This is just depressing

March 20th, 2008 Posted in Avery Johnson, Game Recap

Another close game, another blown 4th quarter lead and now the Mavericks are 0-7 against teams with a .500 record or better since the Kidd trade.

Dirk had a ridiculous game tonight with 22 point and 19 rebounds. Kidd had 11 boards and 9 dimes, but only 2 points. Even Josh Howard had a good game with 24 points and 6 boards. But in the end they couldn’t hold onto a 7 point lead with 9 minutes left. And this time it’s hard to blame the coach.

Yeah, he didn’t put Kidd, Dirk and Damp back into the game until the lead had shrunk to 3. And a timeout could have been called with :31 seconds left after Allen made the 3 that made it a 2 point Celtics lead.

But at the end of the game the starters were on the floor and they couldn’t get the job done. And that’s going to be on those guys tomorrow.

Now I only saw the 4th quarter tonight, I forgot to setup the game to record and got home late, so if I missed something early in the game post in the comments.

And here’s what Avery had to say after the game.

“I loved our effort,” Avery said. “We played the best team in basketball. There are no prizes for second place, but if you look at our effort consistently throughout this game, the effort was there. The energy was there.

“Guys were focused. They battled. Some things didn’t go our way, but we hung in there and dug down in there.”

I’m so tired of hearing him say that, effort doesn’t freaking win games. He needs to say something publicly to get this team going. They’re already quitting on him anyways, so might as well go for broke. Call them out for not being able to hold on to a lead, say anything about why they aren’t winning these games. Just do something.


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  1. 15 Responses to “This is just depressing”

  2. By mrtwister on Mar 20, 2008 at 11:29:46 pm

    I have only shown interest in the Mavs since Kidd came back but here’s what I don’t understand. Why trade for one of the best passing point guards in the biz and get him to pass to a teammate on an isolation play and then run him into the far corner time and time again? Surely you would run the hell out of transition and then fall into a motion offence with back cuts and screens off the ball? You have good spot up shooters and some great slashers going to the rim. Jersey had the latter with Carter and Jefferson but they never had the shooters at all. So what gives? I cannot fathom that Kidd’s assists are down since moving here with such a great shooter in Dirk. The offence is the reason. I think if Avery ever bought a damn quick racehorse, he’d stick it in a fenced paddock forever. Phoenix had teething problems after their ‘big trade’ but at least they’ve been coached through it with a little tweaking of their game. Avery’s response to Cuban’s criticism from the LAkers game was “You coach the team then.” My response to that would have been “Thank God, I will.”

  3. By Justbeinghonest on Mar 20, 2008 at 11:48:31 pm

    I’m tired of Avery always trying to look for something positive over these losses. He reminds me too of the Cowboys coach Wade Phillips as they were heading into the playoffs. “tough loss…we played hard…some good things…our season record shows how good we are….blah blah”. They need to just save themselves the embarrassment now and not even make the playoffs. Stay home.

  4. By WyldMavsFan on Mar 21, 2008 at 12:16:59 am

    Well that was a tough, i agree with Avery, we fought hard, and the refs didn’t help us, but we should have taken the game over in the 1st half and instead, Avery decides to take out all our starters for the 2nd straight game and lost our lead. We were up 29-24 after the 1st. He took Dirk, Howard and Kidd out at the same time and he waited to long to put them back in , and then we were down by 5.

    I know these guys can’t play 48 min, but you gotta spread it out. Howard, Dirk and Kidd should never sit out together. Only one, or maybe two at the most should sit out.

    I think he should take kidd out 1st, put Terry in, and let him play a little with the 1st team, and then put kidd in the start the 2nd quarter with the bench, and maybe he can get the 2nd team some easier buckets, instead, terry is out there by himself trying to create his own jumper.

    I don’t know if I am right, but I am just trying to use common sense.

  5. By "Five-O" on Mar 21, 2008 at 12:29:06 am

    Wyld is absolutely on point…why have a first and second string? It hasn’t worked. As an add on…what has happened to Jason Kidd’s game? He can’t score at all?

    Avery is micromanaging the game way too much. Between the play calling down the stretch, the ill-timed timeouts, the nonsensical substitution pattern…the guy is clueless out there.

    The Mavs brought Kidd in to close games out in the 4th quarter. I’ve got news for Avery & Co…I don’t remember an inability to close teams out as really being a problem for Dallas. We won 60-some odd games last year and when we made the trade we were one of the top teams in the West.

    Either way, if you want Kidd to ‘close out games’ then let him. Quit with all the damn timeouts and play calling. Veterans teams do not respond with timeouts…they respond with baskets.

  6. By Justbeinghonest on Mar 21, 2008 at 12:33:27 am

    With all that subbing that was going on. Why didn’t Bass get enough minutes? He was on fire the small amount of time he was in.

  7. By Roy Tarpley on Mar 21, 2008 at 12:35:29 am

    Can I come back and play? I promise I’m clean.

  8. By Tyler Durden on Mar 21, 2008 at 1:33:41 am

    I have been a die-hard fan for 9 years now. I whole-heartedly embraced Avery as head coach and every move the organization has made. I have given up!! After multiple moves made in the roster and the line up over the last 3 years, we are worse off than we were when we started. There are no other teams with the same caliber of players as the Mavs that struggle the way we do. I have come to the conclusion that Avery was just receiving residual benefits off of a great team that Nellie put together and because of bad moves that he’s made, it’s now come to an end. It’s time for a more experienced leader to salvage what’s left of our great team!! FIRE AVERY!!!!

  9. By Mike D'Antoni on Mar 21, 2008 at 3:33:00 am

    Trust Kidd in his playmaking skills like my trust to Nash

  10. By Caveman on Mar 21, 2008 at 9:05:43 am

    Why does Avery think Dirk is Tim Duncan? Dirk is a special player because he can do things other seven footers can’t. Nellie understood that but Avery insists on trying to make Dirk a traditional 4. I don’t see why you would not want Dirk taking at least seven or eight three pointers a night. Why can’t Avery play to his players strengths? Is he blinded by his system? He should step back and think if would he like playing for himself?

  11. By captainjack on Mar 21, 2008 at 9:40:53 am

    I have been on board with the fire Avery thang since this site was launched. I agree with some of the sentiment here. I had season tickets to the celts in 86 (military had me in n.e.) and that is in my opinion the greatest team ever. For the most part they played 6 guys. Bird, mchale, parrish, the late d. johnson & danny ainge. The 6th man of the year, Bill Walton came off the bench and Bird played the 2 at times. I am not saying the mavs have that kind of talent but the league is way watered down and I think they are seriously overcoached.

    Having said that I would like to point out what I consider the elephant in the room.
    What the morning paper misses. It is quite obvious that the league wants a celts lakers matchup. The officiating was unbelieveable for this level of ball. Everybody can blow one but this game was a joke from the standpoint of consistancy. Most of the first half and half of the 3rd qtr the refs
    well….to say they let em play would be an understatement. There was more holding and grabbing that a porno flick. This played right into the celtics long lean pressure defense. Still, (and for once I agree with Avery) the Mavs matched the intensity and even bested it. The Mavs earned this win. They just did not get it. About midway in the 3rd the officials suddenly started calling very minor fouls. ticky tacky bullshit. Pierce in particular became as off limits as Tony Soprano’s wife. Suddenly. like flipping a switch. about the time Bass got the off the glass an one and the mavs got their biggest lead. Suddenly everything changed. Like a pro wrestler who had been beaten nearly to death suddenly rallying. bullshit. I am neither blind or stupid. Pierce pinned the arms of defenders and drug them down on multiple occasions and pierce ended up at the line. The mavs, particularly Dirk and Stack were mugged and mugged and the silence of the whistles was defening. I mean we finally have Damp looking interested but have you ever seen him get as passionate as he got when he got the T. I don’t blame him. He had pierce blocked out and pierce hooked him and pulled him down and Damp got the foul. It was a joke. In the 4th qtr Pierce was trated like a Michael/Christ/Wade untouchable creature. What did they give him in the deciding 4th qtr? 11 free throws? 12? While Dirk, the susposed “mvp”, playing at home, went to the rack just as hard and got 6 free throws the whole game. Hey Barkley, Dirk got 20 rebounds against Garnett, is that “soft” (soft is the word Barkly uses for “white”) It got David Lynch sureal at times when the celts actually let up expecting whistles and there was noting but silence. complete bullshit. All those words in the Star Telegram today and the REAL story was buried on Page 4d in the box score. Boston was awarded 35 free throws and Dallas 24. In a defensive game with the score in the low 90s. At friggin home with the team going to the hoop almost every possession. That 86 celts team I mentioned could not win that way. I see why Cuban raised hell when he first got the team and I guess like me he realized there was noting he could do about it. Still, I have not given up yet but I did take the tarp off my Bass boat. It could be that these very close losses could even out. Perhaps in the playoffs. Hope springs eternal.

  12. By AceOfSpades on Mar 21, 2008 at 11:36:33 am

    What i don’t understand is Avery. This blog is right in all ways. The name and what it’s about. FIRE AVERY!

    Although Boston was a great team, Dallas is to and they could have easily won this game.

  13. By Ernie on Mar 21, 2008 at 1:34:07 pm

    To begin i think out of the gate the mavs played aggressive making steals and in transition. they did a great job of keeping the celtics on their heels for the first part of the game. that being said toward the end of the game the mavs switched back to that stupid 2 1 2 zone that is so easy to beat a well coach junior high team konw how to do it, much less kevin garnett and paul pierce. the mavericks succsess comes from their athleticism and their workman like attitude on defense, and we are not seeing that anymore from this team in the later part of games. Avery Johnson’s tyrant like coaching style is destructive and it needs to be moved back to san antonio where it belongs. this team never has been or never will be the san antonio spurs, no team will. Tim Duncan comes along only a couplfe of times every decade, and i think portland has that in the 50yeat old kid Oden. The mavericks are just good enough to keep breaking my heart.

  14. By Beaten Down on Mar 21, 2008 at 1:54:32 pm

    Thanks Avery. You took over a team with a great offense and bad defense and turned them into a team with an average offense and average defense. But it’s ok. He’s still “learning on the job”. Send this guy back to Popovich.

  15. By JaredNow on Mar 21, 2008 at 6:01:13 pm

    Yes avery needs to be fired, celtics game notes–

    OFFICIATING: agree with CAPTAINJACK…worst officiated game i have seen all season. Someone needs to seriously take Paul Pierce’s face and bash his teeth in. This shows though that the MAVS do need to get some balls. We got all those Ts but not one real push or shove or up-in-the-face trash talking that needed to be broken up. I thought Pierce was going to break Dirk’s arm and he PLOWED over ? in the 4th.
    SOLUTION: AVERY needs to let the team know that they are going to get cheated every game in the 4th quarter. Seriously. It has happened the last 3 years almost every game. With this in mind, you have to get a big lead to prepare yourself for bullcrap cheating officiating that will happen throughout the game.

    AVERY: Doesn’t know WHEN to call a time-out to save his life. Could have won the game if HIS IGNORANT ASS would have called a timeout DIRECTLY after the ray allen three at the end. MORON!
    SOLUTION: MARK!!!! DON’T WAIT UNTIL WILL LOSE AGAIN THIS YEAR. FIRE AVERY’s SORRY ASS THIS YEAR–SOON and let PAUL TAKE OVER. Or Bring back DEL. DAMN IT!

  16. By Johnny Thorne on Mar 21, 2008 at 6:57:16 pm

    Avery took took over an offensive power house that Nellie built and has screwed it all up. He did a great job implementing the defense at first, but now it ain’t so great.
    The loss to Boston is almost tolerable, but the way they started against the Lakers was horrible. Cuban had every right to chew on him a bit. They were not motivated or prepared to play that night.
    Why did Terry only play 15 minutes against Boston? He is the 3rd highest scorer on the team. Why is he playing so deep into the bench?
    Ever heard of an eight man rotation Avery? If you want Kidd to develop chemistry, you need to limit the number of different faces he sees on the floor. George didn’t do the Mavs any favors, sit his butt on the bench, with Old Howard, Broken Eddie, and Shortstuff Barea.

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