Why was Kidd on the bench at the end?

[Findog]

I don't understand Avery.

Kidd might not be a great shooter, but you're trying to tell me he couldn't have set something up for anyone?


I'm not complaining, but wtf

I believe Avery called 60 Stretch FarLaaaaaaaaahh

[Findog]

Avery strikes me more and more like a Mike Fratello type. He's wound too tight, and that filters down to the players. We still have two more seasons after this one. Time will tell if Avery is a part of it. Dirk deserves the most blame for the exit at the hands of Golden State, but Avery's done a terrible job the last two series. Cuban traded Harris because he felt he couldn't wait around while a young and promising player matured. And make no mistake, Avery will be coaching in this League an awful long time, but I'm beginning to think that maybe he is in the same category as the PG he couldn't learn to trust, he has some growing up of his own to do.

Larry Brown is currently playing shuffleboard and eating at IHOP at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

[Obstructed_View]

That was really really stupid on AJ's part. Kidd is supposed to be the decision maker and leader the Mavs were lacking. That's pretty hard to do from the bench. I can't think of many coaches in the league that would rather have Jason Terry handling the ball at the end of a close game than Jason Kidd.

I agree with Mavfan. AJ is definitely an ing idiot.

[Findog]

To have any credibility with his team, Avery needs to apologize for making a bad decision and take responsibility for this loss, instead of blaming the refs. You're not getting a borderline call on the road at the end of a game, unless you're Dwyane Wade.

[Obstructed_View]

To have any credibility with his team, Avery needs to apologize for making a bad decision and take responsibility for this loss, instead of blaming the refs.

AJ's not likely to get better treatment from the officials in any road game than he did tonight. He took a big fat gamble and it blew up in his face. He should definitely apologize to the team, and the fans may eat him alive for it regardless.

You're not getting a borderline call on the road at the end of a game, unless you're Dwyane Wade.

Or you're Dirk Nowitzki and you step on Tim Duncan's foot with a minute to go in a road playoff game. It's not exactly shocking that AJ would expect to get calls any time he wants them in San Antonio. There's certainly some history to back it up.

[GSH]

To have any credibility with his team, Avery needs to apologize for making a bad decision and take responsibility for this loss, instead of blaming the refs. You're not getting a borderline call on the road at the end of a game, unless you're Dwyane Wade.

The night they retired DRob's jersey, A.J. got up and spoke. And he talked as much about himself as he did about David. His pride isn't going to let him apologize about this or anything else. Just like the comments he made during the playoff last year... it's the ref's fault, it's the players' fault... but not A.J.'s fault.

Cuban was pissed when A.J. got that tech earlier in the game. I didn't catch his reaction to the subs ution at the end. But Kidd sure as wasn't happy with it. And neither was Mario Elie. I think you're right, Findog. He loses credibility on this one if he can't swallow his pride and call it a bad decision. But nothing about his history makes me think he would ever do it.

[inconvertible]

Be Cuz He Just Fukin Got To Dallas A Week A Go!

[Obstructed_View]

Be Cuz He Just Fukin Got To Dallas A Week A Go!

And he had 40 assists in his first three games.

He was brought here to be their closer and their leader. You could bring him out of the stands in street clothes and he can make better end of game decisions than most of the players in the NBA, particularly ones named Terry or Stackhouse.

I still maintain the Mavs were stupid to trade for him, but there is ZERO excuse for benching Jason Kidd at the end of a game where you need a bucket. None. If you are worried about his jumper then put him in the post and let him draw a double team. His strength is his ability to make decisions when necessary. That has nothing to do with matchups or shooting ability. AJ ed up. Bad.

[phxspurfan]

And he had 40 assists in his first three games.

He was brought here to be their closer and their leader. You could bring him out of the stands in street clothes and he can make better end of game decisions than most of the players in the NBA, particularly ones named Terry or Stackhouse.

I still maintain the Mavs were stupid to trade for him, but there is ZERO excuse for benching Jason Kidd at the end of a game where you need a bucket. None. If you are worried about his jumper then put him in the post and let him draw a double team. His strength is his ability to make decisions when necessary. That has nothing to do with matchups or shooting ability. AJ ed up. Bad.

I'll cast my hat in the ring and agree that this is very true. We were fortunate to be on the good side of, what I think is, a lame attempt at emulating CIA-pop type at ude by AJ. When I saw Kidd get taken out, I thought that this was AJ's way of getting Kidd riled up to perform when the games really mattered (playoffs). If this was an honest, strategic move, it was a bad mistake. True, Kidd is not as great a percentage shooter as Terry or Stack. But, to bench him, the player your organization game so much up (youth at the most important spots in your lineup) for to get, is quite the statement. He is one of the most clutch players on the Mavs -- a team that is the an hesis of the word.

Kidd needs to be out there in crunch time in the future. If Avery doesn't know that, he's toast as a head coach. Stars win big games.

[Obstructed_View]

No wonder the Mavs are a soft jump-shooting team if their coach pulls one of the top crunch time decision makers in the world so he can have more shooters on the floor. AJ's certainly more of a Nellie disciple than a Pop disciple.

[genomefreak13]

Hear it from Jason Kidd himself...

Kidd came out for the last 30 seconds, but said he supported the decision.

“They’ve been together down the stretch,” Kidd said. “I understand what play they’re looking for, so I’m over here cheering for my guys to knock down a 2 or a 3.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_y...022824&prov=ap

Kidd categorically admits that he doesn't know a about shooting clutch shots...No wonder he's out of the game during the final minutes.

[50 cent]

As Barkley said, Kidd is saying the right thing, but you know he think's it is bull...."

[Findog]

Or you're Dirk Nowitzki and you step on Tim Duncan's foot with a minute to go in a road playoff game.

U mad?

[Spurs Brazil]

08:58 AM CST on Friday, February 29, 2008

SAN ANTONIO – Watching the end of Thursday's game, I flashed back to something Avery Johnson said less than 10 days ago when Jason Kidd was welcomed back to Dallas.

The Mavericks coach paid tribute to Kidd like everyone else. He raved about the point guard's leadership and his ability to make big plays when they're needed most.

"He knows how to finish games," Johnson proclaimed, "and that's what we're looking for."

I guess Johnson was looking for something else Thursday night.


Down by two with 34.5 seconds left, Kidd was pulled and replaced by Jerry Stackhouse. One of the best players of his generation was reduced to a cheerleader in the final, fateful seconds of this loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Maybe Kidd's presence wouldn't have made a difference. We'll never know. But by asserting his control at the end of the game, Johnson took the game out of Kidd's talented hands. For this to work, Johnson must learn to trust Kidd in a way he never did Devin Harris.

The irony is if this trade had not been made, Johnson likely would have had Harris on the floor at the end of Thursday's game.

The Mavericks did manage to squeeze off three shots in that final sequence. Forward Dirk Nowitzki missed two of them. Jason Terry missed the last one.

Nowitzki has been positively giddy since Kidd's arrival. He wasn't so giddy in the aftermath of this game. Was Nowitzki surprised that Kidd wasn't on the floor?

"You have to talk to coach about that," Nowitzki said.

Good idea.

What about it, coach?

"We were looking at spreading the floor with all of our shooters in the game," Johnson said. "We wanted to put Stack and Josh [Howard] and Jet [Terry], and that gave Dirk some more room to operate in those situations.

"Our spacing was good, and that is what we were doing on that particular one."

Spacing? I'd argue Johnson spaced out. The four shooters that surrounded Nowitzki on the final possession were a combined 2-of-9 in the fourth quarter.

Now, if Johnson had said that Kidd hasn't been around long enough to run the play he wanted at the end, I might understand that. Might.

"We had a couple of breakdowns there in the fourth," Johnson said. "We talked about a lot of different things. Then he had a chance to take a look at it. Jet and Dirk made some plays for us.

"Again, we just wanted to give Dirk a little bit more space. He got the space. A couple of shots just didn't go down."

Kidd doesn't walk on water. But he should at least walk on the court at the end of a tight game.

Kidd has already altered the iden y of this team with his passing. But if he is to put his stamp on the Mavericks, if he does rescue this team from its postseason meltdowns of the past two seasons, it will be by what he does at the end of highly compe ive games like the one played here Thursday.

"I support that move," Kidd said. "I feel like they've had that team together down the stretch. They understand the play they're looking for. And so, I'm over there cheering for my guys to knock down a two or a three."

Still, Kidd takes great pride in his ability to make plays that win games. He had to be discouraged that he wasn't in there to pull the trigger.

"I wasn't discouraged," Kidd said. "I understand and support my coach's decision. That will happen."

It shouldn't happen too often.

Kidd was only 3-of-8 from the field. He hit only one shot in the second half.

But as everyone knows, Kidd isn't special because of his shot. He had 10 assists against the Spurs, and Johnson did praise his defense on Manu Ginobili.

That's nice. But when the Mavericks' braintrust discussed the reasons to make this trade, I doubt much time was spent on Kidd's defensive prowess against Ginobili. The trade was made to give them a leader on the floor at the end of close games.

"He's going to help us because at the end of games, he just knows how to win," Johnson said at the news conference when Kidd was introduced.

Too bad Johnson didn't remember his own words Thursday.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...e.1f639a0.html

[Obstructed_View]

U mad?

About that? A bit. It was Duncan's sixth foul at home in the last minute of a playoff game. It didn't cost them the series. From my standpoint, the loss in that series is firmly on Pop and the Spurs, not on a single bad call. Like I've said a thousand times, Dirk earns his fouls against smallball© when he's aggressive. The Spurs had two healthy centers that contributed to the defense on a 63 win team, and the coach completely dismantled it on the fly. That Dirk took advantage of that and went wild is just smart basketball.

It's a fact though that it happened, and there's no history to support the assertion that Dirk shouldn't expect to get any call he wants in San Antonio, and your bitterness about Dwayne Wade smells like hypocrisy when he didn't get anything Dirk hadn't gotten against the Spurs a few weeks earlier.

[T Park]

The Spurs had two healthy centers that contributed to the defense on a 63 win team,

Neither one of them, nor Duncan could guard Nowitzki either, the arguement for that in that series is wrong and tired.

[td4mvp21]

Neither one of them, nor Duncan could guard Nowitzki either, the arguement for that in that series is wrong and tired.

Prior to that, the Spurs hardly ever used small ball lineups. They lost because they weren't playing Spurs basketball. And it's amazing that they still took it to 7 games playing a completely different defensive scheme than they practiced all season. Like Obstructed View said in another thread, Duncan's going to have to learn how to guard Dirk so we can play big and play our defense.

[Obstructed_View]

Neither one of them, nor Duncan could guard Nowitzki either, the arguement for that in that series is wrong and tired.

The proof is in the outcome. The Spurs beat the Mavs until they started going small, and then they lost. The Spurs won 63 games in the regular season, went small and played .500 ball in the playoffs.

[Findog]

and your bitterness about Dwayne Wade smells like hypocrisy when he didn't get anything Dirk hadn't gotten against the Spurs a few weeks earlier.

Refs didn't cost Dallas the Finals. I've never said that they did. They officiated a one-sided game in Game 5, and that final call for Wade on Dirk was egregious, but there's three other games in that series Miami won without the aid of the refs.

[Findog]

The proof is in the outcome. The Spurs beat the Mavs until they started going small, and then they lost. The Spurs won 63 games in the regular season, went small and played .500 ball in the playoffs.

Regular season results don't matter, right? If I remember correctly, they split the season series 2-2 that year, each team getting a W on the other's court. Pop goes small against the Mavs because he doesn't feel he has anybody that can consistently guard Dirk well, and he doesn't want to risk Timmy getting into foul trouble by doing it himself, plus Dirk can take him out to the elbows or free-throw line extended and away from the basket. Against Dallas, surrounding Duncan with four wings leads to the best results offensively.

[T Park]

Against Dallas, surrounding Duncan with four wings leads to the best results offensively.

Unless you have a mobil bigman ala a Udonis Haslem, Reggie Evans type, you have to go with a long, wing player ala Stephen Jackson, to guard Dirk. That simple.

[K-State Spur]

Neither one of them, nor Duncan could guard Nowitzki either, the arguement for that in that series is wrong and tired.

I think the mistake was putting Bowen on Dirk the majority of the time. The way Dirk played in that series, didn't matter who we had on him (including Bruce), he was going off.

Would have been better off letting Bruce prevent Howard (who he could shut down) from going off as well, and just letting other guys get destroyed by Dirk.

[T Park]

I think the mistake was putting Bowen on Dirk the majority of the time. The way Dirk played in that series, didn't matter who we had on him (including Bruce), he was going off.

Would have been better off letting Bruce prevent Howard (who he could shut down) from going off as well, and just letting other guys get destroyed by Dirk.

Thats the point, they didnt have anyone that could somewhat guard him. They didn't have an Udoka, or a Haslem.

[td4mvp21]

Thats the point, they didnt have anyone that could somewhat guard him. They didn't have an Udoka, or a Haslem.

Udoka didn't do that good of a job on Dirk. I would rather Pop not put him on Dirk at all.

[xmas1997]

The more I look at it in aftermath, the more I think AJ really didn't want that trade to go down and that it was Nowitski who went to Cuban to push it to go through, possibly thinking it would make him a better player.
That said, I think the burden of the onus is on Nowitski to now step up to the plate as never before and become the killer everyone wants him to be at the end of games.
However, that will never happen since he has never shown evidence of being a killer.
Maybe reports that AJ wanted to trade Nowitski at the end of last year are true.
But I sense a rift between the coach and his marque player brewing.
This may be AJs last year in Dallas when it should probably be Nowitski who gets shipped out while Dallas can still get lots in return.