By Jan Hubbard
ProBasketballNews.com
After a Spurs practice in San Antonio in 1991, I walked up to Avery Johnson and introduced myself. Johnson had bounced around the league and was with his fourth team in three years. As an undrafted point guard, he seemed to have a limited future, but he had managed to work his way into the starting lineup.
As it turned out, Johnson had read a few of my articles and was still a wide-eyed Kidd from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. He was thrilled that a journalist from another city actually wanted to spend time with him and get his opinions.
“You want to talk to me, Mr. Hubbard,” he said -- and, yes, he did call me
Mr. Hubbard. “I’m really honored.”
I tell that story because I have been around Johnson periodically since I first met him and always got along with him. He is no doubt one of the great overachievers in NBA history and lasting 16 years as a player was a credit to his determination.
During the last year, I covered him on nearly a full time basis and while he is not as friendly and open as a head coach as he was as a player, he still answered every question. But after he was fired, he had his final press conference in Dallas on
May 1 and it was an exercise in self-promotion that had to embarrass even his closest friend.
Johnson actually spent most of the 26 minutes with the press minimizing the achievements of the Mavericks, which, of course, was his way of telling the public how great he had been.
The Mavericks’ second consecutive first-round loss was, understandably, not well received in Dallas. The post mortem after the Mavericks were eliminated by the Hornets was quite brutal from all precincts. With Johnson’s help, we discovered not only is there little hope for the future, but also that the team was never that good in the first place.
The NBA Finals team from two years ago? Not really that great, Johnson said.
“I’ll give you a little Basketball 101 on what it takes to win a championship,” Johnson said. “If you really look at what it takes to win a championship, look at all the champions. They win championships because they have a superstar. We have one here in Dirk (Nowitzki).
“You got to have really strong, strong play at the center position, and you got to have, in this day and age, a speedy quick point guard or a guard that will dribble drive and get that ball to the free-throw line. And you have to have depth on the bench, experience on your coaching staff, and we feel that with what we had to work with, if you compare rosters, we have nothing to be ashamed of.
“And that’s what I was trying to say all the years. If you look at what we had to work with. We went to the Finals with Jason Terry.”
Now he added some complimentary thoughts on Terry after that, but the point had been made. Terry was not that great at point guard.
Johnson went on to talk about the team that won 67 games in 2006-07. He said it “significantly overachieved.”
And then he talked about this year’s team, which changed drastically in February when the Mavericks traded Devin Harris, three other players and two No. 1 picks for Jason Kidd. Johnson was thrilled at the time.
But Kidd did not play well in Johnson’s system, which, of course, Johnson undoubtedly blamed on Kidd. Throughout his last press conference, Johnson shifted gears and hinted that he was very much against the trade. One of the ways he did that was by dismissing the Mavericks 51-31 season.
“This year’s team,” he said, “it was a miracle we made the playoffs.”
All of the analysis was garbage. Even some in the Dallas media supported the notion that the Mavericks, who have averaged 59 victories the last three seasons, really haven’t been that good. I have attempted to figure out a nice way to say that Johnson and those who subscribe to his theories are delusional, but I guess that’s better than calling them idiots.
Let’s examine this objectively. It is true that the Mavericks team that went to the NBA Finals had Terry as a point guard and he does not have great point guard skills.
But that team won a seven-game series against the San Antonio Spurs, who won the championship in 2005 and 2007. Had the Mavericks not beaten them, the Spurs could have won three straight.
I don’t care who your point guard is. If you beat the former and future champions, you’re pretty good.
The team that won 67 games defeated opponents by an average of 7.2 points per game. That ranked third in the league behind eventual champion San Antonio and Phoenix in point differential. The Mavericks had winning streaks of 17, 13 and 12 games. They were only the ninth team in NBA history to win 67 or more games. If that wasn’t a great regular season team, then what was the rest of the league?
Now, if you are talking playoffs, you could make the case that the Mavericks were outcoached in the first round. Strangely, Johnson didn’t mention that.
And a miracle that the team made the playoffs this year? When the Mavericks made the trade for Kidd, Johnson talked about the possibility of winning a championship.
With his 194-70 record, Johnson will be a hot commodity for most coaching vacancies. Johnson will said he expects to be a better coach in his second job than in his first, and considering his 23-24 playoff record, he has room to improve.
But the major area where he needs to get better will be surprising to his next employers. For all of his success as a point guard, Johnson has not demonstrated that he can coach point guards.
Any competent NBA scout can tell you that Terry never has been a point guard. Johnson tried to make him one and did not succeed.
Harris flourished after leaving Johnson, and Kidd struggled after arriving. Harris has excellent offensive skills and is a good outside shooter, but Johnson wanted him to be more of a passer.
Kidd is one of the greatest passing point guards in history, but Johnson wanted him to be more of a shooter.
In short, Johnson wanted Devin Harris to play like Jason Kidd and Jason Kidd to play like Devin Harris.
Maybe it was a miracle the Mavericks made the playoffs.
Based on Johnson’s track record, we have to hope he ends up in New York. That collaboration with Stephon Marbury, who has told us in the past that he is the best point guard in the league, should be great theater.
Johnson undoubtedly believes that he has left a sinking ship, but despite a tidal wave of publicity to the contrary, the Mavericks do have hope for next year.
Recall that Mark Cuban made one of the worst personnel decisions in NBA history when he let Steve Nash go to Phoenix for nothing, yet two years later, the Mavericks made the Finals. So they are capable of overcoming mistakes.
Dirk Nowitzki is a franchise player. He may not be in the Kobe-LeBron-Duncan stratosphere, but he is a great player and alone guarantees the Mavericks of having a winning record.
Kidd has one more year left on his contract and has a lot to prove. That’s good.
The Mavericks have major work to do in the offseason and the West is going to be tough again next year. No one will be predicting a championship.
But with Dirk, the Mavericks will make the playoffs. They may need a miracle to win a championship, and there is little doubt that their window of opportunity is shrinking. With Kidd 35, in fact, it may be one year.
But even if they do struggle, it will not diminish their achievements of the last few years. And it’s unfortunate that Avery Johnson tried to do that as he walked out the door.
Jan Hubbard is a regular contributor to Pro Basketball News. Comment on this story by clicking here.
NBA: May 4, 2008
Johnson's jabs at Mavs unnecessary
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