[G-Man]

After his near meltdown in the playoffs, many of us approached this season unsure if he would survive. Instead he's flourished. The league made him coach of the month, and hardly anyone on this board bothered to give him his props. So here's mine.

I think AJ has made a lot of smart moves this year.

He did NOT throw Dirk under the bus. He let Dirk be Dirk, but he has the big guy abusing small forwards again with a diverse game, backing them down sometimes, and shooting over them as well.

He uses his timeouts well, instead of hoarding them until the end of the game. The quick trigger has worked, especially when the Mavs start a half slow. He uses them well to stop runs, too, instead of waiting for the tie, like most coaches do.

He has Devin and Quis playing under control, which we had to wonder if we'd ever see.

He uses Armstrong brilliantly, to stay in front of waterbug point guards, or give the team needed energy.

The defense still needs work, but nobody takes plays off anymore.

He fixes things. 2 weeks ago, every point guard we played had a career night. Not anymore. At the beginning of the season, it seems like the Mavs started every game at an 8 point deficit. Not anymore. Pau Gasol goes from All-world to mediocre mortal in 1 game.

He has filled in the loss of Finley's leadership, in part with his own personality, and also by demanding that Dirk and Terry step into the void.

He stuck with Dampier, and is now getting decent play out of the big guy. And he seems to know which center to play at various points in the game.

I could go on, but I'll stop here with hope that he keeps getting better, just like he has his young players doing.

My sig still rings true.