for the Coach Watchers...Avery Waiting on Atl

[hussamga]

Avery Johnson Waiting On Atlanta?

Posted: 5/10/2008 3:59:00 AM

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

A source close to Avery Johnson’s situation said a scheduling conflict forced Paxson to postpone an interview with the recently fired coach of the Dallas Mavericks. The Bulls have shown a willingness to reschedule, but there’s a sense that Johnson is serious about sitting out next season and collecting money from the Mavericks, who would owe him $12 million over the next three seasons if he decides not to return to coaching. Johnson also may be waiting to see if the Atlanta Hawks are in the market for a coach once they hire a general manager.

Sun Times article

[thescout5]

If ASG is serious about winning they will go after Johnson in place of Woodson.You see big markets going after who they want Atlanta needs to get serious and go after Johnson. Woody just doesn't cut it and Johnson would be a big upgrade.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

Avery would also help Acie a bit with his PG experience. Furthermore, with Avery impressive resume plus the Hawks impressive youth, they will attract solid contributors in the FA market.

[hawkman]

I read that earlier, but I wasn't sure if this was speculation or not. Has Avery himself said anything about Atlanta? That would make things REALLY interesting if this is true.

[hussamga]

Yah its speculation i think...but Avery is not a candidate for PHO, so its like Atl/Chi ...expect them to choose a GM within 14days or so. With the Draft Lottery June16th, im thinking we wont know about Woodsons future until the beginning of June.

Draft Lottery June 16th

Draft June 29th

We dont have any picks..but i think we still workout some possible undraftred FA and prepare for summer league July 11-28 (not the RMR)

[TheTruth]

The ASG needs to make a move as fast as it reasonably can. Bringing in Avery would be great for us (although I hate listening to his country voice). He does have an impressive resume and is clearly a better coach than Woodson. I hope whoever our new GM is realizes what fresh upgraded blood like Avery can do for this team.

[bronnt]

There's some mixed reviews on how he works with point guards. I mean, it's said that he's controlling of the way the point guard runs the game since he was a point and liked to take control of the game. That's why Devin Harris progressed well under him, while he and Jason Kidd clashed.

Personally, I'd like to have him here. He could really help Acie progress, and bringing Avery in as the HC might be as good for our depth as getting a veteran poing guard. I swear, there's some good potential in Acie, and if someone worked him hard to develop his decision making, court awareness, and jump shot, he could be more than serviceable, and still have room to improve. Avery might clash with Bibby, who's established, but if Acie improved it would fill the void.

This really gives me hope and helps fill in the void that missing out on D'Antoni left in me. If Avery really is looking at the Atlanta job, ASG just HAS to pull the trigger.

[TruJerz]

wow..i like woodson and i've always been a supporter of him but if we could get avery johnson as a head coach on this young, talented team I think that would be great!!!! To me, Avery is one of the better coaches in the NBA period...he is disciplined and smart too. But i doubt it would happen though..i think he will take the year off like I just read somewhere

[DrReality]

He's got a long wait if he's waiting on ASG. Won't happen.

[BusBoyIsBack]

It would be absurd to fire Woody for Avery Johnson.

Avery Johnson has not proven he can develop young talent. He was with a talent laden veteran team in Dallas. One that was outcoached in the post-season I might add.

[bronnt]

Quote:

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It would be absurd to fire Woody for Avery Johnson.

Avery Johnson has not proven he can develop young talent. He was with a talent laden veteran team in Dallas. One that was outcoached in the post-season I might add.

Yeah, and our young players have grown so much. Josh Smith's shot selection still sucks, and Marvin Williams still can't guard or create his own shot. Acie Law never gets into games. Soloman Jones isn't anything more than he was when we drafted him, and Salim Stoudamire hasn't grown as a defender or a point guard.

The only young players that look polished were actually solid players before we got them-Joe Johnson, Josh Childress, Al Horford.

At least Devin Harris improved over the course of his tenure in Dallas. He's a solid young point guard that Avery Johnson worked with and he was really doing well for New Jersey at the end of the year.

[KB21]

I think the young talent in Atlanta and the salary cap flexibility makes this job a very attractive job for a guy like Avery Johnson. Now, what GM out there would likely hire Avery Johnson if the Hawks were to hire that GM?

My guess is, it will be someone with ties to the San Antonio Spurs, because that's where Avery's philosophy comes from. Lance Blanks would probably be the GM most likely to pursue Avery Johnson.

[Dsinner]

Quote:

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It would be absurd to fire Woody for Avery Johnson.

Avery Johnson has not proven he can develop young talent. He was with a talent laden veteran team in Dallas. One that was outcoached in the post-season I might add.

Umm..this is sarcasm right? No, seriously. Sarcasm?

[KB21]

Quote:

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wow..i like woodson and i've always been a supporter of him but if we could get avery johnson as a head coach on this young, talented team I think that would be great!!!! To me, Avery is one of the better coaches in the NBA period...he is disciplined and smart too. But i doubt it would happen though..i think he will take the year off like I just read somewhere

I think Avery needs a very strong bench coach to be his best. The biggest criticism of Avery that is out there is that he tried to coach every play too much, almost like he was still the point guard on the team. Avery was at his best when he had Del Harris by his side to calm him down and reign him in.

[Seano]

Quote:

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It would be absurd to fire Woody for Avery Johnson.

Avery Johnson has not proven he can develop young talent. He was with a talent laden veteran team in Dallas. One that was outcoached in the post-season I might add.

Avery did take over a good team, but he made it even better. The Mavs season records in the 4 seasons prior to Avery taking over:

2000-01 53-29

2001-02 57-25

2002-03 60-22

2003-04 52-30

2004-05 was when Avery took over. Don Nelson handed over the coaching reins to concentrate exclusive on his job as GM in mid-March of that season, and Avery became the coach as had been the plan all along. At the time Nelly stepped down, the Mavs were 42-22. Avery closed out that season on a 16-2 run.

So 2004-05 16-2

2005-06 60-22

2006-07 67-15

2007-08 51-31

Avery's lifetime winning percentage as a coach- .735, as contrasted to Woodson's .323. His teams playoff struggles are well-documented, but the reality is that the Mavs were never able to close the deal in all those good seasons prior to Avery's arrival either. Call that an unfortunate byproduct of playing in an absolutely loaded Western Conference, or a fluke, or whatever. His team should have never lost to Golden State last year, but I watched every game in that series and honestly put the blame much more on the players than on Avery's coaching. He put them in position to win, but they just didn't get it done. And as far as developing young players, there's not all that much evidence to support your claim that Avery can't- while there is AMPLE evidence (which we have all seen) that this is an area which Woodson struggles in.

It's not very often you see a guy with a lifetime winnning % of .735 just floating around out there as a free agent like that, and this would be the first time I have EVER heard of someone like that possibly wanting to come here. It would be freaking INSANE to keep Mike Woodson if we had the opportunity to get an Avery Johnson. Really, it would be so colossally stupid that words could not even begin to describe it.

[KB21]

You cannot contrast Avery's winning percentage versus Mike's winning percentage, because they both came in two totally different situations. Avery inherited a very talented team. Mike took over a team that was building from the ground up. It's why I have always maintained that it didn't matter who the Hawks hired back in 2004, that person was coming into a bad situation and wasn't going to win big until about year 5.

Avery took over a talented and stable team that had a solid and stable coaching staff. He didn't have to come in and find his own assistants. All he had to do was come in and establish a defensive philosophy, because the Mavs knew they had to get defensive minded if they wanted to win a championship.

Avery is a very good coach, IMO, but he currently has two black marks on his record now. First, his 67 win team was ousted in the first round of the playoffs last season by a team that doesn't play a lick of defense. Second, his team won 16 fewer games in '07-'08 than they did in '06-'07. When evaluating Avery Johnson, you have to evaluate why that drop off happened and what happened in the 2007 playoffs that caused this team to get beat in the first round by a team that had no business beating them. You also have to evaluate how much of an effect having Del Harris as his top assistant helped him, because that is an aspect of Avery's coaching that is being overlooked right now.

[dlpin]

Quote:

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It would be absurd to fire Woody for Avery Johnson.

Avery Johnson has not proven he can develop young talent. He was with a talent laden veteran team in Dallas. One that was outcoached in the post-season I might add.

It depends on what you call "proven." He simply hasnt had that many young players under his command. But the ones he did have have turned out better than expected so far. Devin Harris, and, more importantly, Josh Howard and Brandon Brass, have developed nicely.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Avery got that soft azz Dallas team to the NBA Finals, when they finally started to play a little defense. He even found a role for Diop, a guy that most people thought was a complete bust. Avery would even go with Diop during crunch time sometmes, instead of Dampier. And it made them a better team and enabled them to reach the Finals.

But he never could get the leader of the team, Dirk, to play tough. It wasn't Avery's fault that Dallas failed the past 2 years. And Avery didn't trade his best post defender and their ultra quick young PG. But the coach will always take the fall.

And while people say that Avery made a mistake by changing up his starting lineup against Golden St, they forget that Golden St had beaten Dallas 9 out of the previous 10 times before that playoff series. Avery had the balls and common sense to try something different, since his regular lineup never worked against Golden St.

Avery micro-managing a game might be exactly what the Hawks need, seeing that we like to play what looks like "park basketball" at times. If Avery can get us to play more disciplined on both ends of the floor, then I'm all for that.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

I agree. .. How in the world is it possible that people are defending Woody over Avery Johnson (and Mike Fratello)? What the hell are y'all thinking? Those two are proven winners and will use all the tools of the team to succeed.

I know there's always someone that argue otherwise on a given topic, but jeez... think people!

We will see if the team lacks the latent to be a elite team or just lacks the coach to lead them if they hire one of those two head coach.

[Packfill]

Quote:

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You cannot contrast Avery's winning percentage versus Mike's winning percentage, because they both came in two totally different situations. Avery inherited a very talented team. Mike took over a team that was building from the ground up. It's why I have always maintained that it didn't matter who the Hawks hired back in 2004, that person was coming into a bad situation and wasn't going to win big until about year 5.

Avery took over a talented and stable team that had a solid and stable coaching staff. He didn't have to come in and find his own assistants. All he had to do was come in and establish a defensive philosophy, because the Mavs knew they had to get defensive minded if they wanted to win a championship.

Avery is a very good coach, IMO, but he currently has two black marks on his record now. First, his 67 win team was ousted in the first round of the playoffs last season by a team that doesn't play a lick of defense. Second, his team won 16 fewer games in '07-'08 than they did in '06-'07. When evaluating Avery Johnson, you have to evaluate why that drop off happened and what happened in the 2007 playoffs that caused this team to get beat in the first round by a team that had no business beating them. You also have to evaluate how much of an effect having Del Harris as his top assistant helped him, because that is an aspect of Avery's coaching that is being overlooked right now.

Maybe you weren't paying attention but what happened to the Maverick's in both the 2007 and 2008 playoffs were spectacular performances by the oppositions point guard (i.e., Baron Davis and Chris Paul).