A very good case against Avery

April 30th, 2008 Posted in Avery Johnson

DallasBasketball.com has a great article up about all of Avery’s failures as a people person. It’s a good, and somewhat infuriating, read and really gives you an insight into the way Avery has been running the team. Here’s a small snippet about how Avery became a “Stack guy”.

Avery’s choice of which players would be his “pets’’ and which would be in his “doghouse’’ was once thought to be the result of his knowledge of psychology. We now believe it was more about which players stood up to the coach’s screaming and which did not. The feisty Jerry Stackhouse made it clear more than two years ago that he would not; we are told Stack was inches away from a physical altercation with the badgering coach before he was pulled away by teammates. And the next thing you know, Avery is a “Stack guy.’’ (And yes, Mavs fans, that is the genesis of Avery’s BrokeStack Mountain love for his veteran.) Avery and Stack are respectful friends. But Stack not taking Avery’s crap is part of how they got that way.

That article alone should be enough to show anyone why Avery has to go. He’s lost this team and that’s a hard thing to get back.

Also coming out this morning is the real reason Avery cancelled practice Monday. Apparently he was upset that Josh Howard held his birthday party Sunday night and that a few of the players attended. Should Howard have held the party after such a bad loss Sunday night? That’s debatable.  But being pissy about a couple of your men, as Avery would put it, is no reason at all to cancel practice the day before an elimination game.

At this point if anyone cannot see why Avery has to go I don’t think there’s anything that would convince you. Hopefully Cuban is not in that group.


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  1. 39 Responses to “A very good case against Avery”

  2. By Janet on Apr 30, 2008 at 6:55:05 am

    Honestly, everyone knows Avery’s got to go at this point. I don’t even think he’s a bad coach, he just isn’t reaching this team. There are too many bruises from their run with him. He demands too much control and I doubt any of his players feel like he trusts them or that they can trust him.

    I am a Heat fan (please don’t hate) and I thought about having Avery as our coach (since Pat-I’m coaching-no I’m not-Riley stepped down and I would NEVER go there. We’re bad enough as is.

    So I guess you guys at FireAvery.com are right. Its hard to defend 3 - 12 anyway. Oh yeah….

    I am sorry to all the Dallas fans out there…I picked you guys as my sleeper team.

  3. By Jayvee on Apr 30, 2008 at 6:57:19 am

    HEEEEEEEEEEEEY!

    Didn’t ya heard the news? Avery got FIRED!

  4. By Jon B on Apr 30, 2008 at 8:23:37 am

    There should be a website called hirejeffvangundy.com! He could be our next Nelly!

  5. By andrew on Apr 30, 2008 at 9:18:35 am

    didn’t know there was a http://www.fireavery.com out there!

    i’m more interested in the http://www.firegeorgekarl.com version but this one does fine. would you want to swap coaches? i’d take avery anyday of the week over george karl

  6. By T on Apr 30, 2008 at 9:35:09 am

    Time to dump salary. Dallas could try to trade Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Damp to the Knicks for Marbury, Malik Rose, and Nate Robinson. Those contracts are off the books after next season along with Kidd. (works in trade checker)

    Bring in D’Antoni if Suns fire him so at least we would have fun regular season games to watch during the rebuilding process.

  7. By T on Apr 30, 2008 at 9:47:49 am

    Another possible trade for salary dump and youth with Portland–Dirk and Stack for Oden, Outlaw and Webster with Lafrentz. I don’t even know if Portland would consider. I am not sure what Dirk’s value would be.

  8. By David on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:16:16 am

    Don’t know about you, but this Stackhouse quote sounds like a damn eulogy to me.

    “We’ll wait and see what the boss [wants to] do. No matter what happens or what changes are made, it’s been a great situation for me the last four years. It’s been a great situation for Avery for the last four years, [for Jason Terry] coming out of Atlanta. For the last four years, it’s been a great situation for everybody that’s involved. So if this is the end or whatever, you can’t do nothing but say we had our chance. Had our opportunity.”

  9. By homelezZ on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:17:08 am

    Hey guys. Oh, big gulps huh? All right! Well, see ya later.

  10. By Dude, Wheres my shot? on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:43:55 am

    Well Josh Howard will be glad its the off season now so he can do what he does best, smoking the wacky weed and fry some more brain cells. Don’t forget it does not affect his game or judgement at all.

  11. By mike on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:47:36 am

    If Jeff Van Gundy or George Karl coach the Mavericks next season, I’m done watching this team. I might tune in to see how Dirk, J-Kidd, and Bass are doing, but I’m rooting for Rick Carlisle to come to Dallas. Some of you don’t like that, but how many championships have Van Gundy and Karl won? Exactly the same amount that Carlisle has, but he happens to be the best coach among the three(look at how he turned around that sorry Pacers team and coached those veterans in Detroit). I think he’s the best fit for this particular Mavs team(plus Shawn Marion?!?) :D

  12. By mike on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:50:54 am

    Forgot to mention Mike D’Antoni.. i’d rather shoot myself than watch that man coach our team and get outcoached by Gregg Popovich again.

    Note to pot smokers, Dirk is not going anywhere. What an idiotic thing to even suggest.

  13. By Dude, Wheres my shot? on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:00:12 am

    We don’t have anything Miami would want for Marion that fits salary wise other than Dirk. Why would Miami take Josh Howard and salary filler when Marion’s contract expires next season and Howard is less talented with a longer contract?

  14. By Cubes on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:02:02 am

    Put your crack pipe down. This team is coming back 100% intact.

  15. By T on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:11:05 am

    The best coach for the team is in the office…Donnie Nelson. He has potential but I am not sure about the desire to coach. His coaching style is not just a carbon copy of his dads.

  16. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:38:53 am

    I’m waiting to hear Avery’s excuses on Norm’s show. I’m sure it will be his usual the team didn’t shoot well,or play solid enough defense, and act like he still deserves to be the coach here.
    Why can’t he man up and say I was outcoached by a better gameplan? His ego has swallowed this teams identity, and it’s desire to win.
    Let Marc Cuban buy a magic eight-ball to coach the team and it would win more games than with George Jefferson jr. I can see it now the players running to the sideline to ask a question and shaking the magic eight-ball for the answer…has to be better than what we have now.

  17. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:46:46 am

    Hey Avery backed out of going on with Norm,this morning…not surprised. But Let’s all stop the hating here and realize firing Avery isn’t the answer. He is just like any of us struggling to hang on to his job in a whirlwind.
    Avery has a solid future with this club and I am sure Marc Cuban will keep him on as a parking attendant or janitor or something.HMMM, a janitor might prove to be too difficult for him, but he could hand out towels in the executive washroom, or sell beer or something. Come on Yall show him some LOVE!!1

  18. By mike on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:51:41 am

    Shawn Marion can opt out of his contract this offseason, Dude.

  19. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:53:43 am

    Has anyone noticed that Avery has never been ejected from a game that I know of. Do you think he is like the guy who is afraid to call in sick because someone else might actually do his job better. Nelson used to get himself ejected all the time to motivate the team on an off night. Avery seems to thinks the team can’t play without him, or would do so much better that Cuban might finally get a clue and unload the lil corporal!

  20. By German Mavs Fan on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:05:40 pm

    To be honestly:
    Avery just expects some respect from his team. And when the team prefers to celebrate a birthday than to work to win this series, than it´s not the fault of the coach, it´s the fault of the team.

  21. By steven on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:05:44 pm

    i disagree with your opinion on avery canceling practice. if you were the head coach of a $100M franchise, with your job on the line, and your number 2 guy has 4 awful *playoff* games and decides to go out and party all night after an inexcusable loss, what would you do?

    this year’s meltdown can’t be entirely attributed to avery. i’m not putting it all on josh, but his 20 point per game, rebounding, and defense were much needed this series. where was the emotional player who sliced through the spurs gritty defense in 06 ripping down monster dunks and screaming his way back down court? i guess he can be fat and lazy now that he has his contract …

  22. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:06:03 pm

    With all this talk of who Avery’s replacement might be has anyone thought that Bobby Knight’s sudden retirement might not be just a coincedence? Cuban is an Indianna guy and a big supporter of Knight’s.
    Wow would that light a fire under the Maverick’s? Remember you heard it here first!

  23. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:23:46 pm

    vic wightman,

    Everyone talks about General Avery and how tight his control is, Knight is worst. He even throws chairs and punches at players who don’t do what he says. ;)

    There’s a better chance I’d win the lottery, buy the Mavericks with my new millions before Knight became head coach for them.

  24. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:28:41 pm

    I think that the players would respect Knight and listen to him in the huddle because he might actually have something to say.
    Who would you rather have in the playoffs diagramming a play in the huddle, Bobby Knight or Avery Johnson?

  25. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:45:20 pm

    If Avery had thrown a chair, or learned to diagram a play maybe the players wouldn’t have tuned him out early this season. But they lost all confidence in him as a coach after Pat Riley and Don Nelson coached his shorts off. Plus he made the same mistake this year as he did last season. Last year he rested his players against Golden State when we had trouble beating them all year and fired them up for the series.
    This year after beating New Orleans he made the comments that they were a favorable match-up for this team and lit another fire that the team couldn’t put out. Big mouth,big ego, little brain syndrome. Byron Scott took Avery to school again. We have gotten worse every year with the team carrying Avery’s ego on their back. If he comes back look for Dirk to ask to be traded.I hear everyone on Cuban’s back over the disasterous Kidd trade, but it was Avery whom initiated it by suggesting Dirk wasn’t the on the floor leader who could take this team to the next level,nor was Devin. Devin and Marquis Daniel were smothered by Avery’s inability to develop young talent…and Joip and B J Benga same deal.

  26. By Greg on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:46:25 pm

    There is zero chance of Knight coming here. Period, end of story.

  27. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:48:35 pm

    Greg why do you say that?

  28. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:04:44 pm

    espn” Marc Stien has just reported Avery is out as Maverick’s head coach!!!! Ding Dong the witch is dead!!

  29. By Dude, Wheres my shot? on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:13:38 pm

    Mavs are over the salary cap so if Marion opts out why would he sign here for the exception? So he can play for Avery? So he can play for a title? I seriously doubt that.

  30. By ric rules on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:14:30 pm

    Well it happened. I dont agree with it, but now that it is done, im definitley on the franchise side of things. For those of you yapping about Dirk, and his value, you sound like fools. First of all Dirk has as much value as anyother MVP caliber player. Howard,Terry, Kidd, lets remember guys the other teams out there are not putting as much stock in the breakdown these players had as we are. The other teams coaches and player developers, are looking at our guys thinking “oh what we could turn them into”. So we have plenty of value. If dirk is someone they want to deal, because it gives us the opportunity to be competitive next season so be it. But i doubt that is going to be the case. We need to bring in a scorer of Dirks caliber, and let Dirk move to small forward. The obvious choice seems to be Elton Brand. Arenas if he opts out would be a dream team situation for us. But in my opinion its Howard, and Terry and maybe Kidd.

  31. By Dude, Wheres my shot? on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:16:27 pm

    As much as Avery has not been doing his job since Del Harris left…who else would really do much better with this old broken down cast?

  32. By ric rules on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:18:05 pm

    First of all to you morons who think you caused Avery to be fired, you are wrong. You think its funny to make your little “Ding Dong the witch is dead” comments? This is a man with a family that now has to look for another job. Show some respect you damn hicks. Second, we dont need some young unproven weakling to come in here. Dantoni? lets just see what happens to him in Pheonix before we start that junk. Rick Carlisle, would be my choice, but once agin not so sure we will be thrilled with his offensive scheme, judging by the way we treated Avery and his. So Cuban, be very cautious, and very wise in this next phase of the Mavericks attempt at a finals. And make no mistake Mavs fans, since The Great Cuban took over, that has been the ultimate goal, we will not rebuild this team in the fashion we are accustomed to seeing around the league. I can almost gaurantee we will be a contender before the start of the season.

  33. By Dude, Wheres my shot? on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:19:32 pm

    Mavs are over the cap so no chance of a big name free agent unless they want play for way under their market value.

  34. By ric rules on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:23:14 pm

    As for Avery, god bless him, and may he find success somewhere else, i just hope it doesnt come back to haunt us in the end. Because dont these choices always seem to do that? I will tell you something right now that is not being reported on this site or anyother that i have come across. The creator of this site, and many others continue to point at Avery’s lack of people skills, his inability to motivate, blah blah blah. Guys!! It is right there in fron of our faces, the apparent arguement that now we know clearly happened, what was the main issue reported in that situation? It was over Brandon Bass not getting playing time. Something even I as an Avery supporter was upset with. Well in last nights loss, what was the Elephant in the room? What i saw, was that Bass gave us a chance to tie the game in the last seconds. I saw a desperate coach put him in to start the second half, i saw Bass get the most minutes he has gotten, to little and to late. Well i think that points directly to Avery’s firing today. Cuban asked for the youngster to play more, Avery probably protected his turf, as any good coach would, and in the end Cuban was right. Sorry Avery, but lets remember guy, we all make mistakes in our individual arenas, and this was his. farewell, and lets welcome a fresh start, with respect and maturity.

  35. By ric rules on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:23:14 pm

    As for Avery, god bless him, and may he find success somewhere else, i just hope it doesnt come back to haunt us in the end. Because dont these choices always seem to do that? I will tell you something right now that is not being reported on this site or anyother that i have come across. The creator of this site, and many others continue to point at Avery’s lack of people skills, his inability to motivate, blah blah blah. Guys!! It is right there in fron of our faces, the apparent arguement that now we know clearly happened, what was the main issue reported in that situation? It was over Brandon Bass not getting playing time. Something even I as an Avery supporter was upset with. Well in last nights loss, what was the Elephant in the room? What i saw, was that Bass gave us a chance to tie the game in the last seconds. I saw a desperate coach put him in to start the second half, i saw Bass get the most minutes he has gotten, to little and to late. Well i think that points directly to Avery’s firing today. Cuban asked for the youngster to play more, Avery probably protected his turf, as any good coach would, and in the end Cuban was right. Sorry Avery, but lets remember guy, we all make mistakes in our individual arenas, and this was his. farewell, and lets welcome a fresh start, with respect and maturity.

  36. By Dude, Wheres my shot? on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:26:47 pm

    It will be interesting to see where Avery goes. I saw one rumor he might be going to Chicago.

  37. By T on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:31:29 pm

    I still vote for Donnie Nelson as the next head coach. He obviously has a good working relationship with Cuban. I don’t see anyone at this time coming in and doing any better.
    Coach Knight would be a failure. Pat Riley would not be a long term solution. Del Harris is up there in age also.

  38. By T on Apr 30, 2008 at 1:47:04 pm

    Its time to rebulid period. Next year Mavs own their draft pick and should not worry about playoffs next year. Dump salary now and look towards 2009 off season. Get some expiring contracts and youth for Terry, Damp, Stack, and Howard. Boozer has player option 2009. LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade, Chris Bosh have player options in 2010. This is where the Mavs need to aim for having salary cap room to sign a big name and surround by smart youthful athletic players. No more re treads on there last stand.

  39. By Jim C on Apr 30, 2008 at 9:34:47 pm

    One of the things that bothered me the most about Avery was that Jamaal Magloire remained in his doghouse. Was it because Magloire objected to playing in New Orleans when he went there with the Hornets? Avery being from New Orleans, he may have held a grudge about that. Lousiana home boy Brandon Bass saw a lot of playoff time. Magloire may also have excelled against his old team in the playoffs. I vote for Mike D’Antoni. At least the Mav’s will be fun to watch again.

  40. By mike on May 1, 2008 at 5:14:05 pm

    Yes, Shawn Marion would take less to play for a title. Do you really think he’d want to stay stuck in Miami? He could be the second scoring option behind Dirk, he’s capable of 8-10 rebounds a night, a few steals, and we’d have an actual defensive presence in the starting lineup.

    We’re over the cap right now, but if Cuban lets some of the holdovers(there’s a lot of them) walk, there’s room for Marion.

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