Is Avery Johnson A Bad Playoff Coach?

by Brett Edwards

It takes 82 games to gain home court advantage throughout the playoffs, but it only takes one to lose it. Golden State played well on both ends of the court to take Game 1 from Dallas, completely obliterating my prediction in the process. As I watched the Mavs go away from the starting lineup that effectively won them 67 games in the regular season, I started to think back to the last post-season game that the Mavs played in, and the following question came to mind: Is Avery Johnson a bad playoff coach?

It's unbelievable to me that the team with the league's best record in the regular season would completely change what got them there to try and match up with an eight seed. Granted, the Warriors did beat Dallas in all three meetings before the playoffs, but I thought the Mavs (at least in their minds) had excuses for each one. Apparently the coaching staff wasn't buying it, as they changed their starting lineup by going with Devean George (really?) in favor of Erick Dampier or DeSagana Diop. The thinking was that the big men wouldn't be able to hang with the speed of the Warriors, and starting George would add some much needed defense to slow a Warriors team that was dropping 116 on people the last 10 games of the season.

The defensive adjustment seemed to work, but Dallas was out of sync on offense all night, largely due to the fact that they were playing with unusual lineups that they did not frequently use during the regular season. Ironically, Dallas seemed to play best with Dirk on the bench and Diop in the game, a lineup which, now I'm just guessing here, will not take you very far in the playoffs.

The last playoff game that the Mavs appeared in was Game 6 of last year's Finals, where Avery Johnson also made some very poor decisions, especially in the fourth quarter. Since I discussed this with such supremely intelligent commentary at the time, let's just go ahead and blockquote myself for the details:

Equally awful was the fourth quarter strategy in the series-ending Game 6 loss. The Heat were over the limit in team fouls with almost 8 minutes to play in the game. You would think that would lead to a constant attack on the rim, with players refusing to settle for jumpers, right? Wrong. From the time Dallas would have gotten free throws for every foul call until the end of the game, they unconscionably jacked up 9 three-pointers!! What the hell kind of strategy is that?! How about going to the hoop and drawing some fouls? Dwyane Wade certainly had no problem figuring this out, and that's a big reason why he's an NBA Champ.

Finally, with the game on the line, instead of turning to Dirk to go to the basket, you run a pick-and-roll with Eric Dampier, who has no hands and dropped the pass out of bounds. Really?!

So in the last two games, Avery played down to his competition (literally) against the Warriors, and had no concept of what was going on offensively against the Heat. Hopefully the coach can figure out that he has the best team here, and that he needs to make his opponents adjust to what his team does instead of the other way around. Otherwise this off season will seem a hell of a lot longer than the almost six months that the Mavs spent getting those 67 wins.

Comments

[ANate]

The Mavs-Warriors game last night had a similar stretch of jumpshots that didn't make any sense. It was again the fourth quarter I believe and the Mavs were trying to put the Warriors away and Baron Davis got ejected. Most of the Warriors performers were in foul trouble and the Mavs hadn't hit a 3-point shot ALL NIGHT, yet they attempted 4 of them in a five minute span and Dirk continued to utilize only the fall-away jumper, which was what he was doing the last two games of the finals last year. It's a terrible way to play a game when you are the bigger and less agile team.

[point 23]

You gotta remember who Avery's mentor is. Don Nelson is the king of playing goofy match ups, sometimes to the point where he outthinks himself. I think Avery may have gotten caught up in trying to prove to his mentor that he is just as smart as he is instead of just danicin' with who brung 'im. He made it kind of personal, I think, but Game 2 showed that he learned from his mistake.

Once he starts making the same mistakes twice, then I think we can start questioning his ability to handle the playoffs.

He hasn't been a complete choke artist in the playoffs: he did get them to the Finals, and wasn't he wildy lauded for his ability to go small and push the pace (basically playing Devin Harris) to get to last season's Finals?

Seems like what got him praised once kinda back fired the next time. But hey: that's hoops.

[David]

When Will The NBA Stop Trying To Influence Games

Last night’s officiating was another travesty. In both the 2nd and 3rd quarters, a series of quick fouls against the Warriors put Dallas in the bonus for nearly 2/3 of each quarter. Most of these fouls were dubious at best. Light touches that didn’t interrupt play, calls off the ball, and the quick succession of calls all lead to the conclusion that the NBA was trying keep Dallas in the game. The fact that it didn’t work is only a testament to how out of the game Dallas really is. You would have thought after last years final, the NBA would be more cautious. But the brazenness of the officiating is really shocking.

[meugene]

Avery, I have all the respect for you as a head coach. I'm utterly stunned that you would expose your teams deficiency by playing all of this man 2 man defense. You should make GS into a strictly jump shooting team by playing the match up zone that Miami used so well against you last year. Your Bigs have been rendered powerless and your foot speed is looking slower by the game. So much for the Buckner, George pickups. They are looking like Denver/Laker backups. Avery wake up and admit what you are. You're a step faster than San Antonio, but they have some one that can post up in the blocks you do not. Win Sunday or its time to go Fishing. Your game 7 is Sunday night. Good luck although I dont feel at all good about your teams ability to rise to the occassion. I hope to be proven wrong.

[Vibram Five Fingers Sale]

My point? Other than a self-aggrandizing personal anecdote? In pro hoops, when it takes an extraordinary individual performance to eek out a 2-point win on your home court...you're in trouble. Because, while it's impressive, you can't duplicate that magic every time you play someone. And you have to figure Wade probably wouldn't have gone off like that in Detroit.

[Nike Air Max]

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