Avery turns down the Grizzlies' offer

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

That's your first error right there.




He lost the confidence of his players after failing to make adjustments against Miami and then Golden State. Blowing a 2-0 Finals lead and then imploding in one of the greatest upsets in NBA history will do that. Every coach outside of Sloan, Pop and Jackson has it happen to them, fair or not, right or not. You either trade the players or fire the coach. It's always easier to fire the coach. I'm not saying it's fair or right Avery lost the respect and confidence of his players, but once it happened, his ability to inspire, motivate and lead them was compromised.

I can't really argue that and I can't really disagree. It's just always been my view and watching the way Amare has acted this year it reinforces my view that the worst thing an owner and/or GM can do is side with the players over the coach. The players win the games and the players lose the games IMO. A guy like Josh Howard would seemingly interpret the Avery Johnson firing as him being absolved of all blame for not showing up against New Orleans.

Certainly the way the media tore D'antoni apart gave Amare the idea that the monster series Duncan had against him in 2005, 2007 and 2008 wasn't his fault and he's done his best, when he hasn't.

[SenorSpur]

Avery was absolutely pushing for the trade. Did he specifically ask for Jason Kidd? No. But he did specifically ask for Devin Harris to be traded for a point guard with more experience? Yes.

And yes, Avery's backtracking big time now. He even went so far as to claim he turned Devin into "a 17 and 10 point guard" or something along those lines, when Devin's stats in Dallas clearly tell a much different story.

Exactly! Avery pushed for that trade every bit as much as Cuban did. Everyone in this town knows and remembers how AJ dogged and criticized Harris privately and publically - whether it was justified or not. Even going so far as to let it leak that Harris simply wasn't developing as a PG for the Mavs. He never trusted Harris to run his offense.

Once Kidd arrived, AJ went as far as to suggest that he was happy to finally have an experienced PG running the offense. The fact is AJ never trusted him to run HIS offense. As great as Kidd is, even he was forced to look over to the sideline every single possession because AJ insisted on calling plays every time down. The team was not allowed to grab the rebound and run. They had to setup their usual halfcourt isolation plays, at the insistence of the coach. Face it, no one was ever going to be a good enough PG for Avery. Not Harris, Not Kidd, or even Nash, had he not bolted town.

AJ has tried to convince anyone who would listen that the Kidd trade was Cuban's idea and that he simply went along with it. This is not to absolve Cuban either, because he was just as big of a dumb-ass for parting with Harris.

AJ's many comments on his way out the door are nothing more than his attempts to revise history in order to preserve his sterling, bogus, reputation. The worst thing to happen to him, as a coach, was early success. He took all the credit for the success of the Mavs, touting his playoff record, yet shouldering none of the blame for their failures. Lest we bring up the name Erica Dampier (an Avery protege'). He was slow to make adjustments because of his stubborness. His massive ego stunted his development as a coach.

The bottom line is AJ had a stranglehold on the team and lost the respect of Dirk and Kidd. If they both wanted him to stay, he wouldn't ever gotten fired.

[layupdrill]

Intersting Avery turned it down. Mo Cheeks is being brought in as an assitant for the interim coach...hmmm...

[angelbelow]

there were 2 options here, look like a dumbass and take the job, or make the intelligent move of declining. not a surprising decision.