I came to the Ritz-Carlton to praise Avery, not to bury him. But as the departing Mavs coach exited through the lobby and retreated upstairs to the Suite 1402 that is his temporary home, I leafed through my notebook full of “goodbye’’ quotes and realized there was no praise I could offer him that Avery hadn’t just spent the morning giving himself.

     Honest to God, I recognize that before we do as Avery instructs and “turn the page,’’ we should honor the man who helped us to a 67-win season, and to an NBA Finals appearance, and – Avery’s words again – “changed the culture’’ of the once-woeful Mavs.

     It’s all true. Avery was an important leader during the Mavs’ charge toward the top.

     And if you don’t believe how important he was. … just ask him.

     Avery tried to say the right things, too. He thanked “all of our players that put on a Maverick uniform,’’ and all the staffers, and the fans, and said “I want to thank Mark for taking a shot and a swing on me four years ago as an assistant, to think enough of me to bring me in immediately, he and Nellie, to make me an assistant head coach without any experience. I’ve enjoyed my time here working with Mark. We had a lot of great moments. And we had a lot of fun.’’

     There is no denying that. Cuban and Nellie handed Avery the baton, and he ran with it like his hair was afire. He coached like that, too, and there is no truly shame in a driving style, a 100-MPH/24/7 style, that inevitably runs out of gas.

     There is some shame, though, in continuing his efforts to revise history, to attempt to escape blame for failures, and to try to sell the successes as the result of the coach’s individual brilliance.

     Earlier this week, on DallasBasketball.com, in an exclusive titled "Under The Bus,'' I let all the damning facts come out, the exclusive behind-the-scenes stories of why Avery had to go. I’ll try to quit judging now. I’ll let Avery talk.

     You judge. I’ll nudge.

     Avery on this year’s team: “This year’s team? It was a miracle we made the playoffs.’’

And there’s the money shot of the day: Avery Johnson is. … “The Miracle Worker.’’

     Avery on the 67-win team: “When we won 67 games, that team significantly, significantly overachieved.’’

     More miracles. Are you sensing a theme here?

   Avery on bad decisions: “We can get up every morning and look ourselves in the mirror, every player that played, coach, and also myself. We can look ourselves in the mirror and really be proud of what we took over when we took over this team and the direction we went in. We can feel very proud of what we did, each and every day. Every decision that I had a chance to be a part of, I can really feel good about it.’’

Proud of every decision he was part of. (And, of course, not so proud of the ones he wasn’t a part of.)

      Every. Single. Decision.

     That’s one proud son of a gun.

     Avery on his organizational know-how: “I think in terms of what I came from a blueprint of what I knew how an organization should be run from top to bottom; I knew what type of players should be drafted, free-agent signings, how the coach should function. I had a really good blueprint with all my successful years down south (as a player with the Spurs). And we were able to come here and really make some headway. We were able to change the culture and attitude. ‘’

     Avery on this being a “results-driven business’’: We got the results that we wanted in terms of when we made it to the Finals. Now once you make it to the Finals, one of two teams are going to win, but this organization had never made it there before, so that was a pretty good result.’’

     Avery on whether this year he had everything in place to succeed: “No, not this year. This is a different team. Before we made the trade, we had the best record against the Western Conference and one of the things that I talked to Mark and Donnie about, I said: ‘Hey, I’ve got to get a point guard.’ That’s why I wanted to develop Devin Harris.’ I said ‘I’ve got to get this boy to a point where he can be a scorer first and pass some. We got him to a point, like I told you guys before, we were knocking on the door with this young man making the All-Star team. He was going to be an 18-and-8 player. I invested a significant amount of time with him and, again, he was injured and a lot of things were happening around the NBA, and like I said, if we can just hold on a little while, we’ve got the best record against the West. I think we were second or third in the Western Conference at that point and we were going to play the Western Conference quite a bit after the All-Star break. The team was changed and we never really got back on track.’’

     Seems pretty clear. Avery is claiming he was 100-percent against acquiring Kidd, 100-percent for handing the reins to Devin. And that the Kidd deal ruined Avery’s blueprint.

     Wow. He's lying. The Triangle of Authority made it "unanimous,'' says Donnie, who wasn't trying to be argumentative but rather was simply answering a Randy Galloway question. Truth is, to my knowledge, the other two points on the triangle NEVER forced on the coach a player he did not want. NEVER.

     Avery, when asked if he’d like to clarify: “We not here for slamming anybody’s name through the mud. … Whatever happened, I think my name is on record with the organization as what I wanted to do.’’

As a matter of fact, Avery’s in-house position is very clear to those in the know. Although the record might have gotten stained after having been “slammed through the mud.’’

     I will add, as a sidebar: When Avery’s potential future employers are digging around. … and they call Donnie, or Keith Grant, or Dirk. … and they ask them whether Avery is telling the truth about his supposed don’t-trade-for-Kidd views. … I wonder what they’ll say? And I wonder what the prospective employer will think?

     “The Miracle Worker’’ with more offerings on this year’s club: “I feel proud about what we’ve done here, contrary to popular belief. We were a seventh-seed this year that was anywhere from a seventh to a ninth seed, could have been a 10th seed with this particular team. We weren’t quick. We just didn’t have what it takes to compete against some of the teams in the Western Conference. It is what it is.’’

     Only a bit confusing. Avery’s “seven-seed’’ should have been a 10^th seed. … but at the same time, “It is what it is’’?

     And more, on whether Avery got all he could from this year’s team: “Oh, yes. Absolutely. And more. Yes. Yes. Yes.’’

    Avery on whether the team tuned him out: “Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. When that happens, then sometimes you need a new voice. It's not that I'm cool with it or I'm not resilient or I'm not disappointed. But this is a part of coaching. Because of that, I've said it all the time. Coaches, we're going to resign or we're going to get fired. Now, whatever words we try to use, that's what happens.’’

     I feel absolved. More immediately important to the Mavs in the last two months than Avery’s assorted flaws is this issue, which has little to do with his personality or his strategies: Players eventually tune out coaches. It’s not a coaching crime. It’s cyclical. I’ve tried to explain that my view on this subject is not an attack on Coach, but rather a fact I’ve seen up-close in 28 years of study. Avery said it better than I have.

    More on the cycle, and how it has nothing to do with ownership: “I'm proud of my working relationship with Mark. I'm proud of it. We've had moments behind the scenes where we've talked about management styles, vision and I've learned a whole heck of a lot from Mark. I don’t have anything but great things to say (about Cuban). There were 29 other owners in the NBA and nobody else gave me my first shot but him. Did we have some rough periods? Absolutely. Am I proud that we were able to get through those rough periods? Yes, I am.

    “(Coaching changes are) going to happen at some point, whether it was five years down the line or yesterday. … All coaches either get fired or resign.’’

     Avery on whether he’s already fielded calls from interested teams: “Yes!’’

     That’s grand, and I believe as with most guys, they will be better on their second go-round. “I won’t try to do 200 different things on the first day of training camp,’’ Avery said, in a rare moment of genuine self-reflection.

     A cautionary note: The buzz suggests that Avery is a candidate for openings with the Bulls and Knicks. (And if Avery is telling the truth about getting multiple calls, he’s almost certainly talking about those positions.) I wrote on Wednesday that if Avery thinks the DFW media represents “Poisonous Journalism,’’ he ain’t seen nothin’ ‘til he loses three straight games in Chicago and New York.

     I just realized this, for people (maybe Avery included) who think Cuban was a demanding, involved boss? In addition to the fact that I APPLAUD Cuban’s passionate involvement. …

     Chicago’s owner is Jerry Reinsdorf. New York’s owner is James Dolan.

     I’m telling you, Avery’s existence in Dallas was more “suite’’ than he knows.

     Avery on the times when the team did listen to him: “Whatever strategies we tried, they really bought into them -- even if they were bad strategies. Because I've had one (bad strategy) in four years.’’

     There were a lot of folks assembled at the press conference. The media came out in full force; when the Ritz-Carlton staff saw most of us unkempt hacks slogging in, they surely assumed we should be entering through the service door, or were maybe begging for dumpster-stored kitchen scraps.

       There were also a handful of emotional staffers who came three blocks up from the gym to say their goodbyes, including assistant Popeye Jones, broadcaster Laura (Mrs. Joe Prunty) Green, equipment man Al Whitley, trainer Casey Smith and the hard-working PR people. (I thought a number of The Lil’ General’s admiring enlisted men were conspicuous in their absence, but I’m cynical that way. I might even kid that if they had shown up and said anything to Avery, it’d be the first time all year he let most of them speak).

     And when Coach drawled out the “one bad strategy’’ line, we all chuckled. Avery – in so many ways the most successful coach the Dallas Mavericks have ever employed-- had made a funny.

     A self-effacing joke.

     At least I think it was a joke.

Comments (0)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment