Who should be the next coach?

April 30th, 2008 Posted in Mavs Talk

Now that Avery’s gone it’s time to start looking for the next coach of the Mavericks.  The new poll on the right has a bunch of canidates listed.  Tim MacMahon has put together a quick preview of the bigger names that are out there.  Use this thread to discuss who you think the new coach should be.

I’m liking the idea of Rick Carlisile right now.  He had some good seasons with the Pistons and Pacers before Ron Artest turned into a moron and completely derailed the Pacers.  I just think it’s important to get someone new in here.  Someone that is in no way connected to Nellie, Avery or Cuban.  It’s time to completely flush out the old regime and bring in a brand new one.


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  1. 70 Responses to “Who should be the next coach?”

  2. By ihatekidd on Apr 30, 2008 at 2:46:20 pm

    bring Donnie back! he’ll bring back some of that offensive firepower

  3. By MAVSFAN on Apr 30, 2008 at 2:54:36 pm

    I AGREE…OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW! GO MAVS!!!!

  4. By MAVSFAN on Apr 30, 2008 at 2:55:54 pm

    SORRY…I’M AGREEING WITH THE ARTICLE POSTED…NOT WITH THE OTHER FAN’S COMMENT! MY BAD.

  5. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 2:56:52 pm

    MAVSFAN,

    Why are you yelling by typing in all CAPS?

  6. By Zd on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:02:01 pm

    Rick Carlisle, I think.

  7. By MAVSFAN on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:02:44 pm

    my bad ya’ll. i’m at work and i have to type in all caps. SORRY!

  8. By slowlift on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:06:26 pm

    Suns and Mavs should make the switch: D’Antoni would be a great fit in Dallas, transition b-ball with Kidd, and Avery could run the half court through Amare in Phx.

  9. By Spurred1 on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:07:53 pm

    Carlisle is a defensive minded guy, which is good. However, the players on this team are not defensive minded at all. So if Carlisle comes in, will Cuban trade Dirk for a more defensive minded guy? I mention Dirk because he is the only player of any value right now. Dirk should probably be traded to a contender and not stay on a team that needs to rebuild. Damp is horrifically awful-my four year old nephew is more competitive than him. Kidd doesn’t play defense anymore, so…

  10. By moneyball32 on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:20:56 pm

    Absolutely without a doubt it should be Dell Harris. It’s well known that Avery stopped listening to Dell’s inputs a while ago. The only reason he is still in Dallas is because Cuban refuses to let him leave. Dell Harris is a basketball genius and needs to lead this team. Mike D’Antoni should not be the new coach because we all know he runs a fast break offense and lives by the jump shot and doesn’t focus on defense. The Mavs repeatedly tried to score this way against the hornets and failed. If we new how to rebound and stop the 3-pointer, we might have won.

  11. By BL on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:24:43 pm

    Mavs, Suns, and Spurs will be aging in the off season. Hornets, Lakers, Portland, Utah, and Houston will all be improving. Lets blow this thing up before the mediocrity of next season beats us all down. If we keep Dirk and get lucky on a few trades maybe we can contend in 2011. Go Mavs

  12. By khris puckett on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:27:58 pm

    Go Avery!

  13. By BL on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:35:12 pm

    As far as the coach…I would sign whoever King James thinks would be a good fit (2010 free agent). One can dream.

  14. By chazbot on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:44:53 pm

    D’Antoni and then Del!
    Bring back a fast style of play. Supposedly Kidd was held back by Avery. Dirk can run it. Bass can run it. JET can run it. Hopefully Josh will be gone. Let’s see what a 180 does or else the Mavs will be sitting out of the playoffs.

  15. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:44:54 pm

    Lebron James is never going to win a title til he gets his Pippen. And he’s far from being a King, probably the worst nickname anyone could have. He’s also just a Jordan wannabe. I don’t blame the Wizards for playing tough ball against him, but Jordan never cried about getting fouled.

  16. By Gabe on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:59:47 pm

    Lebron James is better than anybody the Mavericks could ever hope to have. Hire Rick Carlisle! I changed my mind about Mark Jackson I don’t want a rookie coach.

  17. By detox the mavs on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:03:31 pm

    There are no great coaches available. Brown is taken. The mavs are going to have to settle with mediocracy. Dell Harris is horrble. Nellie no way, the mavs can’t play defense now! Paul westphaul or rick carlie. Not the best but they have both been deep in the playoffs. King James is a great nickname but he needs rings to be worthy. Being a king doesn’t make you the greatest (mj). You would love it if he was a mav! I would.

  18. By Richard on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:04:43 pm

    I think you have to look at the roster and realize that this has to be a running team. Kidd is best in that style as well as Howard. Josh will never be a half-court player and he had success under Nellie’s free flowing offense. This team is not built for a half-court game. If you consider all that then I think that Westphal is a good choice. He had some good Phoenix teams. None of the others seem appealing and there is no way Cuban hires a first time head coach again. I think that he has to go with prior head coaching experience.

    As for Avery, he took over one of the best situations three years ago. He won’t have near the success where ever else he goes. It will be good to see Avery struggle. It always seemed like Avery thought he could run the offense better than anyone. That always bugged me considering that Avery used to throw the ball to Duncan and Robinson. Avery would have been nothing without those two.

  19. By BL on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:04:44 pm

    a) is being a Jordan “wannabe” a bad thing?

    b) Wizards are playing “tough” ball against him because they can’t stop him any other way. (the constant hard fouls aren’t working either)

    c) Lebron is no Jordan. Neither is Kobe, Dirk, Dwayne, CPIII, or anyone else that will ever play basketball. Lets all quit making that comparison. It’s like telling the pope he’s no Jesus

  20. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:18:31 pm

    I wish people would also stop saying to bring Nellie back. It’s just not going to happen. Isn’t Nellie still trying to get 4 or 5 million out of Cuban he says he is owed?

  21. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:20:27 pm

    Richard,

    Wanting and wishing for anyone to fail or struggle no matter who they are is just kind of childish and immature. I wish Avery the best, where ever he goes and or does.

  22. By Avery's a bum on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:26:40 pm

    What was the relationship between Marion and D’antoni? Howard doesn’t want to play here and Marion might be available. It seems as if the major rift was between him and Amare, but regardless, the dude is gonna cost a lot of bread. I still would love to see the Mavs resign Diop and hopefully pick up Marion then bring in D’antoni and see what the hell happens. At the very least they would be an incredible team to watch.

  23. By MFFL on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:27:49 pm

    It doesn’t Matter. The Mavs will continue to be a disappointment and Cuban will end up selling this team.

  24. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:33:27 pm

    Why bring in D’Antoni? His style of play has also proven he can’t succeed beyond the playoffs, so we might as well have kept Avery if we wanted to continue faith in him rebuilding with Kidd in the off season.

  25. By Kante on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:36:44 pm

    Bring Nelson back!

  26. By BL on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:42:23 pm

    Mavericks can’t compete in the west with Kidd as their point guard. Period. Next year is strictly for positioning. If the mavs play their cards right they might actually be under the salary cap by the 09-10 season.

  27. By Avery's a bum on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:42:58 pm

    The only thing he can’t do is beat the Spurs which Avery was able to do, but only because of a ridiculously stupid foul by Manu. I don’t want to take anything away from Avery for that victory, but without Ginobli we wouldn’t have made it through. I personally just like the idea of D’antoni because of how much fun it would be to watch Kidd and Dirk with more freedom. I’m not saying it’s the best idea for a return trip to the Finals, but I also don’t believe the collection of talent amassed for this team would be able to make it back. We’ll see.

  28. By Arjuna on Apr 30, 2008 at 4:49:09 pm

    Cuban needs to sell the team and they need to relocate. Maybe Seattle, they could use a franchise. Look for Memphis to challange Dallas next season for the 4th spot in the Southwest.

    Here are your options…

    Rick Carlisle 40-42

    Paul Westpaul 34-48

    Rudy Tomjanavich 35-47

    Del Harris 35-47

    Jeff Van Gundy 42-40….. but would never work for Mark Cuban

    Pat Riley 28-54…. Is to stupid to leave Miami anyway

    Joe Prunty 28-54…. honestly know idea who he is (prob a mavs assistant) doesn’t matter wont be hired

    Mario Elie 42-40…. Best hire for the long term success of Dallas, but Cuban wants expierence now.

    Mike D’Antoni 38-44… Not gonna happen unless Nash comes back and Kidd is out then maybe your looking at 44-38. still a 9 seed at best.

    Donnie Nelson 32-50… Sorry your not your father

    Mark Cuban 18-64… The sh*t alreadt hit the fan, might as well play in it now.

  29. By BL on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:00:42 pm

    How about Jason Kidd as a player/coach. Then there will be no one else to blame when our POINT GUARD cant score POINTS and cant GUARD anyone. Worst trade ever. Not really but pretty close. J-Ho, pass that over here.

  30. By mike on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:06:40 pm

    Rick Carlisle, welcome to Dallas! He may be defensive minded, but that plays into Jason Kidd’s hands; more control of the offense. As for the defense… the coaching staff can do all they want, but the commitment needs to be there from the players as well. Brandon Bass is a great example of that.

  31. By chris on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:14:47 pm

    Drew,

    I don’t know where this stupid “MJ never complained” thing came from, but it’s completely false. Just google around and you’ll find plenty of stories, including a post game interview where he talked about how the Pistons were just trying to hurt him. EXACTLY what Lebron is saying now.

    Call him a whiner if you want, that’s fine… but you can NOT act like Jordan didn’t do the same exact thing.

  32. By dallasisoffensive on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:20:42 pm

    Mike D would be the best fit for Dallas. He coached a team that was awful at defense so therefor he would go right in with the Mavericks guys who can’t play defense. I think Avery tried to demand chemistry and cooperation, in the NBA guys have no reason to cooperate unless it is a contract year. Chemistry is a joke in a league that has become driven by one player on a team, not the team the player is on and his influence on them.

  33. By John on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:21:38 pm

    I love how 25% of voters would trade Avery for a coach who has the exact same problem: cannot deliver come playoff time with unprecedented talent. Pray D’Antoni doesn’t claw his way onto our bench.

  34. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:26:10 pm

    John,

    Couldn’t agree more and I’m beginning to realize that most comments by others here are not thought out clearly.

    chris,

    As for Jordan, the Pistons during that era tried to hurt everyone. I never remember Jordan whining like that but link to such articles if it’s true or if you’re going to bring it to the conversation table.

  35. By Avery's a bum on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:32:24 pm

    Does Drew live on this thing?

  36. By drew on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:35:09 pm

    No, got some downtime at work lately. :)

  37. By Jeff on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:38:40 pm

    Thanks God we got rid of Avery

    How about we get rid of some of this lousy salary

    Damp 11.5mil next season
    Kidd 21mil Next season
    terry 9.1 Mil Next season
    Stack 7mil Next season

    Then we have Pot head Howard to deal with and NO HEART DIRK as well.

    Lets trade half the team and get some first round draft picks.

  38. By T on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:42:21 pm

    Donnie Nelson should be the coach if the object is to rebuild and develop the team. If Mavs are going to roll out the same old team next year D’antoni should be the choice. Mavs will get the most out of Kidd that way.

  39. By Jeff on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:45:40 pm

    Donnie Nelson should NOT coach this team and neather should D’Antoni. Why would we hire someone with the same sucess that Avery has? D’Antoni has a great squad and can’t beat the Spurs and has NEVER made it to any finals. He runs a offense the obviously does not work in the NBA. Rick Carlisle is our guy. Too bad we missed on Larry Brown

  40. By vic wightman on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:46:57 pm

    I say hire Gene Hackman…IE (Hoosiers) we have had an actor/poser coaching for us the last 4 years and got to the finals once.Maybe if we got a good one we could win it!!!!
    I still think Bobby Knight will recieve consideration from Cuban..he told the Volkswagon he might not be retired!

  41. By camaro32 on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:57:32 pm

    I love the idea of going after Marion with Rick Carlisle as head coach. We can pull Marion off in a sign and trade involving Josh Howard perhaps. If we could then resign Diop or Kurt Thomas (I doubt there’s any way a team will pick up Dampier’s HORRIBLE contract in a trade so we’re stuck with him), we’d be left with a strong backup center and a starting lineup of Dirk, Marion, Kidd, Diop/Dampier, and Bass with Jet coming off the bench for some spark at 6th man. Finally, we’d need to sign a speedy back up point guard to help out with Paul, Deron Williams and Parker.

    We’d be 8 deep if we could pull all of these things off and we’d be a viable contender in the West with a strong defender/outside shooter in Marion and some presence back down low with Diop.

  42. By It was the right move on Apr 30, 2008 at 5:58:09 pm

    Drew,

    Who do you want to coach? You seem to be a pretty passionate dude and you’re obviously aware that Nelson can’t and won’t come back. Carlisle is another defense guy and Larry was taken off the market just in time, so what’s your verdict?

  43. By Aubrey on Apr 30, 2008 at 6:15:45 pm

    So Avery is gone which is good…but we still have a lot of old players under contract…not to mention that none of the players with big contracts are ending….so now we are going to have a new coach with the old team. And the team we have is not that good and we are already over the cap this isnt baseball you cant just pay everyone 20 mil like the Yankees. So my thought is this new coach is coming in to a team that is on a downward spiral….and will prolly end up getting blamed and fired. All i know is Jason Kidd doesnt deserve 17 mil…i wouldnt give a million for his playoff performace…and no training camp is going to make him young and fast again…so all in all i just dont think the mavs will be good anytime soon we are going to have to rebuild…Oh and if Mike D’antoni gets fired i vote him for coach!!!

  44. By T on Apr 30, 2008 at 6:18:17 pm

    I do not know enough about Rick Carlisle. I just know the Mavericks are not going to win the championship any time soon. I would much rather watch a fast paced offensive game with D’Antoni during the regular season because either way the Mavs are not destined to win the finals in the near future.

  45. By chris on Apr 30, 2008 at 6:20:08 pm

    Drew…

    Hard to find links to active newspaper stories from 20 years ago.

    http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB3267B7363861B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

    There’s one mention I caught, though you’d have to pay for the full download of the story. Regardless, if you were a Piston’s fan at the time, you certainly remember that Jordan wasn’t exactly quiet about the rough treatment, nor why should he be? And you’re point about the Piston’s trying to hurt everybody regardless, actually weakens your argument. If MJ bitched about a team trying to specifically take him out, when in fact they were rough on everybody, he’d look pretty foolish. However, it’s obvious that the Wizards, on the other hand, are being specifically rough on Lebron, mainly because they have shown for about seven playoff games in a row that they have no reliable answer for him.

  46. By tani on Apr 30, 2008 at 6:20:55 pm

    I would say that we need to bring an offensive minded coach. I don’t think that you can turn the Mavs into an defensive team like the Spurs. Basically, we were never able to guard anyone. Even the year the Mavs made it into the finals it was more luck that ability. The Spurs would have won that series if it was not for ginobili’s mistake in game 7. Also the Spurs at one point were 1-3 down and dominated for 3 games in a row. Then we beat the Suns without Stoudemire. I don’t know if the Mavs would have won if Stoudemire had played. Then, we couldn’t stop the Heat after going 2 up. In the last 3 years the Mavs haven’t really dominated against a top team. Again Avery tried, but the Mavs turned into a average defensive team and below average offensive team. Dirk, Damp, Terry, etc are not defensive players and they will never be. I would say let’s shoot for a above average defensive team and a great offensive team. They might not win it all, but wouldn’t it be fun to watch the Mavs play like in the old days.

    Hence, I would say get Mike D’Antoni if he becomes available.

  47. By Matt on Apr 30, 2008 at 7:12:57 pm

    new coach?? BOBBY KNIGHT… this team needs to get fired up with some chairs flying across the room

  48. By Jeff on Apr 30, 2008 at 7:30:07 pm

    Last I check Defense wins games. Not offense. So lets get a defensive coach and some defensive players. Softy Dirk will not cut it. Terry plays OK defense so does Kidd at times. Notice how when we play defense we win? But when we try and score 200 points we lose?? Why is that? CAUSE DEFENSE WINS GAMES!!!!!

  49. By Aubrey on Apr 30, 2008 at 7:47:14 pm

    i know defense wins championships hence the Spurs but right now we dont have either…id like to get a running game set up…plus Mike likes young fast players its not going to be a quick fix…oh and may i remind u Avery is a defensive minded coach look where that got us a bunch of old slow players. Get Mike, plus after all the Suns losses maybe he will have more of a defensive mind set!!! And right now we just stink!!!

  50. By Richard on Apr 30, 2008 at 7:49:24 pm

    Drew, I hope that Avery struggles so people can see that he is not a great coach. I hope he struggles because he asked for a new contract a year after he signed one. And Jeff, we are stuck with this lineup for a while. This is not a defensive team. These players will never be great defenders.

    Don Nelson knew that Nash, Finley, and Dirk couldn’t defend. That’s why he had no interest in teaching defense. Nellie had the top defense it basketball when he was with the Bucks because he had great defenders. This team doesn’t have great individual defenders and we can’t trade for any either.

  51. By JA on Apr 30, 2008 at 8:20:24 pm

    Anyone but Van Gundy.

  52. By SK on Apr 30, 2008 at 8:36:26 pm

    MIKE D’ANTONI FOR THE WIN (LITERALLY!!)

    D’Antoni’s style is fast break basketball. Jason Kidd’s best style is fast break basketball - held back by Avery’s slower style. Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki acknowledged (around the time the trade happened) that that’s the style Kidd’s used to and implied that they were willing to make the switch to that style for the team. I have no doubt that they could make the switch decently easily. Howard may have problems at first (as he did when Kidd first came here) but could (and by that I mean he’s able to, not necessarily will) make the switch with time. JJ Barea seems like the type who would thrive under fast break basketball. Brandon Bass could handle it well also. The others can adjust as well. With Avery, our #1 problem (or very close to it) was not driving inside enough or getting fast break points - fast break basketball would cure this. It’s not so much D’Antoni but his style that we need - and D’Antoni is the best guy for the job.

    As for defense - a few years ago, our Big Three (Dirk, Nash, Finley) couldn’t defend well. Two of them (Nash and Finley) are on other teams (the Suns and Spurs, respectively) and the third (Dirk) has blossomed into a much better defender. We also have many talented defensive players on our team now. We have defended well before - we just need to keep doing it. D’Antoni won’t hurt us there, at least not much more than Avery would have. The Suns’ recent losses will put him in a better defensive mindset now, in addition to his great offensive style.

    As for the Suns’ losses? The #1 reason: Shaq. He’s done what he can, and is a great player, but let’s face it - he’s not a fast break basketball player. And other than blocked shots, he’s too big (and yes, that’s a polite way of saying fat, although he has slimmed down a bit recently) to do any real defense. He’s the odd-one-out on one of the best shooting teams - all he can do is hit super-close floaters and dunk. They also lost Marion - a major part of the Suns offense and defense - in the trade, making it even worse. The Suns have (overall) done worse (both in standings and statistics) after the trade than before - they needed Marion, and now they’re hurting without Shaq. Honestly, I don’t think we would have torn down the Suns like we did in that last game against them had Marion been there and Shaq not, especially with our recent struggles. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire are the two who are keeping them alive, and Shaq doesn’t do much to help them. They’ll be hurting even more if(/when) D’Antoni comes over here.

  53. By SK on Apr 30, 2008 at 8:45:04 pm

    Defense with games… but defense with crappy offense loses championships. (Excuse the language - I’m sorry if I offended anyone with the c-word above.) Defense with GOOD OFFENSE wins championships - the Spurs don’t win on defense alone!! Also, teams with superb offense and OK defense have done pretty well for the most part (like the Suns pre-Shaq-trade - the only teams they struggled with were the Spurs and (to some extent) the Mavs) and we have enough good defensive players that we can handle OK defense. Also players like Dirk have gotten much better at defense - the Kirilenko incident proves that Dirk’s not a softy anymore! (Yes, I know it was unintentional and Dirk didn’t mean it, but the truth remains.) We have lost many games on solid defense but terrible offense to go with it - not enough offense to take advantage of the defense we had. D’Antoni is the right guy for this. His defense problems with the Suns were mainly because of a lack of good defensive players, which didn’t improve after the trade. (*cough* Marion *cough* - he was one of their best defenders in addition to a solid offensive player.) He wouldn’t have so much trouble here - that’s why he’d be perfect. That, with his fast-break basketball style, would win us some beautiful rings!!

  54. By Aubrey on Apr 30, 2008 at 8:51:05 pm

    Thought Shaq=old and washed up Suns lose, Kidd=old and washed up Mavs lose hmmmm…

  55. By DallasFan9 on Apr 30, 2008 at 9:10:22 pm

    donnie Nelson (GM) should be canned also…. you know his nose was in on the failed Kidd Deal…. Can them all

  56. By psychoag98 on Apr 30, 2008 at 9:41:34 pm

    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!
    Dennis Franchione!

  57. By Brix on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:12:55 pm

    Here’s the “real” truth about the Dallas Mavericks from a Mavs fan.

    I know many of you like the fact that Avery was been fired today. But the truth is the Dallas Mavericks have bigger issues than their former coach Avery Johnson. The simple truth is, this team is not good enough to win a championship with the players on this year’s roster.

    Avery once said this team doesn’t have any leaders. While that might have offended some players, its true! When the game is on the line with only seconds left in the game, which player on the Mavs team commands the ball? We want that person to be Dirk, sense he’s the face of the team. However Dirk’s style of play and demeanor doesn’t allow him to be that type of leader on this team or in the NBA.

    Yes, Dirk has great shooting skills for a 7 footer. He has a great jumper and shoots 3 pointers with accuracy. And that’s certainly rare in the NBA, but not so much in the European league. The NBA demands that your 7 footer be a dominant low post player that’s aggressive. No offense against the European style of play, but if your #1 option plays this style of basketball, your chances of winning a NBA championship are SLIM & NONE.

    However, I can’t blame this team’s failure to win the title solely on Dirk or any of the other Maverick player. The Mavericks knew exactly what they were going to get when the coaching staff brought Dirk to the NBA; a 7 footer that has a great jumper. Dirk is who he is; a 7 footer with a shooting guard mentality.

    Why didn’t Nelson get a #1 guy to play with Dirk? If Dirk plays with a real #1 guy it might be enough to get the Mavericks to the Finals again (along with the right role players). Dirk clearly is a #2 guy like Pippen was for Jordan. Failure to fill this role on the team and insert Dirk into the #1 role, was the fatal decision that the Mavericks made that has denied them a chance to win a NBA championship (even more fatal than the Nash situation).

    Plain and simple, Dirk is not a #1 guy! The Mavericks need to finally realize this and get a real #1 guy on this team. Someone has the leadership and toughness such as CP3 or Kobe.

    This current collection of players were never a good fit for the style of offense or defense that Avery needed to run the lil general’s coaching style at this young stage of his coaching career. He took over a team of weak minded jump shooters, that lacks toughness and who are terrible defenders.

    Avery admitted that the year this team went to the Finals, they over-achieved. The results we’ve witnessed for the last two years truly indicates what type of players this team really has.

    This team needs a dominant center to provide some toughness; a younger point guard, one that can run the offense as well as score when needed (Rose from Memphis would be great!).

    Finally until this team addresses these issues, the Mavericks will never win a championship no matter who the coach is!

  58. By mrtwister on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:39:14 pm

    Run, gun and have some fun. Doug Moe!

  59. By mrtwister on May 1, 2008 at 2:45:00 am

    Check out this article. And I thought a great coach had improved win/loss records as the years went on. Wouldn’t that show team and player development?

    Good luck to him!?

  60. By mrtwister on May 1, 2008 at 2:45:23 am

    Sorry, forgot to put the link in……..

    http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/04/30/avery-johnson-has-no-job-for-now/

  61. By drew on May 1, 2008 at 8:43:34 am

    It was the right move,

    Not sure who I’d really want to coach at this point. I am passionate about the Mavericks though and I try to stay positive and give constructive insight. I want them to win but I think they’ll need to pick the right coach to rebuild the team with their existing strengths and build new strengths.

    For a team that is seeking to win, D’Antoni if available is not the option for sure though, he’s already proven with that with the Suns. If we were to acquire him, we should have just kept Avery.

    If the rest of the team stays intact though for beginning of the season and maybe whole season, they need to rebuild around Kidd and the coach should allow Kidd to call his own shots with the team while out on the floor. Perhaps him taking someone under his wing for back up point guard.

  62. By rvo on May 1, 2008 at 12:38:11 pm

    Is Doug Collins interested in coaching again? How come his name doesn’t come up for coaching positions? I think he’s a great basketball mind and knows how to handle superstars.

  63. By mike on May 1, 2008 at 5:21:06 pm

    Mike D’Antoni? Are you sh***ing me? The guy cannot coach postseason basketball. Haven’t you people learned that after watching all these years?

  64. By mike on May 1, 2008 at 5:22:04 pm

    And camaro, thank you!! You see what I see… Marion and Carlisle would be great additions to this team.

  65. By Richard on May 1, 2008 at 6:12:38 pm

    A lot of you sure are hard on D’Antoni. I know he hasn’t won the title but he’s a very good coach. Chuck Daly, Larry Brown, K.C. Jones, and Billy Cunningham all had playoff failure before they won their titles.

    The Mavs choices are very thin. There aren’t a lot of coaches sitting around with rings who are available who want to coach.

  66. By mike on May 1, 2008 at 7:07:04 pm

    Yes, Richard but those coaches didn’t have a stupid system like D’Antoni’s.

  67. By jason on May 1, 2008 at 8:25:58 pm

    what is wrong with yall?
    we had a coach who made the playoffs every year, set the franchise records for wins and winning percentage, led the team to the ONLY finals appearance ever, helped keep this team relevant when it was sinking the year he took it over, and all this in less than 4 years.
    I guess you all forgot what it was like to be the worst team in the league for an entire decade. To hope the team could at least win 10 games a season, 20 if we kept our fingers crossed.

    So what if avery lost a couple of players, replace them, not him. Is the next coach going to have anything even close to avery’s body of work over the duration of the next 3 ful seasons? 73% winning percentage, a trip to the finals, consecutive 50 win seasons?

  68. By Richard on May 1, 2008 at 8:49:49 pm

    The year Avery took this over we were significantly better than the year before. The 03-04 Mavs were the worst team of this decade. The 04-05 team was much improved before Avery took over. Yes Avery was successful but he took this team over when it had a ridiculous amount of talent. He took this team over when it was winning 50 games every year. The last coach who took over this much talent was Phil Jackson in 2000.

  69. By TCO on May 1, 2008 at 9:47:41 pm

    I’m seeing Rudy T, and as a laker fan, I have to tell you that would be a terrible fit for him in Dallas.

    Personally, I would like to see D’Ntoni in Dallas, although, as Bill Simmons noted, Toronto or even chicago seems a more logical destination.

  70. By mike on May 1, 2008 at 11:21:56 pm

    Uh, let me say this again… Mike D’Antoni cannot coach postseason basketball. How much more proof do you all need that his system does not work in the postseason? If he couldn’t make it work with Nash, Stoudemire, Marion, Barbosa, Bell, and Diaw, what makes you think this Dallas team is going to make it work?

  71. By mike on May 1, 2008 at 11:53:09 pm

    And did I mention Gregg Popovich owns Mike D’Antoni? He’s knocked him and his sorry Suns teams out of the playoffs FIVE times. And this is the man you all want as the coach, in the same division noless…

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