Mavs-Hornets Game 1

April 19th, 2008 Posted in Avery Johnson, Game Recap

After being up twelve at half-time, and at least somewhat controlling Chris Paul up until then, the Mavericks looked to be in good shape for the rest of the game. Then Byron Scott proved to be the better coach as he actually made adjustments during half-time while the Mavs were just trying to not lose. Of course that didn’t exactly work out for them.

The Mavericks had a 7 point lead going at the end of the first quarter. So what does Avery decide to do to start the second? Run a lineup of Eddie Jones, Juwan Howard, Jason Terry, Josh Howard and Brandon Bass. I’ll never understand his insistence of putting the entire second unit on the floor at the same time. While that lineup was on the floor the Hornets cut the lead to 3. The rest of the second the Mavs had much better sub patterns and ran off to a 12 point lead at the half.

At the start of the third quarter the Hornets immediately went on a 8-2 run. Late in the quarter the Hornets had a 16-3 run. Overall the Mavs were outscored 36-20 during the quarter. It just goes to show who the better coach on the floor was yesterday. Byron Scott made adjustments during half-time and his team was better for it. Avery failed to react to what was happening on the floor and the Mavericks were outscored by 16.

Things didn’t get any better in the fourth quarter which opened with a 15-4 New Orleans run. For some unknown reason that run involved almost 2 minutes where Dirk was on the bench. It just seems strange to me to sit the guy who is obviously your best player on the night during a run by the other team.

The lack of lineup changes based on how Stack and Howard were playing especially questionable. Stackhouse didn’t make a bucket until the fourth. If a guy that is coming off an injury is shooting 0-7 during the first three quarters and not exactly doing all the much on the defensive end maybe he should be taken out of the game a little more. Giving Eddie Jones, who is a better defender, or Devean George, also a better defender, more looks might have been helpful.

Josh Howard was also depressing to watch. In the first quarter he was getting inside the lane and to the basket and shot 3-4. After that he became jump-shooting Josh Howard and didn’t contribute much at all the rest of the way.

Avery is now 2-6 in game one’s in the playoffs. That should be very telling to anyone who thinks he’s the coach this team needs to win. He’s incapable of making adjustments during half-time of these games and apparently has some problems coming up with game plans. Here’s what Avery said about the momentum in the first and second half.

“Between settling for jump shots and turning the ball over….the momentum swung. We had the momentum in the first half, they had the momentum in the second half.”

Yes, the Mavericks did start taking a lot of jumpers after the half. But isn’t Avery the guy that’s supposed to get them to stick to whatever game plan they had? And what does it say about him that his team apparently isn’t doing what he wants done?


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  1. 61 Responses to “Mavs-Hornets Game 1”

  2. By mrtwister on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:17:19 pm

    Start of the 4th and Avery puts George on for Dirk, then watches NO start to blow it out immediately so his counter is to take Kidd off and put Dirk back on? Paul is doing what he wants so who’s on him now? Avery, you suck balls.

  3. By "Five-O" on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:20:21 pm

    This game has Avery’s fingerprints all over it. We come out in the second half and just lay an absolute egg. We took an early TO in the 3rd quarter. How many times have we seen that this season? What the hell is he doing with the 15 minutes he has during halftime. Ridiculous. There is no continuity with substitutions. Mavs look like they are giving up.

  4. By mrtwister on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:21:43 pm

    Our current players on court have combined for 16/49 from the field. Why is Josh Howard and Stack still out there together? Put Terry back on.

  5. By Firehim on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:32:35 pm

    Avery has sucked since Dale Harris left. Makes me wonder who was coaching the team in his early success??

  6. By Firehim on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:37:35 pm

    dirk just got punked. bitch

  7. By aj on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:44:49 pm

    avery=loser
    fire his ass soon as this playoff series is over.

  8. By NoHeart on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:46:23 pm

    The team has no heart. Once NO starting making their run, we just folded and packed it up with like 8 mins to go in the 4th. It’s almost as if EVERYTHING, EVERY minute has to go the Mavs way or else their fragile psyche is shattered. That, and Avery cannot make an adjustment to save his life. I wonder what they talked about at halftime. How great the two earlier games were? They definitely weren’t talking about adjustments and minor things to fix cause I’m sure Avery was content with a 12 point lead. The way the team came out in the 3rd, it’s obvious that they were not prepared to foresee how New Orleans would adjust. Avery just wanted to stick with the same gameplan as if it’s only a 1 half game. I mean, it doesn’t take an idiot to figure out that NO was gonna find a way to get Chris Paul more involved. Avery is too dumb to have foresight. He’s not an intelligent person. He has a lot of fire and passion, but he’s just too dumb to really understand the depths of the game…especially being able to understand that good coaches will adjust and take away some of the things that u were successful doing in the first half. We got outcoached and subsequently (AS A RESULT) outplayed. Pathetic.

  9. By joe on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:50:34 pm

    See lottery pick would of been better

  10. By mrtwister on Apr 19, 2008 at 8:53:25 pm

    Avery did make adjustments. Instead of good ball movement and attacking the rim through penetration, ball movement and post feeds, Avery went back to perimeter, pick and pop. Bet NO didn’t see that coming.

  11. By ndnballer on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:00:10 pm

    I know this statement has probably been overdone, but I still hate the jason kidd trade. Chris Paul attacked the basket in the second half like crazy, scoring on a fast break after fast break. On the other hand, Kidd pushes the ball up the court, gets in the lane, and kicks it out to someone standing behind the 3 point line. That just isnt going to get it done. Dirk was the only one to show any balls out there today; besides terry, who didnt get enough time, everyone else sucked. Josh Howard was awful,and had a good amount of dumb plays, such as 24second turnovers. Jerry stackhouse couldnt hit a shot to save his life, granted he was injured and still getting back into rhythm. Kidd didnt score anything in the second half, and got man-handled by Paul in the second half as well.

    I dont know what happens in the locker room, but i think it would be better for avery to not say anything period than to lecture the team. How do you not realize that chris paul was going to blow up in the second half, i mean he barely took any shots in the first half so him blowing up in the second half is a given. Inexcusible Avery, phethetic.

  12. By Rom on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:04:26 pm

    Wow… I finally see that Avery is the bigest problem with the Mavs. No half time adjustments, No counter to what the Hornets did after the 2nd half. When we are One and out, maybe Cuben will see it…. But I doubt it….. Maybe Mark needs to go serve some more Ice Cream at Dairy Queen……….

  13. By Mr.Phunky on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:10:01 pm

    I was working but tivo-ed the game….from what I hear Avery screwed up again and Josh shot 80 shots and made 6!! I’ve been a Mavs fan all my life…..kill me!!!!

  14. By JW on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:16:09 pm

    Let’s face it guys, the team just has no depth. Juan Howard, Eddie Jones, Devan George and even Stack are useless.
    Please….

    Coach needs to go and this isn’t a top 5 Western conference team. I watched the Suns/Spurs game today and the Mavs barely belong in the same gym with those two teams.

    Sad but we have to face it….

  15. By blah on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:17:44 pm

    Another Avery choke job. Typical Mavs collapse in the second half, while Avery fiddles around with stupid rotations, lifeless offensive schemes, and poor defensive matchups.

    Please, please, please fire Avery.

  16. By blah on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:18:52 pm

    Yeah, for some reason the Mavs have been collecting scrubs and washed up veterans while the rest of the league keeps getting younger and more athletic. It really shows.

  17. By mc on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:47:03 pm

    Well, I guess it’s too late to complain about how the mavs have become dirk, jo-ho, jet, and 30 something has beens. Everytime I see stackhouse, I think arthiritis, Dampier aka “snuggles”, bum shoulder, Kidd, burned out, and the rest are not even worth mentioning. What happened to young, athletic and hard working players. I give props to Bass though, he is the only “beast” we have. Thanks for running our offense again through Dirk, Avery-even though the matchup suggests we should go through other players. This will turn into Golden State all over again-with four players watching Dirk struggle.

  18. By selke99 on Apr 19, 2008 at 9:48:02 pm

    “Jerry stackhouse couldnt hit a shot to save his life, granted he was injured and still getting back into rhythm.”

    Doesn’t sound like a guy that should be in the starting lineup huh? JET needs to start, not Stack, a guy who’s been hurt the last 2 weeks and has been inconsistent.

    I don’t blame Kidd for Paul’s explosive offensive outburst. To me, it looked like Kidd contested most of his shots, they were just falling. The problem was finally trying to take the ball out of his hands with 5 min. left down 15.

    It cracked me up when the espn female sideline reporter said that with 5 minutes to go in the game Avery told his team that they needed to gets stops and rebound better. What a genius!! What happened to the Little General getting in their faces and demanding accountability.

    No offense from Stack, Jet Howard (in 2nd half), Bass. Bass and Damp getting beat down low for rebounds. Avery STILL having Damp come out beyond the 3 pt line to double Paul, picks up easy foul.

    Overall just a bunch of weak minded/mental guys (besides Dirk and Kidd), just waiting for someone else to bring them back. And a coach that somehow manages to sap their energy at halftime.

  19. By Spurred1 on Apr 19, 2008 at 10:17:22 pm

    I’ve seen a lot of angry posts calling for Avery’s head. I didn’t see the game, but took a look at the box score. Here’s just a few points I’d like to make:
    1. Dirk wasn’t the problem. I keep hearing him being referred to as soft. He seemed to be the only guy scoring and rebounding out there for the Mavs. Should he have done more? Perhaps, but let’s take a look at his teammates-
    2. Josh Howard. He can’t score. Going what-4 of 16? That’s hideous. I’m sure there’s a team out there that will take him in the offseason.
    3. Dampier-Playing all that time and just collecting 4 points, boards, and fouls isn’t helping anyone at all. Mavs are stuck with him-bad contract.
    4. Terry should have played more minutes. He did a terrific job against the Hornets a few days ago.
    5. Avery has to end his affair with Stack. It is contributing nothing to the team. He’s injured too much for my liking.
    6. The bench overall sucks. Either too old or inexperienced.
    7. So if Avery goes, (fine by me) who comes in to replace him? The excellent coaches already have jobs. I know Larry Brown’s available, but is he right for this squad?
    8. In conclusion, Dirk could have done more, but his teammates could have at least done something. Dirk and Kidd seem like they were the only active ones out there. Gut this team and start over. What do you think?

  20. By ndnballer on Apr 19, 2008 at 10:18:53 pm

    “MC” dirk had a good game. It was the other guys who sucked. The offense should still be ran through dirk, he is still “the man.”

    However, if the offense wasnt ran through dirk, who else could do it? We saw how well howard handled the pressure, turning it over from 24 second shot clock violations. Jason kidd cant make a shot, so it cant be him. Terry is too streaky to decide.

  21. By georgia on Apr 19, 2008 at 11:51:28 pm

    we’re done

    that was the worst game I’ve ever seen them play……first quarter, they did good, I had such hope, then comes Avery’s subs in….downhill from there. He has no clue what he’s doing. I saw a mean fire in dirk’s eye tonight that I’ve never seen before….just exhaustion I guess, but I was half expecting to see him rare back and deck somebody…..almost wish it had been avery…he deserved it.

  22. By camaro32 aka "NoHeart" on Apr 20, 2008 at 12:41:45 am

    I’m still just in shock that we didn’t try to trap and quickly double CP3 more in the second half. It’s like Avery just doesn’t like it when things go right or maybe he looks for extra little challenges in the game, like seeing if his 34 year old point guard can solely defend a much younger and quicker CP3. Avery gave this game away, maybe a part of the NBA Cares program for New Orleans, or maybe just cause Avery was concerned that people were beginning to think he’s not an idiot after a descent finish to the regular season.

    Ridiculous.

    Spurred1- there are quite a few good coaches available still. Van Gundy, Carlisle, Larry Brown, and heck even Del Harris would be better and he knows the team. Now that we gave up draft picks for Kidd and all our legit salary cap money on Dampier, I don’t know how we’re gonna get younger role players off the bench…I blame that on Cuban actually (not Avery). Everything else goes to Avery though.

  23. By PininFarina456 on Apr 20, 2008 at 2:08:41 am

    Todays game was simply unbelievable. Its another typical AJ choke job. We have a commanding lead of 12 points then boom, AJ changes his style from 1st half to 2nd half and NO win.

    Can someone please explain to me why AJ didn’t do the following, when this is how the mavs won on Wednesday:
    1. Meeting CP at half court with a double team. IIRC, I only saw this once or twice today, where on wednesday he did much more.
    2. In the 2nd half, why wasn’t Bass part of the offense? Where were the same plays we saw for Bass in the 1st half and on wednesday?
    3. What happened to Kidd taking CP in the post as he did on wednesday, then dishing the ball back out?

    I mean how stupid can AJ be? After all these things worked on wednesday, why abandon them?

    Stack had a horrible game, I don’t get why AJ can’t tell his players if your shot isn’t falling, attach the basket! Is it that difficult? Dirk has learned that more than anyone else on this team, and I give him props for that.

    Cuban, your payroll is through the roof and you still don’t have a chamipionship. Fire this clown of a coach you have and get someone who can take all this talent to the next level!

    There is absolutely no reason that a team with this much talent is not competitive enough with the top teams in the west as a minimum!!

    ok, rant over, good night fellas

  24. By mrtwister on Apr 20, 2008 at 4:28:38 am

    I said it the other day and I’ll say it again.

    Avery will not do the things that worked the other day because NO are expecting it. Trapping CP at the half, Kidd in the post, dynamic offense that attacks the rim.

    Why do those things this game when they are expecting it to happen because that’s how they won the other day.

    AJ is a JOKE. This is what he did last year. “I know. I’ll start different people at the start of a Playoff series because that will f*&k with their heads. I’m so sneaky.” Seriously, what a moron.

    Hey Avery, use your latest book sales profit (if there is any) and buy yourself a clue. If you still can’t afford one, write a book called, “How to turn a program around - the Avery Johnson way” because I and another 2 million people would love to know how the hell you managed to take such a talented unit of players and turn them into S.H.I.T.

    Please, go back to what works.

  25. By bentono360 on Apr 20, 2008 at 7:33:38 am

    This is a disgrace.

    I am so freaking tired of watching Avery refuse to make adjustments down the stretch and leave crap players on the floor when the Hornets made a run. If Avery continues to not make adjustments (just like last year’s first round series and the Finals) then we will lose this series.

    And why is Juwan Howard in the game? You suck Avery.

  26. By maverick on Apr 20, 2008 at 7:59:50 am

    Fire Avery to save some Mavs’ face ! Ridiculous end to the first-half showdown…no adjustments made to counter the Hornets offensive(CP) - why keep Jo and Stackhouse for so long in the game when they’ve an awful night (with Terry & other players in bench out).
    After entire season, AVery still hasn’t figured out that Jo is a first-half player and he is a liability in the second-half offensively so why not put some bench players like Jet, Bass instead of Jo and Stackhouse. Also it is undoubtedfully known that Jet plays better when he starts than coming from bench and Stackhouse is still not found his rhythm coming back to have played so long yes’day - why no changes at all being made - undoubtedly coach threw the game away in the 3rd quarter.

    Dirk and Kidd did their job but everyone else sucked ! Failure attributes to Avery, Josh and Stackhouse for pulling this team down for a sure win !!!

  27. By mike on Apr 20, 2008 at 9:22:33 am

    When Dirk and Kidd were on the bench, this team looked completely lost in that second half… just completely lost. No championship-caliber team ever looks lost on the road. I’m disappointed in the Mavs after that letdown… we should be up 1-0.

  28. By mike on Apr 20, 2008 at 9:23:39 am

    And Juwan Howard is in there to rebound and be a low post presence. I swear, some of you just have it in for him… what’d he do to your families? :|

  29. By georgia on Apr 20, 2008 at 9:52:18 am

    THEN WHY DOESN’T Juan Howard rebound? and DO SOMETHING productive?? He’s just dead wood clogging up the middle while the opponent runs circles around him. When Avery puts this old man in we start losing our lead…EVERY TIME!!!! go back and watch the films, you can bet money on it!!! He just stands there, turning in circles, like if he ever does get the ball…..he plays hot potato with it…omg, who can I give it to. WELL, JuHo…whatever you do…don’t do anything that will help us win…just act natural. A fine example of what YOU said…this team looks completely lost! JuHo is that man, along with a few other old scrubs that we don’t even need on this team if we EVER have hopes of winning again. This all just totally escapes me, how Avery thinks playing these people is going to get us a win. When this little spree is over, you can more than likely expect big changes with the Dallas Mavs. Nothing else is going to help. I just hope Avery Johnson being gone is the first thing to happen. If not….more of the same. He’s too pridefull to ever admit that he didn’t play it right.

    so much for that.

  30. By Richard on Apr 20, 2008 at 11:05:52 am

    Juwan Howard, Eddie Jones should only see playing time if we’re up 30 or down 30 with 2 minutes to go in the game. Dirk, Kidd, Damp, JHO, Stack, Bass, Terry, and George are the only ones who should be playing right now. The reason games are every 3 days is so the superstars can play 40+ minutes. I think Avery knows if they go down in 6 or less that he is gone.

  31. By "Five-O" on Apr 20, 2008 at 11:21:44 am

    Richard is exactly right. Juwan Howard and Eddie Jones should never ever see the floor. The sniff test for this is simple: Will these guys be NBA players next year? The answer is clearly NO. So, why should they be getting playing time during a critical playoff game? It makes absolutely no sense.

    Bass is clearly playing with something to prove. Why not try and ride that a bit? This has been covered ad nauseam on this site but the lineups are terrible. There is no consistency and it is killing us.

    JET needs more minutes. New Orleans game planned for Jet but you don’t need a game plan for a guy if he is on the bench most of the game. Did they do any game planning for Stack? Not a chance. This is why Jet needs to be out there more than Stack.

  32. By mike on Apr 20, 2008 at 11:59:05 am

    I wasn’t just talking about Juwan, Richard… I’m talking about Erick Dampier, Devean George, Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry, and Josh Howard. They looked like D-Leaguers for several stretches of that second half.

  33. By selke99 on Apr 20, 2008 at 12:36:46 pm

    Greg, if you are going to run a website that is calling for the firing of the Mavs head coach, you need to get your facts right.

    You state that Kidd went out late in the 3rd. Kidd played the WHOLE 3rd qtr and 2:38 into the 4th. You state NO started the 4th with a 15-2 run. It was a 10-2 run. You insinuate that Dirk should not have come out near the beginning of the 4th qtr. Dirk had also played the ENTIRE 3rd qtr in addition to 1:34 of the 4th before being rested for 1:04 (not the almost 2 min you stated). When Dirk went out, they were down to 2. When he came back in (probably sooner than Avery wanted), they were down by 6 and had not scored, a four pt difference. I don’t call that much of a “run,” like you stated. When do you suggest Dirk rest? He is technically not 100%.

    You also criticize Avery putting out “the entire second unit on the floor at the same time” of Bass, JET, both Howards, and Jones. First, JoHoward is a starter, and I consider JET a starter even though Stack started (I had posted here before that it was a mistake to start Stack over JET. Stack is effective in limited min. coming off the bench. Too injury prone and has played spot minutes to end the season. JET improved with Kidd in starting lineup in Stack’s absence. Why change a good thing?)

    While I do agree with you it is idiotic when Avery insists on playing 5 guys at the same time that don’t start, I don’t see what the problem is with playing JoHoward, Terry, Bass, or Jones at the same time. The problem is we signed Lue to be the backup to Kidd, yet he doesn’t play one seoond. He has shown he can provide offense, however, Avery insists on letting Terry play the point, even though he has average-at-best ball handling skills and cannot create shots for himself or others. The other problem is Juwan Howard. We also signed Magliore to backup Damp. I find it hard to believe Juwan Howard is outperforming Magliore in practice that he cannot even get on the court.

    My point is not to call you out or anything. I’m not on the fire Avery bandwagon that a lot of people are yet (talk to me again after this series!), but if you’re going to be recognized by espn, DMN.com and dallasbasketball.com and the like, you need to be relied upon with getting the facts right. I think too much empasis was made on substitutions when the real problem were the Mavs total collapse in the 2nd half (lack of offense, lack of defensive strategy, lack of effort on boards), something we’ve seen far too often, which can be attributed to coaching.

    Thanks.

  34. By KeepingItReal on Apr 20, 2008 at 1:03:03 pm

    The game ended the minute that Juwan Howard stepped into the court. This is the playoffs, man. Give the starters as much minutes as you can.

  35. By Greg on Apr 20, 2008 at 1:03:43 pm

    Yeah, that’s my bad on the Kidd thing, I don’t know who I was looking at there. Thanks, it’s been removed.

    The 4th quarter of a close game isn’t the time to rest Dirk. That time came and went in the games against Seattle and Portland. Instead of limiting Dirk’s minutes to around 20 - 25 in those games he played 40. Chris Paul didn’t rest get a break in the 2nd half, so why should the Mavs best player?

    There absolutely was a 15-2 run in the 4th. After Dirk made the first basket in the 4th it was 76-74. Eight minutes later it was 91-76. So yeah, the run didn’t start at the very beginning of the 4th, but there was still a 15-2 run. And if you take it back into the end of the third it was a 17-4 run.

    Terry’s not starting, regardless of what you think. When you’re only playing 4 guys off the bench, if they are all in the game at the same time that’s the entire second unit to me.

  36. By Richard on Apr 20, 2008 at 1:41:26 pm

    Well Mike some of the Hornets looked like D-Leaguers for much of the first half. The point i’m trying to make is that you only go with your horses in the playoffs. No matter how bad they play it will be better than anything Howard or Jones give you. You didn’t see the Suns or Spurs go way down on their bench and ask people who have not contributed all year to do so in a playoff game. The timing of those two going in as well was horrible. We just came out and made a statement in the first quarter and then we come out with two guys five years past their prime and immediately the Hornets get back into it. I don’t have anything against Howard or Jones other than the fact that are deep bench players who don’t need to see critical playing time.

  37. By camaro32 on Apr 20, 2008 at 2:12:46 pm

    I think Avery is just a fan of the superstars, especially now that he has a courtside seat to the action. I mean, it’s not typical for CP3 to get close to quadruple doubles and for Kobe to pour in 50-60, but it’s a guarantee they’ll do these things against the Mavs. I think Avery just loves the game, and wants to enjoy the great players. It’s kinda like when celebrities all come out to watch Lebron, Kobe and Chris Paul. They don’t wanna see a bad game by these guys. Neither does Avery. It’s no fun when a superstar is contained. This is why teams like the Spurs and Celtics aren’t any fun to watch for guys like Avery. It’s cause their coaches do a good job of stopping the best players on the other team with defensive schemes, but I’m with Avery on this…where’s the fun in that, especially when you have courtside seats to an NBA game?

    Avery, if you’re reading this, you are the man. I hope you really enjoyed Chris Paul’s performance in the 2nd half yesterday, especially since you messed up and ruined his first half stats with your coaching. I hope you enjoyed the show after you realized how you could get CP3 his rightful highlights though.

  38. By WyldMavsFan on Apr 20, 2008 at 2:49:22 pm

    The coaching in that game made me sick. It’s amazing how many people see what Avery is doing wrong yet he doesn’t seem to get and he never will. The substitutions are a JOKE. Your best player against them all year, JET, doesn’t even get into the game until 4 min left in the 1st quarter, and then he out there will the entire 2nd team, so of course they are going to double team him, they just let Juwan Howard’s man double and NO is fine.

    The last game of the regular season Kidd and Jet both played great, they are really starting to click together, and yet I didn’t see them out there together very much. Avery did the same thing he did against GS. How does Avery not even get the starting lineup correct. You have all year to figure it out, and yet he didn’t think JET should start.

    Devean George is one of our best D players, and yet when he is in the game, he was guarding Hilton Armstrong. If he is going to play, he needs to guard West, or Peja, he does us no good being on the court if he isn’t going to guard one of their best players.

    Avery needed to see that Josh Howard and Stack weren’t playing well in the 2nd half and make a change, he waited WAY WAY WAY long before doing that.

    We need to push the ball the entire game. Why do we only push the ball and press the tempo on the 1st half and do Isos in the 2nd half?

    Jet needs to start game 2, and I will be at NO with my Fire Avery shirt on just in case.

  39. By mavsfan on Apr 20, 2008 at 6:01:39 pm

    i agree with alot of you, it seems like a repeat of the golden state series…. FIRE AVERY!!!!!!

  40. By mffl on Apr 20, 2008 at 7:28:03 pm

    lets see if the mavs can use the momentum from this loss in their next game

  41. By Ronald on Apr 20, 2008 at 10:47:08 pm

    Don’t worry guys AJ has a plan for everything… see a page from his playbook for Game 2:

    ” Game 2 Gameplan

    Play 1: Have Kidd slowly bring the ball up and isolate J-Howard at the top of the key and have him take a contested shot…

    Play 2: Repeat play Above…

    Play 3: Repeat play Above…

    Play 4: If ever (Gof forbid) Josh starts making his shots, take him out immediatly and bring in Juwan Howard to take the shots then repeat genius plays above… ”

    At this point, given that it’s obvious that we’re going to lose this series, I wonder if it wouldn’t be a good thing for us to get swept… maybe that’ll make Cuban wake up and fire Avery.

  42. By Spurred1 on Apr 21, 2008 at 12:07:57 am

    Okay, so Avery gets fired. Who do you want to see come in to replace him? Realistically, I mean. Put down your candidate and why you think he’d be the one.

  43. By camaro32 on Apr 21, 2008 at 1:06:10 am

    Rick Carlisle- better than Avery
    Del Harris- better than Avery; knows the team already

    Jeff Van Gundy- better than Avery
    Larry Brown- better than Avery

    Honestly, even a good high school basketball coach (girls or guys) would be better than Avery. This guy is an idiot. Who here honestly thinks Avery is intelligent? I mean, yeah he might have a lot of fire, but the team seems like they don’t really respond to that and so it comes down to his use of X’s and O’s, and he just can’t do it. He’s just not intelligent enough to foresee situations that can occur and adjust to them. I’m not saying that he needs to be the smarted guy in the world, but a head coach has to be able to play the chess aspect of the game too, and not just be a good cheerleader. Avery can’t even spell chess.

    I’m disgusted.

  44. By camaro32 on Apr 21, 2008 at 1:07:23 am

    …and I can’t spell “smartest”.

    That’s a product of my anger, and not my spelling ability.

  45. By John on Apr 21, 2008 at 9:47:27 am

    This game was lost back when the Mavs made the horrific trade to get Jason Kidd. One can only dream of the difference Devin Harris and Diop would have made in this game. Jason Kidd as usual was pathetic. It is amazing how he can hide when you really need him.

  46. By vic wightman on Apr 21, 2008 at 12:34:01 pm

    Let Avery play George in The Jefferson’s movie…as for X’ and O’s I think he plays Tic tac toe with Juwan Howard during half time. Someone should tell him that’s fot drawing up plays and get him a gameboy.

  47. By vic wightman on Apr 21, 2008 at 12:39:30 pm

    This is the worst mistake the Mav’s ever made. We got rid of Kidd because he was a malcontent. and we bring him back as a misfit. Does anyone remember him not passing the ball to Jackson cause Tony Braxton rode home with him instead of Kidd. I hope Devan is an All Star point Gaurd for years to come and still wear his jersey.

  48. By KeepingItReal on Apr 21, 2008 at 2:21:08 pm

    This team is capable of winning as it is so I don’t understand why y’all are still bringing up the trade. Its done. Get over it. Two things need to happen for the Mavs to win this series.

    1.Avery just needs to make smarter coaching decisions. Starters need to get tons of minutes and they only need to sub players in case of foul trouble or fatigue. And please, sub in guys who are actually gonna be a factor on the court. No more experimenting with Juwan.

    2. Kidd needs to score points. I’m tired of watching him drive to the hoop then dish off the ball. It also seems like the only time he takes an open shot is when the shot clock is running out.

  49. By mike on Apr 21, 2008 at 2:48:36 pm

    Kidd haters; get a life. I guess he’s just one of three players with 100 triple-doubles by accident, right?

    And Avery… Chris Paul just might be the focus of the Hornets offense tomorrow night. Just a hunch…

  50. By Dirk Nowitzki on Apr 21, 2008 at 2:57:03 pm

    Hey guys,
    I finally decided to write here…

    AVERY IS THE BEST MAN, HE IS GREAT, HE MUST STAY OR I WILL ASK TO BE TRADED MAN

    ;(

    Really, thats it he is just great as I said, guys.

  51. By Avery Jhonson on Apr 21, 2008 at 3:29:31 pm

    hey all you haters, you try bringing a team who made it all they way to the finals and then ruining them to become a seventh seed and losing a first game to the hornets..its hard. so respect me

  52. By JTA on Apr 21, 2008 at 3:45:21 pm

    Leave Avery alone. Go Hornets GO, Beat the Mavs! Hornets and Saints Fan!

  53. By Ronald on Apr 21, 2008 at 4:14:32 pm

    I totally agree with “Keeping it real” above… The trade happened so let’s just get over it, I wasn’t a big fan of the move either but let’s just move on and no need to keep dwelling on it… Plus you can’t tell me that Jason Kidd is such a let down from Harris that we couldn’t find a way to beat a team above .500 to save our lives for a stretch that lasted I don’t know how many months…
    It’s not because of the trade that the team finishes a quarter with a lead and starts the following quarter with a completely different group than the one that built the lead… It’s because of AJ’s stupid decisions that only make sense to him.
    It’s also not because of the trade that EVERY SINGLE play we run down the stretch looks exactly like the play before and AJ is surprised that the result is the same… They say that one of the definitions of insanity is “doing the exact same thing over and over expecting a different outcome each time”…
    I would actually say that it would be so much better for all of us if AJ would just shut up and let Kidd decide what to run in those situations… he certainly has a higher basketball IQ than Avery… The Mavs have enough talent to compete with the best of them but unfortunately our biggest weakness is our coach…

  54. By Bruck on Apr 21, 2008 at 6:55:38 pm

    Let’s take a deep breath. I have watched Jason Kidd since high school, College, Dallas, PHX, NJN and now at Dallas. The guy is executing what is given to him by his coach. To blame Jkidd for game one is ludicrous. Besides, he did not played bad. In the NJ days every play goes through Kidd unless he differ it to Carter. What I see here is that some of the Dallas guys are becoming jump shot happy. Again, Jason is a guy who leads by example, he is not MJ type of leader, he doesn’t yell at them during the game (you can call it that his weakness or strength). But, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about winning.

    Be patient — Dallas will win this series because of Kidd.

    As I said, I watched this guy for 18 years. And now Dallas is my team and we have a chance to go deep.

    Cheers,

    Bruck (Cal guy)

  55. By Aubrey on Apr 21, 2008 at 7:22:26 pm

    100 hundred triple doubles and no championship….i want to know why the heck we spent so much money on a guy who supposedly closes games….yet at the end of big games he’s a magician b/c he disappears. Its ridiculous i dont care how many triple doubles he gets or how good his stats are for any game bc if he is there at the end he is worthless. We don’t need players who play two or three quarters they have to play all 4. Chris Paul made Kidd look slow and ridiculous, if you ask me Paul should be MVP. 36 year old point guard past his prime gave up young players, no drift picks, no money=future gone, and no ring we are worse off then Miami at least they got their ring!!!

  56. By Spurred1 on Apr 21, 2008 at 7:41:51 pm

    There is nothing that can be done about the trade. You need to try to accept it and move on. Bemoaning about it isn’t going to reverse it-I understand why you’re upset, but Kidd’s here and the damage has been done.
    Kidd wasn’t the main problem anyway. There was very little input from Howard and Terry. Dirk did his part, but Kidd and Dirk seemed to be the only two Mavs playing. I’m not sure why the other players are even there anymore. I really hope that Avery has got some sort of plan in place besides isos. They don’t work. I wonder who he’ll blame if we lose game 2.

  57. By Richard on Apr 21, 2008 at 10:30:15 pm

    Will everyone please stop bagging on Kidd. Realize that Devin Harris missed 18 games this year to Kidd’s two. Most of those were around the time he was traded. If we kept Devin Harris there was no guarantee that we even make the playoffs.

    I bet Aubrey from above wasn’t saying Kidd was too slow and old in the last game of the season.

  58. By vic wightman on Apr 22, 2008 at 12:20:34 am

    Kidd sucks balls and so does Avery. He isn’t even a has been, he is a never was. Without Del he is shown to be the poser he really is.He has blamed everyone but himself for this teams shortcomings. He even wanted to trade Dirk…Duh!!!
    Harris never was allowed to grow because he got benched every time he made a mistake. Bj benga got cut to keep Juwan Howard, ya think we could use him now? Or better yet traded him instead of Jopp.
    I can hear George now, Weezy have Florence bring me the chalkboard so Juwan and I can play tic tac toe.Can’t trade Juwan cause he lets me win!!!

  59. By Aubrey on Apr 22, 2008 at 10:12:18 am

    Actually Richard one good game from Kidd out of all the bad ones doesnt change my opinion of him…and glad he had that game in the last game of the season instead of the first game of the playoffs!!! And i agree why the heck is Juan Howard back on our team. Richard honestly one good game from Kidd and u really think thats enought to win someone over I dont think so….I’d take Harris even if he misses 18 games anyday over Kidd. We threw away our future and we arent getting a ring seems a little ridiculous to me!!!

  60. By Ronald on Apr 22, 2008 at 11:13:06 am

    Guys… let’s all agree on a few things here… I don’t think any of us was really excited about that trade, especially if we look at what we had to give up to bring Kidd in… Ok?? However, let’s also agree that the Mavs’ biggest problem right now is not Kidd…
    If anything, he has shown a few times that he can actually make it easier for a few people like Damp to score points… how do you want him to be effective if all we run is an isolation play that ends up in an awful shot by Howard… Damp himself could be the point guard if that’s what our plays consist of…
    As far as him looking bad against CP, you’re right, he looked awful, but then again no one in this league has been able to contain Paul throughout the regular season… it’s up to Avery to adjust his defense and make sure Kidd gets help to be able to contain Paul…

  61. By Richard on Apr 22, 2008 at 1:47:40 pm

    Aubrey, he has had several good games since the trade. Kidd is not the problem and never will be the problem. The problem is the offense is too predictable and not enough creativity goes into it. Avery ran a lot of isolation sets when he was successful with San Antonio. The problem with that is it isn’t hard to be successful with two Hall of Fame 7-footers in the lineup with you (Duncan & Robinson). J.J. Barea can run an offense with Duncan and Robinson in it.

  62. By Aubrey on Apr 22, 2008 at 4:37:33 pm

    Several good games man i must have missed those cuz he’s looked pathetic all year in New Jersey and in Dallas…and yes Kidd is one of the main problems. He can’t run a half court offense, he can run and gun but thats it…so why the heck did we get a pg that cant do that…that part i blame on Avery. Kidd shouldnt be here he’s old and slow, and too much money.

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