Avery met with the team at the AAC yesterday then cancelled practiced, telling the guys he would see them on the plane. Well, the players didn’t seem to like that idea and proceeded to have a player only practice. And it doesn’t sound like Avery was too happy about it.
He sounded like a coach who was not excited that his team would go beyond simply having a players-only meeting by actually doing court work. Players-only meetings happen all the time. But a players-only practice before a possible playoff elimination game?
“We’re in a situation where I don’t know if we need another drill,” Johnson said. “We’ve been having drills and scrimmages since the first day of training camp and if you don’t have it by now, I don’t know if you’re going to have a CliffsNotes session and get it.
I’m guessing it’s not a good thing for a coach when his players just don’t listen to him and have a practice anyways. Of course it could mean any nuumber of things. Maybe the guys just felt like they needed to shoot around a little more and try to find their stroke. Or maybe they’ve finally decided to completely stop listening to Avery since he’s said he’s not making any adjustments to his coaching style when it obviously isn’t working.
Johnson talked openly Monday about whether the players are still in his corner. He said he will continue to run his team the way he believes it should be run. He said that since the trade for Jason Kidd, the transition has been rocky.
“Overall, these men have been very loyal to me,” he said. “It’s a tough spot for us. Sometimes, we haven’t played our best basketball. Maybe another team at that particular time was just a better team. But it’s not because the men don’t listen or don’t try.
So it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the game tonight. Will the Mavs fall back into their jump shooting ways, suffering through Avery’s bad play calling and substitutions. Or will they take things into their own hands and play this game tonight like they want to. Either way the writing on the wall is quickly becoming legible concerning Avery’s future with this team.
There is absolutely nothing good from Avery's standpoint that can come of this. I hope they rock the rim tonight and make Cuban consider the roster's potential instead of the coach's.
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In the '94 or '95 season, the Mavs were sucking (They had the 3 Js, but couldn't put it together.) Motta had returned to the Mavs, and he was supposed to return the "glory" days of the '80s to the franchise. But around the beginning of March, he said "Screw it, you guys just play."
The tempo picked up, and the wins accumulated. That's what I would like to see beginning tonight - just let the guys play. It's not going to win you a 'ship, but it could easily get them back into the series.
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This might be good for their chances in this series but not for AJ's job. IMO this is a big nail in the coffin for AJ
It has to.
I wouldn't put all the blame on Avery, he isn't responsible for Josh shooting 15-58 during the series. He is a big and probably the biggest part of what went wrong, but let's not act like he is coaching a bunch of high schoolers who don't what they are doing out there. Well ok, maybe they really don't know.
I wouldn't put all the blame on Avery, he isn't responsible for Josh shooting 15-58 during the series. He is a big and probably the biggest part of what went wrong, but let's not act like he is coaching a bunch of high schoolers who don't what they are doing out there. Well ok, maybe they really don't know.
I would put 100% of the blame on AJ.
He could have benched JHo.... When your player become a liability, you yank him and put in somebody who's less a liability....
I'd rather have Eddie Jones out there jacking up jumpers than JHo.
Players practice for Game 5 without coaches
07/08 BBF Sig of the Year! 