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Carlisle ’09 > Avery ’08

Posted on April 28th, 2009 8:19am by Bob Sturm
Filed under Basketball, Dallas Mavericks, Sturm

ts_carlisle1Yes, I said it. I said it Sunday at this very blog and then I had the audacity to say it again on the radio on Monday. Let me repeat for emphasis for anyone not sure if I mean it.

Rick Carlisle is coaching this team better than Avery Johnson could.

This, of course, will send some people to their emails to fire me back a retort about “Avery got them to the NBA Finals”, and that is true. He did. He got the mentally strong Dallas Mavericks of 2006 to the NBA Finals, and for that, Avery Johnson should be credited heavily.  As for the mentally weak Dallas Mavericks of 2007 and 2008?  Not so much.

I am not comparing Carlisle ’09 to Avery ’06. In fact, I was a huge fan of Avery ’06. But, then he lost his head – and in doing so, the Mavs lost their nerve.  He seemed to alienate many of his assistant coaches and many more of his players between June ’06 and April ’08. He forgot what made this team special 24 months prior and seemed to go somewhat crazy in his efforts to find a solution that he could never locate. The premise of firing Avery Johnson was an easy conclusion . He lost the team. So, therefore, he lost his job.

Meanwhile, here is Rick Carlisle, who has yet to win a series with the Mavericks. So, I understand some recoiling in anger by “Avery Loyalists” if it sounds like I am comparing both of their bodies of work when I say Rick Carlisle is making sense out of Avery’s mess. I am not looking at their full Mavericks resumes. In that competition, Avery Johnson is arguably the most successful coach in Mavericks history – after all, he is the only coach to get this team to an NBA Finals and the only coach to help a Maverick win the MVP (Just ask him).

But, in the name of elaboration, allow me to say why the abrasive Carlisle is more appealing to me right now than Avery ’08; I saw this team out-coach its opponent in a playoff series (to this juncture). I saw a Mavericks coach deploy a bench player (JJB) who gave the opponent’s coach fits (You may recall Avery had the opposite done to him in the Golden State Series). I saw a Mavericks coach require the opponent’s coach – who has 4 rings – to counter his adjustments by starting Bruce Bowen in Game 4. I saw a Mavericks coach push the Spurs coach to run up a white flag in Game 3 with 20 minutes of basketball left. And, most importantly, I saw a Mavericks coach figure out a plan when the opponent took away what the Mavs like to do offensively.

That means the Mavericks have a coach in ’09 that can do something that their coach could not do in ’07 or ’08; adjust to the series when the series is not adjusting to him.

And when he did make his adjustments, the Spurs looked out-matched. We shall see if he can get the toughest of the 4 wins to close the series, but I love knowing that the Mavericks have Plan B and Plan C when Plan A is not working on offense.

Avery Johnson could not make sense of this roster just 1 year ago if Dirk and Jet were not stuck on automatic. It turned into desperation 3 pointers from other players in hopes of turning the game. Now, we have more frequency in trips to the paint and to the rim. Erick Dampier, who Avery campaigned to get in a trade and then who Avery took off the floor in the Golden State series, now appears to be one of the main reasons the Mavs have found success in Games 1-4.  And a win without Dirk leading them?  How about 3 wins without Dirk dominating with the ball?

This Carlisle is making me think he has a few tricks up his sleeve.

So, if you are confused, I am not saying Carlisle winning 3 games in the first round of a series is better than Avery’s entire body of work. I AM saying that Rick Carlisle has the 2009 Dallas Mavericks – with all of their limitations – playing better than Avery Johnson could get them to play.

It doesn’t mean that they will be in the 2009 NBA Finals. If they beat the Spurs tonight, it is possible that they will lose in Round 2 (although I am willing to play the series), but this is about whether or not the Mavericks are playing to the best of their ability. And I think they finally are. Let’s see if Carlisle can continue to out-maneuver Popovich and find another decent road performance in a hostile environment.

But, let the record show from this corner of the blogosphere:  The decision the Mavericks made last year to end the Avery Johnson era has proved to be the proper one.

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23 Comments to “Carlisle ’09 > Avery ’08”
  • Drew @ April 28th, 2009 at 8:43 am

    POW!!! I concur Sports Sturm, and futhermore even if Carlisle doesn’t do a better job I’d rather listen to Jim Carrey than Flava Flav anyday!

  • DallasManUFan @ April 28th, 2009 at 9:12 am

    Well done, Sports Sturm, well done…

  • pirate @ April 28th, 2009 at 9:32 am

    while its fine and nice that we are going to more than likely advance to the next round victorious in the “battle of dinosaurs”, i can’t help be “powered down” knowing that we have a 37 yr old point guard, no meaningful draft picks, and are all but sunk for the at least the next five years or so to the dreads of average basketball.

    i suspect that once we lose in the second round, we will be reverting to discussions on the future and what little really lies ahead. are we to pin our hopes to JJ and Hollins?

  • gbm @ April 28th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    pow pow

    dead on, so far … lets see how this goes if/when the the mavs go up against the nuggets in the next round …

  • Tony @ April 28th, 2009 at 10:11 am

    Right on, my man.

  • gabbo @ April 28th, 2009 at 10:54 am

    I still think we need to keep some perspective on the Mavs. Yes, the bench has been upgraded. And Carlisle gets much more out of this team than Avery.

    But drawing an injured Spurs team with their worst bench since the 2000 campaign is a very limited playoff barometer. The good news is they’ve showed they can beat an unathletic (save Parker) benchless team without one of their most dynamic players. The bad news is they showed Dirk can be shut down during the playoffs. Elite players do not get shut down during the playoffs….do you think Kobe, Wade, Pierce, Paul, etc – are not getting their during the playoffs. Heck, even great players who underachieve during the regular season (Yao, Billups etc) are bringing it in the playoffs.

    Will this bench be able to hold up against more athletic teams with similar depth?

    This team will get run out of gym by Denver in the second round….

    Carlilse is better than Avery…but this is still a team who’s criteria for success is (and will remain) getting out of the first round of the playoffs.

  • Kip @ April 28th, 2009 at 10:57 am

    Yeah, gabbo, I agree.

    Paul was pretty special in New Orleans last night…

  • Tom B @ April 28th, 2009 at 11:11 am

    Avery did it with a Nellie team and a pinch of defense. Add a little Pride and AJ Ruled until everyone found out he didn’t have a clue unless he was carrying on for Nellie. Mark just misfigured, as he is inclined to do, and didn’t realize the synergistic effect those two had. Avery will never do as well as he did that first year, ever again in the NBA. if anyone ever gives him another chance.

  • MRSOSA @ April 28th, 2009 at 11:17 am

    Sturm is right…but let’s keep perspective. This team can only go so far with it’s current roster, still a jumpshooting team w/ the exception of a couple. To my recollection that style hasn’t won any championships in the past decade at least. We still need a big man and a couple of tough guys that will at least change the soft image of this team and scare guys like TONY PARKER who think they can have a layup drill every game. Let’s hope they make a good trade in 2010. But i’m still a MAVS fan.

    Sturminator, i know you’re not big on boxing…but you should consider this weekend’s fight: PACQUIAO VS HATTON. Should be a great fight!

  • Commish @ April 28th, 2009 at 11:31 am

    Obviously your opinion is based on how the 2009 season and playoff series is going thus far… but are you saying a series win against the Spurs is a forgone conclusion?

    That’s what we thought about the NBA Finals in 2006.

    I don’t put anything past this team… they can screw up anything.

  • Samuel @ April 28th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    Amen! Why isn’t this getting more local, if not national, play? With the same group of talent Rick won 1 less game with this group EVEN AFTER Howard missed nearly 1/2 the season with various injuries and JET missed 3 weeks with a broken hand, plus earned us a higher seed, and most importantly is on the verge of winning us a series for the first time since Averys historic choke jobs vs Riley and Nellie. Rick is playing a nice game of chess with one of the best in Pop and that is impressive to say the least. And oh ya, 1/2 the roster wanted to be traded if Avery returned while Rick has them playing together and peaking at the right time. Rick is pretty dang good and that’s probably why he has an elite NBA coaching job while Avery is unemployed and self promoting on ESPN while getting passed over for jobs in NY, Chicago, Phoenix, Detroit, OKC, Washington, etc etc. After his going away press conference in which he proclaimed himself the miracle worker and lied about things I really think it backfired and he hasn’t been hired because other GM’s don’t want to work with Avery the person because of his ego and lies and backstabbing. Kudos to Rick on a great job this season, now lets finish off the Spurs and keep this thing rollin!

  • Jackson @ April 28th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    Rick is so far superior to Avery as a coach its not even up for discussion, and any attempts to prove otherwise are laughable. Rick dictates matchups (see Barea over the entire series, and Hollins in Game 4) while Avery was always two steps slow to counter a move (see Nellie, Riley). Rick uses his bench and gives them freedom…everyone forgets that Barea and Wright were on Avery’s team last year, because that stubborn fool never played them! Barea played 5 total minutes in the entire N.O. series last year…5!!!!! Wright played 7 minutes the entire series, just crazy when you think about it. Now under Rick, Barea is our spark and now a sometimes starter along with Wright (who has become our defensive stopper under Rick). Rick is creative while Avery is connect the dots/cookie-cutter. Rick can draw up a mean out of bounds play (see the last 2 he drew up at the end of that must win Minnesota game a few weeks ago). Rick has the self confidence to hand over play calling duties to Kidd while Avery benched him the final 30 seconds of the game (the nail in his coffin as coach here). Rick hired a new coach in Armstrong mid freakin season to help the team and most importantly, Howard…while Avery forced out Del Harris and tuned out proven guys like Westphal. Rick hired two former head coaches to help him while Avery was the only voice other then yes-men like Prunty. Rick has never bemoaned the short comings of his players or throw them under the bus and to the contrary has gone out of his way to praise the “greatness” of Kidd and Dirk and the “importance” of Howard and the “unselfishness” of JET…shoot, Avery practically made it a full time job of blaming Dirk, Kidd, Cuban, etc. for his own failings which displayed his true character as a coach and as a man. And as Bob pointed out, Avery totally misused this collection of talent while Rick is playing to the strengths of his players and putting them in a position to succeed.

  • Bob Sturm @ April 28th, 2009 at 12:35 pm

    There is no doubt that the first round draw against a wounded Spurs team has everything to do with the good feelings about Mavs basketball. That is affecting my judgement and I imagine setting us up for imminent heartbreak. However, I still believe that Carlisle has quietly put the current parts in a very interesting spot where they seem to all make sense together and peaking at the right part of the season. In short, I think they are being all they can be, which is something I haven’t felt since ’06.

    On the other hand, there are still some very difficult roster-building questions moving forward that will still have to be addressed regardless of how good your coaching might be. You do not win the Kentucky Derby on a donkey, regardless of the jockey. That needs to happen this summer if this thing is to continue to evolve in a non-lottery direction.

  • jimmy @ April 28th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

    Don’t look past the main reason why we are succeeding in this series so far… no Devon George.

  • Marcus @ April 28th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    Bob, I need to talk about your last two segments on the radio rather than your blog. Bob, I generally like listening to you and Dan, but when the subject turns to the Rangers, I just prepare myself to get upset. Today was no different. With you spouting off comments like, “Every team has a Holland and Feliz” you truly show your ignorance. Oakland might have something to say about that, but that’s about it. Now, teams might have a Harrison (who is only 23, by the way) or a Tommy Hunter but nobody comes close to the Rangers in top to bottom talent in the minors. And that is not the Rangers saying that it’s Baseball America.

    I know that you have to keep on talking Rangers, but please try to be a little bit more than a “moron dog” when you do have to talk about it. Otherwise, maybe you should stick to hockey, basketball, NFL, MMA, Gay Not Gay and What’s on your Tivo

  • Bob Sturm @ April 28th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    @ Marcus: Oh, goody. another baseball bully who will not allow others to talk baseball if we disagree. The Orioles have 3 pitchers they rave about. They are, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Chris Tillman. They were the team I used as a comparison. I also said, Washington (Jordan Zimmerman) and Oakland (Anderson and Cahill). So seriously, keep your baseball know-it-all delivery to yourself. Oh, and thanks for your comment!

  • JS @ April 28th, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    Doesn’t Inside Corner have enough baseball talk without people hijacking Mavs threads? Gimme a break.

  • Heard It Through the Grapevine » The Two Man Game @ April 28th, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    [...] Bob Sturm of Inside Corner: “…allow me to say why the abrasive Carlisle is more appealing to me right now than Avery ‘08; I saw this team out-coach its opponent in a playoff series (to this juncture). I saw a Mavericks coach deploy a bench player (JJB) who gave the opponent’s coach fits (You may recall Avery had the opposite done to him in the Golden State Series). I saw a Mavericks coach require the opponent’s coach – who has 4 rings – to counter his adjustments by starting Bruce Bowen in Game 4. I saw a Mavericks coach push the Spurs coach to run up a white flag in Game 3 with 20 minutes of basketball left. And, most importantly, I saw a Mavericks coach figure out a plan when the opponent took away what the Mavs like to do offensively. That means the Mavericks have a coach in ‘09 that can do something that their coach could not do in ‘07 or ‘08; adjust to the series when the series is not adjusting to him.”  Damn straight.  Those who questioned Carlisle’s ability to coach this team coming into the season need watch nothing more than his strategic battle with Pop, or more truthfully, with his players’ psyches.  It’s tough to keep your cool and not get discouraged when Tony Parker is getting into the lane at will, but Rick has kept everyone focused, played the right counter in Barea, and deserves a lot of credit.  I have no idea how long Carlisle will be the coach of the Mavs, but for right now, he’s doing a wonderful job. Tags: Erick Dampier, Josh Howard, Rick Carlisle, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker [...]

  • Dallas blues @ April 28th, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    Could agree with you more on this issue, being a Detroit fan I can’t say as much about your Red Wing opinions. I thought he got the shaft when the pistons let him go for Brown. IMO he brought a lot of the toughness that led to the Pistons winning the title. With the Pacers, the brawl in Detroit led to his demise. I think he is a solid coach that most people do not realize what a good hire Cuban made.

  • JTM @ April 28th, 2009 at 10:30 pm

    Let’s not get carried away with the Rick C. love. He’s managed to get an underachieving team with two hall-of-famers to ALMOST win a first round series in the playoffs.

    Most of the year, the Mavs were frustratingly mediocre. Now that they’ve found some motivation to play a rival (big surprise) Rick C.’s a genius? Slow down, turbo.

    Let’s see what happens when it’s not a border war and they’re up against a team that isn’t old and isn’t missing one of it’s stars.

    Credit where due, but hold off on the man crush.

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