Or The Final Word on Nellie v. AJ.
Upon first hearing of Don Nelson's resignation as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, my initial reaction was one of shock, followed quickly by disbelief, then anguish. The Five Steps had begun. You see, I'm Old School when it comes to my sports teams. I fall in love with my players, and I fall hard. Hell, I was sad to see Sasha Danilovic leave back in 1997. By and large, this applies to my coaches too, though to a lesser degree.
Now that I have had time to think it over and get a glimpse at Life After Nellie, here are my thoughts:
When Don Nelson came to the Dallas Mavericks on 7 February 1997, his roster consisted of A.C. Green, Sam Cassell, a raw Michael Finley, Oliver Miller, Fred Roberts, Jamal Mashburn, Jim Jackson, Eric Montross, George McCloud, Chris Gattling, Samaki Walker and the then-374 year-old Derek Harper. Today the team has exactly one player on its roster that was actually drafted by the team -- Josh Howard, who looks more and more like the next Scottie Pippen, without the menstrual cramps. In 1996, the roster above finished 26-56. The dream of the Three J's had died. The significance of all of this is that through the virtually exclusive use of trades and acquisitions, Don Nelson turned that roster into a perennial playoff team and potential title contender. Having taken both Milwaukee and Golden State from the lottery to deep playoff runs previously (after picking up six rings with the Celtics), pedigree is not a question here. The man was one of the best things to ever happen to the Mavericks' organization.
Centered around the Big Three of Nash, Nowitzki and Finley, Dallas once again had a professional basketball team. Nellie Ball was one of the most exciting, entertaining and successful brands in the league. He was an offensive savant and the master of the mismatch. Where else could you see Shawn Bradley covering Jason Kidd? Or Tim Hardaway post up Shaq? Classic. The case for Nellie is not hard to make.
Still, no matter how good a coach is, the time comes for a new voice. This transition had been building for a while. With the players he had acquired, Nelson had committed to playing out this string by trying to out-gun everyone to an NBA title. And this philosophy is not as far-fetched as one would think. According to statistics at nba.com, in the last twenty years, the team with the stingiest defense won the championship ten times. The team with the most potent offense did it nine times. The other was the 1987 Lakers, who had both.
While Nellie was content to talk about defense, the owner wanted action. This first, amazingly unmentioned change in the structure of the organization was Don being essentially removed from his position of General Manager, with Young Nellie taking over as Director of Player Personnel. While the media may not have made mention of it, it surely did not escape the notice of the players.
Push finally came to shove with the departure of Steve Nash. The team had traded the reigning Sixth Man of the Year for the draft rights to a defense-first point guard. Then Cuban let Nash walk away, getting absolutely nothing in return. Nelson would later say, "a piece of me died the day Steve left." The handwriting was on the wall.
Two years ago, when Avery Johnson was a Mav for the first time, he was left off the playoff roster spending the run to the Western Conference Finals on the bench right next to Don Nelson, as an assistant. After playing a year in Golden State, AJ returned this season to the Mavs first as a player-coach, then as a full-time assistant.
Johnson ran all practices, film sessions and a handful of games, and handled himself pretty well. So well, that Nellie decided to take a month off to undergo rotator cuff surgery. This provided an excellent -- hell, unprecedented -- opportunity to get a look at Johnson for an extended time. Again, Johnson did well. Let's put this in perspective though. Larry Brown came back faster from hip replacement surgery than Nellie did from rotator cuff work. I myself have a torn labrum that will eventually require surgery. I am putting it off because my only form of transportation is a motorcycle and I need both arms to operate it. I can do this because, while painful at times, a torn rotator cuff (which is actually a combination of ligaments) is not life-and-death. The only reason Nellie took the time off was to groom AJ. Even then, he could have been back at work the day after surgery if he had wanted to be. The final signal that Nellie was eyeing the door was his leave of absence to be with his wife for non-life threatening surgery.
Now, there's a lot to be said for what Nellie did during the first half of the season. I mean, did you see Pat Riley hand the wheel over to Stan Van Gundy for a few weeks before resigning in Miami? Could you see Pat Riley doing it? It was a classy thing to do. And it worked. Cuban has since said that he never would have given the job to Johnson if he had not had the opportunity to show his skills during the de-facto tryout. While the test drive was without precedent, the idea of grooming one's replacement was not. Back in 1976, having just retired as a player, Don Nelson was talked out of becoming a referee by Milwaukee Bucks coach Larry Costello, who convinced Nelson to become his assistant. Eighteen games into the season, Costello quit and Nellie was in the Big Chair. With that in mind, I wouldn't put it past Nelson to have begun orchestrating his own departure about three minutes after the ink dried on Nash's Phoenix deal.
But Nellie did even more here. He walked right before a soft stretch on the schedule, so AJ would start off on a bit of a roll. And most importantly, since everyone in the organization knew he was not going to return next season, he saved Cuban from himself. Mark Cuban likes shiny new toys. And Phil Jackson will be the shiniest this off-season. He would also be a horrible choice to coach this team. Mark and Phil would be Jerry/Jimmy II, without the rings. Until Phil Jackson takes a team from the lottery to the Promised Land, he will always be a one-dimensional coach. How many titles does he have without Jordan or Shaq? By quitting mid-season, Nellie short-circuited any temptation Cubes could have been felled by.
In the days following the change, I came to see it as a good thing, for the reasons I have listed here. Another is that this season was never supposed to be about chasing a title. This has always been a transition year: Nash to Harris, run and gun to a balanced attack, match up hell to convention. From looking like this year's Suns to every year's Spurs. Without the yawns. And this change flows naturally from all of that. Avery Johnson is more Greg Popovic than Don Nelson. So my thinking was, "this is good. Let the new guy get a stretch drive under his belt, get the feel of a round or two in the playoffs and gear it up for next season, looking to make a legitimate run."
But a funny thing happened. Avery's Mavs are 14-2 since the change. Players have come out and said he has taken them to a new level. They put a 36-point thrashing on the Spurs. And if not for two post-Nellie return slumps, that 2 game deficit for the division lead could very well be a surplus. There are whispers in the national media of this being the team to come out of the West -- this season.
Until Don Nelson came to the Dallas Mavericks, I never honestly thought they would ever compete for an NBA championship. I actually started a breakup letter to Elsa Monterroso, "I liken spending my life with you to the Dallas Mavericks winning an NBA title. Their history is ugly, their organization a mess, their outlook gloomy. But outside of the birth of my daughter, it would be the single greatest moment of my life."
I will always be grateful to Don Nelson for what he brought to my dream.
But until the last two weeks or so, I never thought Dallas could realistically compete for an NBA championship this year. Right now, the only team that concerns me at all in the West is San Antonio. Between them and Miami and Detroit, I'd put even money on all four. And I just don't think that would be the case if Avery Johnson had not taken the reins.
Going forward, asie from X's and O's, Johnson would do well to take from Nelson his ability to relate to his players. Nellie lived for reclaimation projects. Not physical ones, those are easy. A guy can play or he can't. No, Nelson seemed to thrive on taking in locker room lawyers and coach killers and turning them into model citizens. Christian Laettner: head case, problem child. Came here and you didn't hear a peep. Tim Hardaway: bad guy. Nary a problem. Antoine Walker: ballhog, chucker -- ok, he did shoot a lot, but not as much. And he learned to pass. And of course, the mother of all reclaimation projects, Nick Van Exel. Not only did this guy behave, he single-handedly carried the team to the Western Conference Finals. Add to that the likes of Antawn Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse and the aforementioned NVE embracing sixth-man roles and you truly have a coach who knows how to get the most from the team he coaches.
Johnson has the passion. Time will tell if he has the prudence. Calling a timeout with three minutes left in a game you lead by fifteen points, so you can berate your team for a defensive lapse is alright in your fourth game, when you're trying to set priorities. Doing so in your one hundred-fourth makes you George Karl, a coach who will get fantastic short-term results, but will eventually lose his team when they tune out the screaming.
My guess is Johnson will be just fine.
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And the winners are:
MVP:
1) Shaquille O'Neal
---Look at the Heat compared to last year. Now look at the Lakers.
2) Steve Nash
---If the Mavs had faltered, maybe he gets my vote.
3) Dirk Nowitzki
---The greatest player to never have won the award. That ends next year.
4) Allen Iverson
---Before the C-Webb trade, name another Sixer. OK, name another.
5) Tim Duncann
---Solid.
Rookie of the Year:
1) Emeka Okafor
---No one else for opponents to fear on an expansion squad, and he averages a double-double.
2) Ben Gordon
---Our preseason pick is going to the playoffs.
3) Dwight Howard
---Is not.
Coach of the Year:
1) Rick Carlisle
---He had to start Eddie Gill, Fred Jones, James Jones, Britton Johnsen and something called David Harrison. On multiple occasions. And they're still going to the playoffs.
2) Mike D'Antoni
---The record speaks for itself.
3) Scott Skiles
---From 0-9 and another deck-clearing off-season to home court in the first round.
*Sorry Nate, we don't give half-season awards. Even if we did, it would go to Furious George.
Sixth Man of the Year:
1) Jerry Stackhouse
---Sure he missed 21 games, but he's a sixth man. It's not like he should be penalized for not playing.
2) Ben Gordon
---Let's see if he can be Wade-like in year two.
3) Earl Boykins
---Horrific Nuggs start hurt his case.
Defensive Payer of the Year:
I'm an allas fan. What the hell do I know about this? Seriously, I went to nba.com and looked at defensive rebounds, steals and blocks and came up with the usual suspects: Wallace, Bowen, blah, blah, blah. Well, this approach completely disregards the subtleties so I am just going with the guys I like watching play D most.
1) Eduardo Najera
---Takes charges like a he's a 4'3" kid from Pocatello, Idaho trying to walk-on at Duke.
2) Shaq
---When he does not want you to score on him, you will not. End of story.
3) Ben Wallace
---The 'fro alone does it for me. But he also truly derives pleasure from blocking a shot into the 47th row. Of the upper deck.
Most Improved:
1) Grant Hill
---He almost died last year -- literally. He played in the All-Star Game this year.
2) Dwayne Wade
---Rookie splash to sophomore "Flash"
3) Dan Dikau
---Tell me you knew who he was at the start of the season.
ALL-NBA (1st, 2nd, 3rd-team)
PG: Nash, Iverson, Jason Kidd (hate to do it, but he kept 'em afloat until the VC trade)
SG: Wade, LeBron James, Ray Allen
SF: Shawn Marion, Antawn Jamison, Paul Pierce
PF: Nowitzki, Duncan, Andre Kirilenko
C: Shaq, Amare Stoudemire, Wallace
And finally, Five Guys on Sucky Teams that Deserve Something for Their Toils:
PG: Baron Davis, Warriors
---Notwithstanding the "bad teams win a log early and a lot late" rule, he brought a much-needed spark to the Bay Area
SG: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakes
---It may not be what he wanted, but it sure as hell is what I wanted.
SF: Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
---Poor man's Peja
PF: Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors
---Solid follow-up to a strong rookie campaign
C: Pape Sow, Toronto Raptors
---No one else was worthy, and we have a friend named Pape.
Until next time,
Paz
