Avery Johnson Makes Me Sick

(Disclaimer: Most of the time when I write a blog, I try to take the approach of a writing penning a column for a newspaper or website. Even when it's heavily biased I try to come across as grounded. Occasionally, however, a rant slips through. This is one of those rants.)

If I met Avery Johnson today I would punch him in the mouth. Just straight up, haul off and pop him one. As a diehard Mavs fan I've been furious with Avery for quite a while now for the absolute destruction of the franchise that took place over the last 2 years. But today's headline pushed me over the edge.

It should be noted that I used to be a huge Avery fan. I respect him as a person, I respect his character, and I appreciate the good work he does for the community. As a player I rooted for him, as I did for all short NBA ballers, despite the fact that he played for the hated Spurs. He was fiery and smart and he kept his teammates in line at all times in a powerful way. I was thrilled when the Mavs hired him as their coach in 2005. There are some guys that you see as players and you think to yourself, "that guy is going to be a great coach." Avery was one of those guys. That proved to be the case for about 2 years. Avery coached the team to the Finals in '06 then to a league-best 67 wins in '07 before the greatest collapse in NBA history.

But somewhere towards the end of the 2007 season things started to change. Avery started getting outcoached more and more often only to be saved by an incredible player performance. Then came the first round playoff upset during which Avery was SEVERELY outclassed by Don Nelson. The predictability of his game planning and absolute refusal to change strategy became a constant. And perhaps most importantly, you could see that his players were beginning to grow tired of him.

All of this carried over into last season which turned out to be one of the most catastrophic in team history (and we're talking about a franchise that once won 11 games in an entire season). Avery had absolutely no control over the players either on the court or off. He looked lost half of the time and just angry the other half. His substitution patterns were wretched, his misuse of timeouts was legendary, and his complete unwillingness to get his players in check was pitiful. His relentless badgering had stripped the entire team of their confidence and any semblance of "fun." Possibly most damaging was the way he continually and publicly emasculated point guard Devin Harris.

Harris was never shown any kind of trust while being coached by Avery. He was never allowed to run the offense for himself or get out and push the ball, despite the fact that this played to his strengths. He constantly (and I mean constantly) was required to look over to the bench to get a play from Coach Johnson and just about any time he didn't he was in for a tongue lashing at the next timeout. Truthfully, I don't think Avery ever liked Harris as a player because Harris was the exact opposite of what Avery was as a player. Harris is taller, faster, and more naturally gifted than Avery ever was. Harris' greatest fault was not being Avery when he was on the court.

And so Devin was sent packing last February in exchange for Jason Kidd. This has turned out to be one of the worst trades in team history, despite the fact that Kidd has played pretty well in his time here. When the trade took place, I was all for it for a lot of reasons. The number one reason being that Avery was NEVER going to trust Devin to run the show here in Dallas. Without the trust of the coach, Devin would have rotted here, never getting the opportunity to really display his skill set. I was sure that Avery would HAVE to trust Jason Kidd, one of the five greatest point guards in NBA history. In the end, Avery still couldn't relinquish control to Kidd and was eventually fired, the Mavs have become mediocre and old, and Harris is a potential MVP candidate in New Jersey.

Tonight the two teams met for the first time since the trade which of course brought a lot of attention, interviews with all parties involved, and questions. The Dallas Morning News caught up with Avery Johnson, currently whipping everyone's butt as an analyst on ESPN. The quote from the article that really caught my attention was when Avery says, "We kind of predicted it. If you go back and look at our comments we talked about him being an All-Star around this time. It's not really a big surprise."

Really? Really Avery? Because the last time Harris was in a Dallas uniform he was looking like a scared kid, knowing that the next time he didn't look at the bench before moving up the court he'd find his butt planted squarely on the bench next to the corpse of Juwan Howard. All anyone saw for the last year that both Avery and Harris were in Dallas was Avery constantly berating Harris and never adapting his worthless game plan to allow Harris to do something that fit his skills. It was like pulling teeth to get the Mavs to run for the last year of Avery's reign here and Harris' numbers in New Jersey make it pretty clear that this had a lot more to do with the coach than the player. As Dirk put it at the end of the article, "Maybe he needed to get away from Avery a little bit." Understatement of the year and a nice little backhanded jab at Avery. (Deep down inside, I think Dirk shares my desire to punch The Little General for wasting the prime of his career.) Harris has absolutely broken out in New Jersey where he is averaging 24 points per game and an insane 10.5 free throw attempts per game, something the Mavs are badly lacking.

In truth I think Devin's run as an elite player will be a short one. He's playing on a bad team which inflates his stats. He still is not a consistent outside shooter. And maybe most importantly of all, his body is just too frail to take the beating that he takes night in and out without breaking down. He's heading to one of those careers where the guy spends 25 to 35 games on the injured list each year. And his game is built around speed and athleticism which will fade with both age and injury. But the point is, the Mavs could be benefiting from those prime years prior to his body's breakdown in addition to the 2 first round draft picks they gave up to get Kidd. I love Kidd and I think he gets a bad rap for what's taken place over his short time here. But the youth, speed, athleticism, and just straight dynamism that Harris brings to the table are sorely missed right now.

And it's all because Avery Johnson couldn't get his head around the fact that there are good point guards in this league who don't play the way he did. To hear him take credit for that and claim that he knew it all along makes me sick. I hope his next coaching gig is Cambodia, which is far more than he deserves. And Perhaps Dirk would like to meet up with me sometime to take turns punching Avery repeatedly.

Some Love for G Wallace

Just a quick hit. My compatriot over at DallasBasketball.com wrote a column this week concerning why the Mavs should pursue Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace. There’s no reason for me to sum it up, just check it out for yourself.

Why the Mavs Should Trade for Wallace

What Wallace does best, as noted in the column, is get to the free throw line. He manages to produce as many free throw opportunities (6.6 per game) as Dirk does while attempting almost 9 less shots per game. Obviously Wallace’s touches and scoring opportunities would drop in moving from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the better. But keep this in mind: Charlotte is one of the lowest scoring, slowest paced offenses in the league. Playing with Jason Kidd, who is widely known for rewarding guys who run the floor, would generate a lot of touches for Wallace in fast break situations where he excels. He defends the weak side extremely well making the small lineup the Mavs have utilized over the last few weeks even more effectively. And possibly most importantly, the acquisition of Wallace (at what will be a very low price) makes Josh Howard expendable if the right deal comes along.

But even without another deal, the Mavs look pretty good with a lineup that features:
Wallace
Dirk
Dampier
Kidd
Howard

That’s a darn good lineup and Wallace plugs in to the motion offense very well. Considering the fact that he likely comes at a significantly lower price than he would have a couple of years ago in free agency, this is a guy the Mavs SHOULD make a run after.

Sports Quick Hits 12/11

1. Graham Snubbed For the Heisman
The Heisman Trophy finalists were announced yesterday and it was no surprise as to who was nominated: quarterbacks Tim Tebow (Florida), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), and Colt McCoy (Texas). What did come as a surprise is the fact that Texas Tech's quarterback, Graham Harrell, wasn't included on the list. Under normal circumstances, the exclusion of a Tech quarterback wouldn't phase me in the least. Despite putting up ridiculous stats every single year, it's become an annual event for the Heisman Committee to overlook the numbers because of Tech's high-powered system. But this year is the biggest insult in program history in my opinion.

I don't think Harrell would have or should have won the trophy. If I had an unbiased vote, when it came right down to it I'd probably vote for Bradford myself. But leaving Harrell off the finalists list altogether is outrageous. Just take these simple facts into consideration: playing in the same division of the same conference as Bradford and McCoy, Harrell threw for more yards than both; more touchdowns than McCoy; at a better completion percentage than Bradford; and with the same number of interceptions as both while attempting far more passes than either Bradford or McCoy. All three quarterbacks led their team to the exact same record, with Harrell BADLY outplaying McCoy when the two met a few weeks ago.

Look I get upset that Tech QBs get the shaft every year when it comes to national recognition. It has never sat right with me that Tech guys get discredited because they are "system" QBs yet bums like Eric Crouch can not only be nominated but when the Heisman while running a "system" of their own. McCoy, Bradford, and Tebow, just like Crouch, Detmer, and Young, all run in various "systems" that allow them to excel. Harrell is a heck of a lot more of a traditional quarterback than any of these guys. To leave Graham out of the running for the Heisman, even if he was eventually going to end up in fourth place, is a sham and I think the Heisman Committee ought to be ashamed of themselves.

2. Yankees Spend a Quarter Billion

Over the last few years, my hatred for the Yankees has been pushed to the back of my Sports Mind because of the way they have struggled so mightily. But this week that hatred was rekindled. During the current economic crisis, the Yanks still found the money to sign not one but likely two of the biggest free agent names in baseball and may not be finished. Yesterday the Bombers inked pitcher C.C. Sabathia to a 7 year, 160 million dollar contract, and today were said to be offering another pitcher, A.J. Burnett, a 5 year, 80 million dollar deal. (The obvious question being, are they stockpiling players who have two letter first names?) Next on the list is Mark Teixeira who I hear is close to making a deal with Boston but whom I can’t imagine leaving whatever money New York offers on the table.

In truth, I guess this stuff should make me mad at baseball instead of the Yanks. It’s Bug Selig and the Player’s Association that keep the MLB from having a salary cap like every other major American sporting league. But, hey, it’s a lot easier to hate the Yankees when the team is shoved down your throat with unceasing relentlessness by every major sports news outlet in the country. It infuriates me that in baseball the rich continue to get richer while the poor get even poorer.

On the plus side, when the team still struggles to make the playoffs next year and ends up falling short of a championship, it will be hilarious to see the turmoil that ensues. You don’t spend a quarter million dollars in three days and sit idly by to watch your investment not paying off. Chemistry is something the Yanks forgot about long ago.

3. Kobe’s New Shoe
Word came today that Kobe Bryant’s new shoe, Nike’s Kobe IV, will be a low cut sneaker. Specifically designed by Kobe himself, the shoe is apparently inspired by a soccer cleat.

I think he’s going to get some head scratches for this move but I applaud Kobe for pushing this design on the folks at Nike. The need for high top sneakers in one of the biggest myths in the history of sports and I hope to see the low top shoe become more popular. A high top sneaker only protects against minor ankle rolls and in fact, speaking from the personal experience gained from breaking or seriously rolling my ankles over a dozen times, a lower cut allows an ankle just to roll over rather than resisting it which causes more damage. And for players who make a lot of cuts and quick stops, a lower cut, lighter shoe is a necessity. I stopped playing in high tops a long time ago and moved to a mid cut. I’d gladly move to low top sneakers for good if I could ever find one that provides the width you need for basketball. Here’s one guy that hopes The Kobe IV leads to a revolution in the basketball shoe world.

4. Owens Does it Again
I warned Cowboy fans about Terrell Owens. I told them that he was a cancer, a guy who could and would destroy any locker room in the NFL (as proven by his take down of the Eagles, one of the strongest rooms in the league). Owens is the type of guy who can be on a team that goes 19-0 with a Super Bowl win and throw a fit that he didn’t get the ball enough. You can’t trust a guy like Terrell Owens and any Cowboy fans who have convinced themselves that they could have been fooled.

Today is came out that Owens and two other receivers held a meeting with offensive coordinator of which the basic gist was they didn’t like the Tony Romo was throwing to his friend, tight end Jason Witten, more than them. Then this news “somehow” got leaked to the media. This sounds to me like Owens got ticked, got his boys to back him up, and then let word slip about what was going on. So while the Boys are preparing to play the World Champion Giants this weekend in a game that could determine their playoff lives, the whole team gets to deal with this mess instead.

I’m pretty sure this is Terrell’s last year in Dallas and I think even the most steadfast Owens’ fan has to be saying good riddance. When it’s all said and done, Owens will go down as one of the most talented receivers in the history of football, but also as a guy who never won anything and doesn’t have a single positive contribution to show for it.

5. Dirk
I’ve talked less about Dirk this year mostly because the Mavs just haven’t kept my interest like they normally do. They seem to be destined for a lower level playoff finish and a first round exit. I’m much more interested in what kind of moves they’ll make to solidify their future.

But tonight as I watch Dallas take on the hapless Bobcats, I was reminded of what an incredible player Dirk Nowitzki is and how often he is taken for granted. The Mavs last game was a double overtime thriller against San Antonio in which Dirk played 52 minutes and 40 minutes straight. Coming out tonight it was easy to see that the team, and Dirk in particular, hadn’t physically recovered. His shot looked a little tight and his legs a bit weak. A lot of early shots that are usually automatic for Dirk were coming up short. But as he always does, Dirk adjusted and came through for his team.

One of the things I have always admired most about Dirk is that when he’s having an off shooting night he finds ways to contribute. A lot of times when you see Dirk go something like 7 for 22 from the field he’ll also come away with 18 rebounds. If he has a couple of extra turnovers he’ll also give you an extra block or steal at just the right moment. Tonight when it was obvious that he wasn’t feeling it, he became the facilitator in the half court offense, drawing the defense to him and then finding the cutter time after time. And then, when the moment was right, he stepped into a 3 and drilled it to give the Mavs the big bucket they have come to depend on him for over the last 10 years.

But I want to point out another play that will certainly go unnoticed after he finished off the night with that shot. Just a few moments earlier Dirk made the hustle play of the night. A long Jason Terry three pointer went wide. As he was coming in to crash the board, Dirk changed direction and was just able to smack the ball back in bounds as he fell into the Charlotte bench. The hustle play preserved possession and gave the Mavs another shot to put it away. As he careened out of bounds, Dirk landed in the lap of Bobcats’ coach Larry Brown, one of the games all time greats, who helped him up. As the camera panned past Brown and a timeout was called, you could see a small smile and look of admiration cross his face. You could read exactly what he was thinking: if only I could get just ONE of my guys to play like that. Here’s Dirk Freaking Nowitzki, a perennial All Star, an MVP, the best shooting big man in the league, and he’s diving into the other team’s bench after a ball in the middle of December against a crappy team like Charlotte. It stuck with me and it obviously stuck with Brown. You have to love Dirk.

Cotton Bowl Bound and Reality Sets In

I was born a Texas Tech Red Raider. My whole family is from the Lubbock area and I had two uncles, among many others, who pushed the Red Raider way on me. As a kid I chose most of the teams I root for, whether it’s the Oakland Raiders or The Ohio State University Buckeyes, but I came by Tech fandom honestly. So please allow me a moment to explain how hard it is to be a fan of a team that has ALMOST no chance of winning a football championship in my lifetime.

The past year was the best season in the history of Texas Tech football, at least since the school entered the South West Conference in 1960. Starting at around number 15 in most ranking polls to begin the season, Tech jumped as high as number 2 before the 65-21 crushing in Norman. It was a season marked by many incredible highs that most Tech fans could only dream of: the contention of both Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree for the Heisman trophy; the last second defeat of the number 1 ranked team in the nation and longtime bully on the block, Texas; the national press finally acknowledging the Red Raiders as a legitimate championship contender. It was a season that was a blast to be a part of from beginning to end. And under normal circumstances, I would be more than satisfied with 11 and 1.

But this isn't a normal season.

Sunday's announcement that my Red Raiders would be taking on Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl came as no surprise. There was perhaps a 1 percent chance that the Fiesta Bowl would choose Tech over Texas, though perhaps 1 percent is a bit high. From the moment the second quarter began in the Tech-Oklahoma game 2 weeks ago, my hopes of playing in a BCS game had all but faded away. I had convinced myself that playing in the Cotton Bowl is no laughing matter and that the steps the program took this season should still be valued. Still, when the announcement came, I couldn't help but be disappointed.

Let's get this out of the way up front: unlike some of my fellow Tech fans, I'm not going to argue that the Red Raiders necessarily should have been invited to the Fiesta Bowl instead of Texas. There's a small part of me that feels cheated in that Tech squarely defeated Texas only a short month ago and yet the Longhorns are the ones headed to Arizona. If it had been the other way around, I assure you Texas fans would be throwing a fit today. An even bigger part of me feels cheated by a ridiculous BCS system that rewards teams from lesser conferences in order to “spread the wealth.” So while Tech will take part in the best non-BCS bowl game, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech, with their 8 loses between them (not to mention Penn State and Utah, both of whom Tech would crush) will all enjoy the perks of playing in major night games and approximately twelve million dollars that will be paid to each school for playing in a BCS game. Still, this system has been in place for ten years and everyone has to play by the same rules. All of this is a moot because if Tech had taken care of business and just stayed relatively close to Oklahoma they’d be preparing for the Fiesta Bowl as I write this.

I’m not writing today to complain about how unfair the BCS system is or question how Texas got into a BCS game despite the fact that Tech has the same record and also owns the tiebreaker against the Longhorns. No, today I’m more concerned with writing about what it’s like to be a Tech fan and how much reality hurts.

Fans of teams like Oklahoma, Texas, USC, Ohio State, Florida, or any other national power can’t understand what it’s like to be a fan of a program like Texas Tech. Even during down years, programs like those mentioned above always have hope of resurrection. OU was awful during the early years of the Big 12 but in the end the school’s tradition and money won out and they’ve been back in power since they hired Bob Stoops. It’s the same for places like Florida. The Gators had a couple of “bad” seasons under Ron Zook in which they still made trips to the Outback and Peach bowls then quickly reloaded with Urban Meyer and won a title a year later. Tennessee just completed a losing season and went through the process of hiring a new coach. The program is down but because of their tradition and power, in all likelihood the Volunteers will be competing for conference championships within a couple of years.

It’s not very hard to be a fan of a traditional powerhouse, and I feel like I have permission to say that considering the fact that my other college sports loves are Ohio State football and Duke basketball. It’s easy to root for a team that disappoints you when they don’t win the title. When Ohio State bombs out in the National Championship Game, despite my immense depression, I can always comfort myself with the thought that, “There’s always next year.”

There’s not such thinking about next year when it comes to Texas Tech. This year was THE year. Their quarterback will graduate, their best player will head for the NFL, and it’s likely that Mike Leach, coach and offensive genius, will leave for would-be greener pastures. Next season it will almost certainly be back to normal, meaning the Red Raiders finish with between two and four losses, go to a decent bowl, and don’t warrant any legitimate national attention.

But the key to that last sentence is “almost.” It’s “almost” certain that Tech won’t take that step into serious contention next season. “Almost.” There is perhaps a two percent chance that next season will be the one in which the Red Raiders jump into a BCS game and championship contention. And that “almost” is the kick in the pants every single year.

The truth is, as easy as it is to be a fan of a big time program like Oklahoma or Florida, it’s also easy to be a fan of a terrible team that has zero chance of winning a title in the next ten or twenty years. Fans of Vanderbilt, Baylor, Duke, etc. can enjoy a 6-6 season and then settle back in to reality when the next year rolls around and the team goes 3-9. You always hope they start winning some games but you know going into each season that there is no way your team will win a title. As depressing as that sounds, there’s comfort in having lesser expectations, in accepting your team’s doormat status and just hoping that once a year they jump up and screw up another team’s season.

“Almost” gets me every single year for the last decade of Texas Tech football. In all honesty, maybe I shouldn’t expect the Red Raiders to ever make a BCS game. Despite turning themselves into a second-tier program (a major upgrade from where they were ten years ago), they still play third banana in the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas. Both of those programs have an endless supply of money to support them, boosters who can quietly sweep problems under the rug, coaches who will never leave as long as things are good, and a tradition that never dies no matter how bad things get. In recruiting alone, Tech almost always comes fourth behind Texas, OU, and the other national powers that raid the Texas high school football system each year. Maybe the Red Raiders are right where they are supposed to be, a second tier team that is always exciting and dangerous but ultimately doomed to fall short against the powers of college football. But regardless of whether or not that is my lot in life as a Tech fan, the two percent chance, the “almost,” never seems to go away.

When the 2009 season rolls around, I will almost certainly convince myself that this year could be the year. That despite losing Graham Harrell, Michael Crabtree, and Mike Leach, we’re still set up to make a run. That the collection of undersized hustlers at the skill positions and an offense that can score on just about anyone will be able to bust their way through the rankings. That perhaps they’ll get a little lucky and catch Texas and OU off guard and beat both. And at the end of the season, when Tech heads to the Gator Bowl or the Holiday Bowl or maybe even the Cotton Bowl, reality will once again set in and I’ll remember that I’m a Tech fan and Tech has ALMOST no chance of winning a national title each season.

“Almost.”

A Trip to the Other Side of Town

I'm coming to realize that the weeks leading up to and involving the holidays are pretty much the most jam packed, craziest, busiest weeks of the whole year. The next season is right around the corner which means my days (and often my nights) are a mad scramble to get everything together so that the year can go as smoothly as possible. When I'd really like to be enjoying the gift giving and receiving, the dumb lights and decorations, the smells, the food, and everything else that goes along with the season, I generally spend most of my time thinking about how to get more volunteers for basketball or how many kids I can get on each team.

This was the state I found myself in to begin this week. The next 10 days will be the most important days of the entire off season and my plate is absolutely full. My To-Do-List is in that awful state where things continue to be added and it doesn't feel like anything is getting checked off. I'm sure a lot of others are experiencing the same things right now. So when the powers-that-be within the church told us we were going to have a staff outing to take stuff to the homeless, I have to say I wasn't exactly thrilled. I needed to be working and when I wasn't working, I needed to be shopping and getting ready for both Lindsey's and my sister's birthday and that big event that happens toward the end of this month (not Kwanzaa).

On Tuesday morning a bus rolled up and the entire staff of Richland Hills Church of Christ piled in. Seriously, almost every single staff member got on board. If the best criminals of the Mid-Cities area would have known about this, they could have taken every valuable item in the building. Only Matt Junge and Miss Dee Dee would have been there to stop them. We crammed in, two or three to a seat and still some standing in the aisle (safety first, kiddos), and headed to Camp Bowie.

The ride was rough but nostalgic. My bus buddy, LB, and I commented on how these benches that we spent so much time in on mission trips and retreats could suddenly feel so small. Someone played the guitar while half the bus tried to sing along. David Fraze sat in the laps of those around him. It had the feel of a mission trip, missing only the goth kid sitting in the corner complaining about only being here because his parents made him come. We even had a "near death experience," a must on a Richland Hills youth group trip.

We parked in an abandoned lot and by the time we'd all gotten off the bus, people we already lining up. The staff spread out across the block and each department was in charge of a particular item. One group handed out breakfast burritos, another juice and fruit. One gave out socks, another Bible. The Children's Ministry (of which I am the only male representative) handed out gloves and hats. Chris Hatchett told us to just wait, word would get out. Sure enough, within about 3 minutes people were coming from all over.

It's been a long time since I've been a part of a homeless-outreach event. It was, as always, a humbling experience. The things you see when you're in this setting never cease to amaze me. There was the guy who'd lost fingers to an overzealous guard dog. A woman who bawled when we pointed her towards the socks, saying all of hers had been stolen. The man who told us he had everything he needed, he just wanted to come and thank us for our generosity. A hooker carrying a Bible. The man who went from person to person just to be hugged. The kids who should have been in school but instead lived in a car.

I also got to take in the images of the amazing care and out pour of generosity from my fellow staff members. There was the minister with his arm around a hooker. A group of grungy, dirty men crowded around a staff member in prayer. Another minister whipped out a Zippo and lit the cigarettes of the men in line. A member of my team gave up her shoes to a woman, while another helped put socks on her as the woman wept.

I don't know how many people came through in our short time in the area and I guess I'm not really sure how much good we really did in the grand scheme of things. We probably got breakfast and warm clothing to about 2% of the people who were within a mile radius. But I know it made a difference to that 2% and maybe more importantly, it made a difference to the 70 or so of us. How can you not be moved, and moved to change, by seeing a man cry because you gave him a pair of 3 dollar gloves and a pair of socks? Or the dad who didn't want anything for himself, he just wanted something for his 4 kids?

I accomplished absolutely nothing at work on Tuesday. Nothing. Not a single thing got marked off my to-do-list and in fact more was added to it. But the time lost from work was more than made up for by the experience that I took away from a few short minutes on The Other Side of Town. I am extremely proud to work in church that truly does place the desire to serve over everything else.