run with the Mavericks, but with a championship. So I want to have kind of a Jerry Sloan/Gregg Popovich run. That's what I want to have for the city of Dallas.
Q&A with Dallas' head coach
01:09 AM CDT on Sunday, September 16, 2007
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
The Mavericks' summer has been too long, and just about everybody in the organization is ready to start training camp, which is just over two weeks away.
The Mavericks have been strangely quiet through most of the summer. But that doesn't mean the wheels haven't been turning, particularly inside coach Avery Johnson's head.
Recently, Johnson sat down with The Dallas Morning News for a question-and-answer session to set up training camp. Here are 10 things that inquiring minds want to know.
It was a relatively quiet summer by Mavericks standards. Was that by design? Or were there some things you'd hoped to accomplish and couldn't get done?
It's strictly by design. But again, when we tried to entertain some situations, what other institutions wanted in return, they pretty much wanted us to liquidate our team. And we didn't want to liquidate our team. We really like our team. But we promised our fans that we're committed to winning and committed to winning a championship. And we'll do whatever it takes. But we're not going to liquidate our team for one player.
VERNON BRYANT / DMN
Avery Johnson says he wants to be in Dallas a long time. We like what we've added in Eddie Jones. We like what we've added in Brandon Bass. And we like that a lot of our returning players are going to be 20 percent better. That's what we're thinking. We're hoping they're better mentally, physically and have a better understanding of what we're trying to do. We're banking on that.
Devin Harris has signed a five-year contract extension. What does that say about his importance to the organization?
We think he has an enormous amount of talent and potential. He's scratched the surface a little bit. I wouldn't say he hasn't scratched the surface. And we feel he's moving in the right direction.
Who's your backup power forward right now?
Brandon Bass. He's 6-8 and 250. We have a lot of confidence in where we think he can go. There will be some others who are vying for some playing time. But Brandon was brought in to be a different type of power forward from Dirk, different from what we had.
It's a departure from the past, isn't it, because previous backups to Dirk Nowitzki have been more like Dirk starter kits?
We don't want to go that route this year. We wanted somebody different.
If you had to make a gut guess right now, would Chris Webber or P.J. Brown end up in a Mavericks uniform this season?
Ooh, I hope so. But we'll have to wait and see. Either of those guys would be a tremendous asset in terms of a role-playing guy for a team. But they have some other opportunities that they're looking at. So we'll have to wait and see.
With Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen all heading to the Eastern Conference, did the West perhaps get just a shade easier?
I don't think so because Portland's probably going to be a little bit better, San Antonio and Phoenix and Houston are going to be better. So I don't think the West is going to be any easier.
With Devin Harris signed long term, what does that mean for Jason Terry? The pair was effective last season but was undersized against basically everybody they played.
Fortunately we have two, and they're different. Jet is a huge part of our team. Whenever Jet is on the floor for us, he's a significant threat for us. So whether he starts at guard or whatever role he's playing, if you look statistically at what he's done, we wouldn't be here without Jet. He's one of the best shooters in the league. He is a great shooter. We need Jason Terry. The main thing is Jason Terry is a significant contributor for our ballclub. And we found out that he and Devin Harris can play together. And we found out that they can play independent of one another, too.
Last year, you start 0-4, then go 67-11, then 2-4 in the playoffs. What did you learn from that as a coach?
You learn several things, some you're willing to share and some you're not willing to share. But the main thing is you learn you have to keep focusing on the program. We talked about finishing, and that was our motto. We didn't finish. Now, do we not start again? No. We start and we start strong and we try to stay strong. That's the trick.
What does Dirk Nowitzki have to do this year to improve on an MVP season?
Dirk can get better, and there are some things that Dirk can improve in that may not be basketball-related. It may be leadership-related. Dirk can get better on and off the court. And that's why I've been stretching him. He's the reigning MVP, and if he's not willing to be stretched by his coach, then he never would have improved. So he's willing to be stretched. And his stretching may not be necessarily on the court, but it may be in the area of leadership, and we're willing to help him get better in that area.
One hypothetical question – a few years down the line when you've picked up a championship or two with the Mavericks, what would you see as the next logical step in your coaching career – coaching the Houston Rockets or the New Orleans Hornets, your two hometowns, albeit The Woodlands is your adopted home now?
I would say, really and truly, I want to have a Jerry Sloan run with the Mavericks, but with a championship. So I want to have kind of a Jerry Sloan/Gregg Popovich run. That's what I want to have for the city of Dallas.