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For Dallas Mavericks' Johnson, return to New Orleans is strictly business

09:04 PM CDT on Friday, April 18, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

NEW ORLEANS – Avery Johnson works in Dallas, but lives in The Woodlands during the off-season. But he's got so much of the Big Easy running through his veins that if he cut himself shaving, it would surprise nobody if gumbo oozed out.

This is where he and his wife, Cassandra, grew up. It's still home in many ways.

But Johnson made it clear on the eve of the first-round series against New Orleans that frivolity is low on his to-do list while he's here.

"This is a business trip for me," he said. "This city means a whole heck of a lot to me. I do have a lot of family members that live in the city and friends. But this is the playoffs. We're not here to throw parties and do things that maybe we'd even do during the regular season. We want to do the best job we can. Then when we come back in July, we can have some family reunions."

Johnson, like all the Mavericks, is under the pressure of two years' worth of disappointment in the playoffs. The Mavericks lost in the first round last season after winning 67 games during the regular season. It was the first time a No. 8 seed had taken down a No. 1 seed in the best-of-7 format.

The year before that was the NBA Finals collapse against Miami.

Johnson accepts the fact people are going to talk about his future, not to mention that of many of his players.

"That's what we sign up for," he said. "Every year that you don't win the championship, we realize that there can be some changes. That's part of the business. There's only 400-and-some players and 30 head coaches. It's a very rare situation. That's why we cherish it day in and day out."

Voice of experience: Assistant coach Mario Elie was on a No. 7-seeded team as a rookie that won a playoff series when Golden State beat San Antonio in 1991. He also was on the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets that won the '95 NBA championship.

Elie was asked if he could impart any wisdom to the Mavericks about the daunting task of having to most likely win every playoff series without the home-court advantage.

"The good thing with our squad is we have playoff experience," he said. "I understand New Orleans is a very good team. They say experience doesn't count, but it does. It really, really does. We've all been through the wars. It's going to be interesting how Chris Paul and David West, who haven't been in this environment, respond."

Elie referenced Utah's Deron Williams, who led the Jazz to the Western Conference finals last year, as an example that a lack of experience can be overcome.

Inside information? Jason Kidd played for New Orleans coach Byron Scott when they were taking the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals twice earlier this decade.

Kidd said he still has strong feelings for Scott, but said the biggest thing in this series is knowing some of the problems that the Mavericks will face.

"The biggest thing for me is I understand the system that they run because I was in it," he said. "I'm just trying to help my teammates with it."

Kidd added that Scott deserves serious consideration for coach of the year.

Briefly: Dirk Nowitzki on the West playoffs: "Phoenix has to play San Antonio in the first round. That's probably one of the best first-round matchups ever. Every matchup is going to be tough." ... The Mavericks will host a watching party tonight at Dave & Buster's on Walnut Hill at Highway 75. ... Upon hearing that several national analysts were picking the Mavericks against the Hornets, Johnson said: "That's a total disrespect for New Orleans. And a lot of people nationally don't know what they're talking about. Nobody has a crystal ball. First of all, I don't know why anybody would pick us, anyway. They never pick us."MAVERICKS BLOG is the place to go for updates throughout the series.

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