Well, two teams in the West have been sent on vactaion early again this year, their deadline deals turning out to be just that: dead.
With the Suns and Mavs getting bounced easily by the Spurs and Hornets respectivly, the fallout from the two trades that made the least sense around the deadline have exploded in the teams faces. Instead of either organization, the teams have reportedly taken it out on the coaches who where given two old pieces rather then go with what got them into the hunt in the first place.
Avery Johnson is out of Dallas two years after leading his team to the NBA Finals, a year after a 67 win season (but a horrible series against Golden State), and a 3rd staight year in the post season. While the last two years, with exits in the first round that most talking heads never saw coming, have mared his overall image, I believe that Avery is going to be a great coach. Remember, Dallas is only his first stop and there will be plenty of time for him to prove that he's more like the coach of 2005-2007 rather then the coach of the postseason last year and this year.
The Mavs brought in Jason Kidd, a guy who's never been high on defense, and gave up a great young point guard in Devin Harris and the wrong part of the two headed center (Desonga Diop) that Avery had going. Left with scraps down low and a slow point guard that couldn't keep a Laz-E-Boy in front of him, the early exit was destined to happen.
There are also reports (and at time of posting that's all I can find) that Mike D'Antoni is soon going to be following him to the Unemployment Office. This is the guy that with the help of Steve Nash, brought the Phoenix Suns out of mediocrity in the West to an automatic favorite.
New GM Steve Kerr unloaded an unhappy Shawn Marion and a point who never played (Marcus Banks) to get another aging hero that did more for tickets then the actual team: Shaquile O'Neal.
Now, I've never been a huge Shaq fan. He doesn't defend, doesn't rebound unless he's the focal point of an offense, and can't make a free throw to save his life. But, for some reason, Kerr brought him into sure up the defense that D'Antoni's Suns have been missing the entire time. Ask San Antonio how that worked out for them.
With both of theses trades blowing up in the respective teams faces, these coaches have been turned into the sacrafical lambs rather then the people who made the trades in the first place. I told you neither of them would work out, and I was correct. Now I just hope that these teams make some major moves in the offseason to make themselves better, not just flashier.
And part of me wants to see what Kidd can do now that Avery is gone. Bring back the trend of player/coaches Cuban! I beg you. I would DEFINITLY watch as Jason and the rest of the team fell flat on their faces because no one will play D. It'd be awesome!
Dallas does not play an uptempo offense and they don't have slashers and fast break players like JKidd had with Vince, RJ, and Williams in NJ. Howard is the Mavs' closest thing to a slasher but he has a delayed reaction to everything since he likes to smoke on that skunk.
Devin Harris, at this point in his career, is better suited for Dallas than Kidd. Devin's quicker and he's not that bad a defender and is a better at creating shot opportunities for himself than Kidd. Dallas should have gone after Sam Cassell and Kurt Thomas instead.
What Phoenix gained in muscle with Shaq they lost in defensive intensity and offensive fluidity with The Matrix.
And the loss of Marion affected Steve Nash the most. It was obvious that Nash was no longer the threat he was two years ago. And that's because Marion drew so much attention that Nash was able to roam freely in that offense while defenders had to make sure Marion wasn't cutting to the basket and receiving lob passes and backdoor cuts.
Now opponents can key in on Nash and frustrate him with bigger defenders because opponents can afford to leave guys like Diaw and Hill open since they're not as big a threat as Marion. And it's not like Barbosa has picked up the slack. In fact, LB is worse this year than last year.
Overall, the Suns are even easier to defend now and are probably going to be an eighth seed next year.
Johnson was given the blame for Cumans decixion. that was a bad trade from day one and everyone saw it, including Avery, except for Cuban.
Also, Steve Kerr needs his #### handed to him for that trade. Dantoni was desperate but I don't think that was his idea but you have to play the players you are given.
I wonder if Devean George was able to see what would happen if Dallas traded for Kidd before the trade finally went through? Do you think that could be another reason why he blocked the inital trade?
The Lakers aquisition of Gasol triggered all of the other trades:
Shaq to PHX (fishing)
Kidd to Dallas (fishing)
Thomas to S.A. (in the hunt)
Bobby Jackson to Houston (no real shot)etc.
They all got players past their prime.
Gasol is 27 and hungry to win.
Give the Lakers brass credit...under the gun from Kobe's off-season tirade, they responded beautifully.
Cuban is a ####! Avery has too much class to dish the truth about that trade. Everyone knows it was stupid but cuban has little nuggets and can never admit he was wrong. Wrong on Nash, Wrong on Kidd, .... just wrong.
Mavs are doomed to mediocrity. I guess at least I can take pride in the Spurs. My new Texas Team! (at least as long as Cuban is around)
Good Luck Avery!!
ps. Mark Cubans new add for Head Coach ...."Seeking New Head [sub-head] Coach. Needed to replace the last guy to take the fall for me. Not to worry, no big shoes to fill. He was only the fastest Coach in the history of the NBA to win 100 games, he only won 51, 67, and 60 games in his last three seasons, he only went to the play-offs in his first four years as Head Coach, and to the NBA Championship Finals one year, and was the NBA Coach of the Year. Yup, he was nuttin special so I'm lookin fer a real winner now and I'm willin to promise ya the moon and then sell ya down the river to cover up my dumb- #### trades. Any takers???? ####!!!
I'm a Seattle sports fan with nothing better to do then to complain about sports. Be it the Mariners, Sonics, Seahawks, the UW Huskies, or anything else that trips my trigger, I'll always write how I feel about any given topic. I love college and pro football, but all sports are on display here.
