Little General Relieved of Duties

[SenorSpur]

I agree. Pop loves him though.

So does Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle - and in both instances, I'm not sure why?

[wildbill2u]

He was good with the Mavs because they had Don Nelson's offense and he got them to play defense. They stopped listening to him before they could win a le. His only mistake was not ducking Nelson's Warriors. I don't even know that he's much of a leader or motivator. He got through to Robinson, but he even started to wear on his teammates before he left. Might have been the reason Pop gave the team to Tony so quickly.

I agree with most of what you have stated here. AJ's constant hectoring wears thin very fast. Pop can yell and get on players without turning them off because he knows how to temper his criticism with humor and encouragement. It was all over the Dallas papers from 'inside sources' about how some of the Dallas vets came to hate him and some simply tuned him out.

[Drz]

but we added Joe Johnson and a healthy Brook Lopez

Haha, nice.

I strongly agreed with John Hollinger's take on the Nets, following the Atlanta trade:

As for Brooklyn, this is what happens when you're desperate. I've killed the Nets for other reckless moves, but this one actually wasn't that terrible. They replaced one year of $14 million of flotsam with one year of a $20 million Joe Johnson and then signed Joe Johnson to a three-year, $69 million deal on top of that. Not ideal, perhaps, but again, they're desperate to have a compelling product for their relocation to Brooklyn. (And trust me as a Jersey boy, this is a relocation. People in New Jersey only vaguely know where Brooklyn is; forget about actually going there.)

The Nets cover themselves with a go-to option in Johnson if Deron Williams leaves, give themselves a very good spot-up shooter and secondary scorer if Williams goes, and give themselves a great shot at being a top-four seed in the East. Brooklyn's starting lineup will be among the best in basketball, presuming it re-signs Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez, and a bench (speculatively) of Jason Kidd, Mirza Teletovic and MarShon Brooks will at least be respectable in the backcourt. A lack of frontcourt depth and porous defense will keep the Nets from contending for anything important, but they'll be entertaining enough to put fannies in seats, and that was the idea.

[Obstructed_View]

I agree with most of what you have stated here. AJ's constant hectoring wears thin very fast. Pop can yell and get on players without turning them off because he knows how to temper his criticism with humor and encouragement. It was all over the Dallas papers from 'inside sources' about how some of the Dallas vets came to hate him and some simply tuned him out.

Pop came dangerously close to losing the team at one point. I really don't think Horry and Bowen were too thrilled with him toward the end of their time here, and even Manu was frustrated during that stretch. He seems to have gotten his mojo back. Not many coaches that can do that, and fewer ownership groups that will stick with the coach long enough for it to happen.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

OV, you talking around the 2008-09 season?