Avery Johnson: Back in town I like the Nets. I actively root for the Nets. I like Avery Johnson and I like Devin Harris and I've always felt they both got a bum rap in Dallas and I will always feel that way.
The decade-long success of the Mavericks can be pinned on several people. Mark Cuban and Don Nelson, to start. The players, of course. But Avery Johnson brought something else. He quite literally got them over "the hump."
He got them to where Wade Phillips could only wish to get the Cowboys. He got them where Nelson, Buck Showalter and Dave Tippett couldn't get the early-2000s Mavs, 2000s Rangers and Dallas Stars.
Johnson captured the full attention and respect of the Mavericks for about three seasons and thus he got greatness. Too bad it's 2010 because Johnson would've been a powerhouse in 1960. He coached hustle, defense, respect of the game and a commitment to excellence. And it got them a trip to the NBA Finals, a place they will probably never be with Rick Carlisle and that's really no knock on him as much as its a praise for guys like Johnson.
Devin Harris also got hosed in Dallas. Mainly by Johnson, who was too impatient and demanding of the young guard. The Mavericks lost in the Finals and just about every other subsequent playoff trip because they didn't have a defender on the perimeter and they couldn't get within 10 feet of the basket for a big hoop with two minutes left in the game.
Harris brought that. They traded him for Jason Kidd with the eye on the Finals and it didn't work out and won't with Kidd as a starting point guard. And I love Jason Kidd, but he was far beyond his peak when the Mavericks got him. Slow and not the guy we saw with New Jersey and Phoenix eight or 10 years ago.
Nonetheless, I predicted the Nets to be improved this season and they are. Calling 6-17 an improvement is tough. But it is. They were historically bad a year ago and they've improved to just bad.
If they can stay healthy and bring in a bit more talent (thanks to the Russian Mark Cuban) they should be playoff contenders next year.
Notes:
1. Again, loving Shawn Marion's role here. Came off the bench for 18 points, six rebounds and four steals. The numbers don't show it, but it just feels that Marion is more relaxed and playing within the parameters of his own abilities instead of his abilities of 2000.
2. Mavs roll getting 14 points from Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson and Tyson Chandler combined. Kidd has to be hurt, right?
3. The Mavericks have won 11 straight. They have six other streaks that are longer. We are spoiled.
4. Kris Humphries is averaging 8.5 rebounds per game for New Jersey. He averaged 12 minutes a game for the Mavericks. And Carlisle's certain he couldn't play?
5. And that is why Dominique Jones shouldn't be in Frisco and, instead, getting J.J. Barea's minutes in Dallas.
