Cosigned. Avery did some very good things in Dallas, and he can't be blamed for the Mavs failing to win a le this year, but his usefulness was at an end.
I think the Mavs getting handed the 2006 Spurs series was the worst thing that could ever happen to that franchise. Then they got a false sense of being championship contenders. Players getting traded off, coaches getting fired, etc...They should have won the NOH series. I still say that NOH is fake, Chris Paul is fake, all of their shots are fake, and the Spurs will simply sweep them.
Playing devil's advocate, maybe he can. I don't trust Mark Cuban, but there's really no reason not to believe Donn Nelson when he says they unanimously wanted Jason Kidd, and states it absolutely. You yourself said Barea wasn't going to cut it as a classic point guard and there's ample evidence that Harris wasn't what AJ wanted from the position. Though I have a really hard time accepting that Kidd is what he wanted, the reports of him saying he wanted a point guard were out there. There's also evidence, before and after the firing, that AJ's been kind of a two faced snake who will say things that make him look good. Not exactly Dave Campo, but pointing that direction. Jason Kidd was a disaster, and AJ was either on board with it, or he failed to put a stop to it, so he's responsible for it. If nothing else, he obviously didn't believe enough in Harris to put up a fight (I'd have resigned before allowing that trade).
He certainly never figured out how to get this group to decide that the playoffs were important other than that one series against San Antonio, and maybe Smallball© was as bad as some of us thought it was, so he deserves the rap for the body of work, which is a losing playoff record. The loss of the "defense first" mentality was also troublesome, as it really didn't seem to be the focus this year.
He was never able to prevent the Spurs from being upset in the playoffs until Mario Elie came along, and even Mario wasn't enough to save him as a coach.
I don't know where Dallas can go for a coach when the candidates know about the toxic environment created by the owner.
For all the good things Cuban can create with his wealth, he cancels it out with the constant meddling.
The coaches with a markedly better resume than Avery are few and far between. Clear cut upgrades (ie Prima Donna Phillip Jackson, Pop, Jerry Sloan) are not available and would want no part of Cuban.
Cuban will pay the new coach well, because he has to with all of the aggravation he will create the new guy.
A Rick Carlile (sp?) or Mike Dunleavy might work for them.
Cuban is a fan of the mavs and likes being involved with them but I doubt he wants to participate in coaching or finding players. He's very much visible and most of the times makes himself an ass, but as a business man he knows to let the people he pays do their job because they are qualified.
3-12 last 15 playoff games..0-9 on the road..nuff said
Whoops on that sweep bit...
and how was it handed to the Mavs in '06???
The better team ALWAYS wins a 7 game series Jeff...l
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