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AJ
Buck Harvey: His smile gone, AJ juggles all emotions
Web Posted: 05/21/2006 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Avery Johnson has two days to right himself. Given everything he's dealing with, he will need every minute.
He works for a mean-spirited Barnum who pokes at the very city that will retire No. 6 someday. He's watching a Hall of Fame power forward beat him the way he once won with the Hall of Fame power forward. He's trying to hold his tongue about the usual NBA frustration, officiating. And the same coach of the year who has driven the Mavericks with forceful purpose is the same one who now looks too wound up.
Game 6 showed that.
Then AJ, known for his broad smile, didn't smile once.
Gregg Popovich instead was the laid-back one. Portrayed most of the time as the bad cop, Popovich opted for good on Friday.
Michael Finley missed a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, and there was Popovich on the floor, greeting Finley as if they had a playful bet on the play. Tim Duncan missed a turnaround in the final minute, not unlike the less-aggressive jump-hook he missed at the end of regulation in Game 4, and there was Popovich grinning during a timeout, affectionately grabbing Duncan's neck.
And when Duncan wanted to start the fourth quarter with four fouls? Popovich laughed at the suggestion and told him to wait.
The unsaid message: Be patient, there is time for us to do what we do.
These were the actions of a veteran coach who has won championships. Popovich was far more rigid when AJ was his point guard, and now Popovich understands when he needs to release the tension.
AJ and Popovich are not the same men, and the video scoreboard in Dallas broadcasts that during games. Then the Mavericks use AJ's face and voice for various skits; he's both coach and Coyote. No one with Spurs marketing would even approach Popovich with such an idea.
AJ can have a thin skin, too, and he bared some before the game Friday night, albeit with good humor. He talked about last season's playoffs against Houston when some questioned him. Then, AJ said, the coach was stupid.
Popovich has at times faced ferocious second-guessing in his years in San Antonio. Yet he has never thrown the criticism back at those who thought he would never succeed.
AJ faces bigger snarls now, though. Every time Mark Cuban tries to heat up this rivalry with the touch of a drunken frat boy, AJ has to wish he were coaching against another franchise. AJ created a lot of good will here — as well as some businesses he still owns — and now he's partnered with someone who uses and doesn't mind hearing the word "sucks."
AJ has handled Cuban's mess. He didn't follow the theme in Dallas, choosing instead to frame Jason Terry's suspension as, well, Popovich would have.
He wondered about the inconsistency in NBA suspensions. But AJ said: "Rules state clearly you can't punch. You just can't do it. No way you can defend the action. Players are warned quite a bit about keeping their composure. We love (Terry), but he made a bad decision."
It wasn't just a bad decision. It's a signal of weakness. The Spurs have gone through 122 playoff games in the Duncan era, and one player has been suspended for one game (Kevin Willis, 2003) in that time. Now, in consecutive series, each of the Spurs' opponents has lost a starter.
AJ likely feared the repercussions, and then he saw his team face adversity and pressure for the first time this series and react poorly. As Duncan went inside, and Manu Ginobili again showed the stuff of a champion, AJ paced the sidelines and rubbed his face and looked tight.
His players reacted accordingly.
AJ didn't change his mood afterward. "Tonight was definitely a bad loss for us," he said.
Honest. Too honest. The Mavericks had said Friday was their Game 7, and AJ acted as if it really had been.
Then AJ began to launch into a kind of bearhug speech. He said it's hard to win "an uphill battle at the free-throw line," while adding "we're the ones who don't complain."
He stopped himself, but the message was out there. Privately he confirmed it. He's as livid about the refs as Popovich was after Game 3 and Game 4.
AJ is not without logic. The Spurs shot 15 free throws in the second half (more amazing is that they made them all), and the Mavericks just three.
Still, four of the Spurs' free throws came at the end when the Mavericks had to foul. Mostly the same refs who called everything in the first half let everything go in the second, which happens.
As for the impact of officiating Friday: Fouls put Duncan, Ginobili and Bruce Bowen on the bench at various times.
AJ may see that already. He may be rethinking his own stance and what he will say to Terry. He already may know how to handle Devin Harris' youth, and what he will emphasize to counter the pressure of a Game 7.
AJ's break?
He's got two days.
AJ
I don't like the fact that he complains about the officiating in public. TD got 3 touch fouls in 11 minutes n Friday...what else could you as for?
he's desperate. when a coach complains about the refs...that means he doesn't have confidence in his team's own abilities and mental toughness
AJ seems to lack a mechanism to control his emotions.
One wonders how much of AJ's pressure is due to Cuban. Not the Cuban talking about the River, the Battle of Flowers parade or whatever, but the Cuban who thinks he knows basketball.
AJ is doing his job.
One thing intresting about this is that there has been tons of debate about if ajs number wikll be reitred or not. I personaly was thinkin it wouldn't. But the first part fo the article confirms it will be retired and also that we have a hall of fame PF inducted too.So no we can stop debating whether he will get his number retired or notcity that will retire No. 6 someday. He's watching a Hall of Fame power forward beat him
buck wants aj's number to be retired
he was ticked tp would take number 6
that is why tp does not wear number 6
people said spurs were going to already retire his jersey I think around march. Has not yet. Makes you wonder if they plan on it now....
that fact that AJ is a good coach makes it even more likely
can you imaging haveing a player go on to be one of the best coaches ever even better than pop and not retiring his jersy
sometimes players have jerseys retired for sucess that happens after they leave their school or team
"one of the best coaches ever even better than pop"
imagine, (more like hallucinate) is all that is now,
and is all it will be for many years to come.
The Little Whiner hasn't coached two seasons of a team that he inherited (not built).
And he won't get them to the WCF this year. Cuban will probably blow them up again, and Avery will look like 25 others weak coaches in the NBA.
How does Avery coaching another team add any support to be in the SPURS rafters?
I think it was Manu that was going to be #6, not TP.
if we can retire sean eliotts number the dude that wasn't there to catch strickins pass and cost us the playoffs i can see us retiring ajs number
Like I said I never though aj was a good enough player to deserve his number retiring. You know if we keep retiring numbers our new starting center will have to wear 102 as the jersey number.
Personaly I think they shoudl retiring Tim duncans number
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