12/21/24
April 30, 2008
Mavericks begin rebuilding from the top: Dallas fires coach Avery Johnson after another playoff disaster.
posted by graymatters to basketball at 02:39 PM - 17 comments
The whole starting lineup is signed though, right?
posted by tieguy at 02:57 PM on April 30, 2008
I thought the Kidd trade looked bad at the time, but it looks even worse now.
posted by holden at 03:45 PM on April 30, 2008
The Mavs are in a terrible position. They have no draft picks (all traded), a team with almost all players over 30 yrs old and a payroll about 50% over the salary cap. They can't trade for talent because that means also taking on the 'contracts' that team needs to get away from as well and high priced free agents just add to the problem. Additionally, they have no player willing to slash to the basket, no inside scoring prescense and a point guard that can't shoot and is too old to guard any other Western Conference point guard. Good luck with all of that.
posted by jaygolf at 03:53 PM on April 30, 2008
Couldn't believe when they traded for Kidd, can't believe that Avery has anything to do with their decline, but I guess the owner can't fire himself !!
posted by cixelsyd at 05:08 PM on April 30, 2008
I love the fact that cubnation wants this owner. Hopefully this talk will finally die out. Mark Cuban's track record shows that he is all talk and no results. Have fun hangin at courtside loser!
posted by whodat at 02:04 AM on May 01, 2008
All talk and no results? When Mark Cuban bought the Mavs in 2000 they were the losingest franchise in the top four pro sports during the '90s. He turned it around so quickly -- despite free agents not wanting to play there and salary cap difficulties -- that they reached an NBA Finals and were one of the top 3 Western Conference teams for around four years. I think it's too early to write them off as a doomed franchise.
posted by rcade at 05:44 AM on May 01, 2008
I agree, rcade. Simply because Mark Cuban is flamboyant and easy to hate does not make him wrong.
posted by yzelda4045 at 07:04 AM on May 01, 2008
I think it's too early to write them off as a doomed franchise. I have to agree with rcade. The trade for Kidd at mid-season was an attempt to take the Mavs over the hump since Kidd is a proven PG but they just never seemed to have the chemistry needed to win a championship. Maybe this trade can work out for the better if given time, but how much time does Kidd really have left? Chris Paul outplayed Kidd and made him look flat-out old so maybe with some pre-season games under their belts with Kidd at the helm can help the Mavs a little. I personally don't think it'll help but then again, I didn't think that the Atlanta Hawks could win a game against the Celtics in the 1st round of the playoffs and I was already proven wrong, so you never know.
posted by BornIcon at 07:43 AM on May 01, 2008
The Mavs aren't doomed, but their window to win a championship is closing fast. Mark Cuban, like it or not, IS a distraction to the coach and the players, especially when he's in the stands yelling all the time, and it's never a good thing when the owner tries to go over the heads of his personnel and play coach himself. Face it, they did trade much of their future away in the Kidd deal. The Mavs are full of good players, but there's no chemistry; the pieces don't fit well. And face it, Jason Kidd is old; Chris Paul ran circles around him during the entire series. Avery Johnson is still a good coach, winning about 70% of his games; not a bad thing to put on a resume for a first head coaching job, and he won't be out of circulation for long. I can't blame Cuban for wanting to win. He just needs to calm down and let his employees do what they need to do. But how do you tell your boss to sit down and shut up?
posted by NerfballPro at 11:10 AM on May 01, 2008
Avery Johnson is still a good coach, winning about 70% of his games; not a bad thing to put on a resume for a first head coaching job, and he won't be out of circulation for long. Mr. Johnson, Donnie Walsh is on line one.
posted by cjets at 12:13 PM on May 01, 2008
What is really lacking in Dallas is any focus on team chemistry. Traded away are all of the key role players that once made the Mavs a contender. They are stuck with a group of overpaid aging superstars. If Kidd returns next year expect a further decline ... golf season begins 2 weeks earlier in Dallas in 2009.
posted by cixelsyd at 05:08 PM on May 01, 2008
Not really a big deal for Dallas because Cuban can hire any coach he wants he has the money to do so. Like some other people suggested, the Mavs lacked team chemistry and so they need to trade some key players they have. They need to get another superstar to complement Dirk because JKidd is getting older. Jason Terry and Jason Howard need to be traded for some pure scorers. Stack and Devean George can fill their roles. The trade didn't really affect them that much because Devin Harris was not a true scorer. He was fast as hell and could steal the ball but that was it. Also if the Mavs get a scoring center unlike Dampier who can't even catch, then they could be very good cuz Kidd is a great passer.
posted by Scars at 07:37 PM on May 01, 2008
But how do you tell your boss to sit down and shut up? Easy. Just tell him to sit down and shut up...the only thing is: You might not have a job afterwards. Just ask Joe Giradi when he was with the Florida Marlins about that.
posted by BornIcon at 06:52 AM on May 02, 2008
I'm absolutely shocked that people don't wake up and smell the coffee. Jason Kidd is one of the most overrated players in all of sports. His $20M salary is a crime. He has a 40% field goal percentage for his career (possibly lower this year). Need I continue? When you're that bad on offense, people don't need to guard you tight, which increases their defensive presence elsewhere. So...Jason's bad offense means they are less productive on offense and the other team is more productive on defense. Compare this to Steve Nash. He's super productive on offense, but supposedly has no defense. So...the other team can be a bit more productive on their offense. That's it. And, Kidd probably makes 50% more than Nash. Unreal that people can't see the overrated aspect.
posted by tflan at 12:47 PM on May 02, 2008
I would be pissed if I were Mark Cuban. They have had such a good team for a long time now and have just 1 finals loss to show for it. So much talent has been wasted.
posted by Clevelander32 at 08:22 PM on May 02, 2008
It seems to me that the Mavericks offense is most effective when Dirk has the ball on the free throw line. You don't need much of a point guard in order to get him the ball. Their success without Nash should have made that clear. There was a window when Dirk's ability to stretch the floor seemed like it might be a natural counter to Duncan's dominance in the paint, but the Spurs now have Ginobli and Parker playing out of their minds, the Lakers have rebuilt, and Dallas and Phoenix are heading the wrong way. They correctly diagnosed a need for a true post presence, but they overpaid for Dampier, and just got rid of a developing Diop. From here, I think they need to let Dampier, Kidd, Howard, and George go. Which will take time. Dirk's game will last for some time still I think and I still think he's good enough to build around. Howard still has some trade value, so I'd look to either dump some contracts, or maybe make a play for someone like Marion/Artest/Tyson Chandler/Kenyon Martin.
posted by chmurray at 11:54 AM on May 03, 2008
With about half of team scheduled to become free agents and probable desire to get rid of several other players (or maybe they just want out), this team might have only three or four returning players next year.