Rumor: AJ wins COY

[aexchange]

Rumor on ESPN 103.3 and 1310 state that inside Mav sources state that AJ has won coach of the year.

This is scheduled to be announced tomorrow. Way to go AJ!

[aexchange]

From the FWST:

Avery Johnson will be named coach of the year
By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
At least one major piece of hardware is headed the Mavericks’ way.

Avery Johnson will be named NBA coach of the year on Tuesday, according to league sources, for his performance in his first full year on the job.

Johnson guided the Mavs to a 60-22 record, tying the 2002-03 team for the best record in franchise history. The Mavs had the third-best record in the league and, as the fourth seed in the Western Conference, opened the playoff with Sunday’s 103-93 victory over Memphis.

Johnson is the fastest coach in league history to 50 wins, his 66-16 record after 82 games is the best all-time and his overall record of 76-24 is the second-best after 100 games.

Johnson is the first Mavs coach to win the award. Former coach Don Nelson was a three-time winner in Milwaukee.

Johnson may have some company once all of the league’s honors are handed out. Dirk Nowitzki is one of the Most Valuable Player award favorites, along with former teammate/reigning MVP Steve Nash and LeBron James. Jerry Stackhouse is in the running for sixth man of the year.

The Mavs resume the best-of-seven first-round series against Memphis on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.

[MavsFanFinley]

Congrats to AJ. Here's hoping it's not the only award the Mavs win.

[FINtastic]

Well deserved if you ask me. He's put a pretty good system in place for our Mavericks.

[Drbio]

Worst kept secret in sports

Congrats AJ.

[EricaLubarsky]

honeslty, who else was in the running. Once we hit 50 wins I knew it was coming

[ames7]

I'm honestly still surprised he won, but he absolutely deserves it. Good to see him recognized for what has been an incredible start to a coaching career.

[madape]

The little general definitely deserved it! Way to go AJ!

[sike]

the good guys win one!!!!

[u2sarajevo]

Very well deserved.

Let's see, last year D'antoni wins COY and Nash wins MVP.....

foreshadowing?

[nashtymavsfan13]

Good to see the most deserving candiate win. Way to go Avery!

[ddh33]

I hope this isn't the only hardware coming to Dallas...

Avery really deserved this though. He took a team with a certain style and identity, and he's put his handprints all over it and changed that style and identity. That's a difficult thing to do, but he's done it with ease.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Originally Posted by ddh33

I hope this isn't the only hardware coming to Dallas...

Avery really deserved this though. He took a team with a certain style and identity, and he's put his handprints all over it and changed that style and identity. That's a difficult thing to do, but he's done it with ease.

Hopefully we'll get two more pieces of hardware

[wescx]

I really thought Flip would undeservedly get it. Glad I was wrong.

Congrats!

[Stranger]

Congrats AJ! He inherited a great team, but I think he's begun to push them to a higher level.

[WraithXx]

Originally Posted by Stranger

Congrats AJ! He inherited a great team, but I think he's begun to push them to a higher level.

oh really? you think? welcome to game 1 of the 2005 regular season... what the hell?

where have you been?

[rabbitproof]

Coach Johnson defintely got a sweet setup from the player-coach apprenticeship to the strong support network around him (Nellie as consultant, Donnie as GM, Del as right hand man).

The COY award is defintely a reflection upon the entire team. Kudos!

[WraithXx]

Originally Posted by rabbitproof

Coach Johnson defintely got a sweet setup from the player-coach apprenticeship to the strong support network around him (Nellie as consultant, Donnie as GM, Del as right hand man).

The COY award is defintely a reflection upon the entire team. Kudos!

Nellie as consultant? LMAO

are you joking me?

yeah, maybe if Avery wants to know what brand of beer he should by on the weekend...

[Stranger]

Originally Posted by WraithXx

oh really? you think? welcome to game 1 of the 2005 regular season... what the hell?

where have you been?

I meant a championship level. They're not there yet.

[WraithXx]

yeah gotcha, I was just ribbin ya for no good reason =)

[rabbitproof]

Perhaps over a beer or a umbrella-decorated cocktail on a beach, but Nellie has most defintely spat some knowledge at Avery.

[Jerry Stackhouse]

Congrats to AJ. I would have voted for Mike D'Antoni, though. The Suns scored 140 points in one game. It was no fluke, either. They also scored 133 on the Knicks IMO.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Jerry Stackhouse

Congrats to AJ. I would have voted for Mike D'Antoni, though. The Suns scored 140 points in one game. It was no fluke, either. They also scored 133 on the Knicks IMO.

Funny, although in all fairness I do believe AJ actually is Stack's pick for COY.

[TripleDipping]

What are you doing here posting? Go practice your jump shots, man!

Good for AJ... it would be a travesty if he doesn't win it.

[mary]

Congratulations to AJ!

[TomThaMavsFan]

CONGRATS AJ !! a great guy wins a great honor,

[Mavdog]

Dallas’ Avery Johnson Named 2005-06 NBA Coach of the Year

NEW YORK, April 25 -- Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson has been named the winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2005-06 season, the NBA announced today.

In his first full season as the Mavericks head coach, Johnson received 419 points, including 63 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received. The 2004-05 Coach of the Year Mike D’Antoni of the Phoenix Suns was second with 247 points (27 first-place votes) and the Detroit Pistons’ Flip Saunders was third with 223 points (18 first-place votes).

Johnson, the first coach in Mavericks history to receive the honor, led the Mavericks to a 60-22 (.732) record, the third-best mark in the league and tied for the best season in franchise history. Johnson, named head coach on March 19, 2005, was the fastest coach to 50 wins (50-12) and recorded the best start by a first-time coach in league history, winning 66 of his first 82 games. Johnson led the Mavericks to a 34-7 mark at home, tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the best home record in the Western Conference.

Johnson’s focus on defense guided the Mavericks to the third-best point differential in the league, as they posted 99.1 points per game while holding opponents to a franchise-low 93.1 points. This year marked only the seventh time in the franchise’s 26 years that the Mavericks held opponents under 100 points per game. After being outrebounded last season, they tallied 3.9 more rebounds per game than their opponents this season (3rd best in the league), pulling down 42.2 boards per game and holding opponents to 38.3.

After retiring as a player on Oct. 28, 2004, Johnson began the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach with the Mavericks. In 16 NBA seasons, Johnson played 1,054 games and averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 25.3 minutes. Johnson spent the majority of his playing career in San Antonio (1992-2001), where he was part of the 1999 NBA Championship team and remains their all-time leader in assists.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary

[George Gervin]

Great job AJ! Now I need for you to autograph my Avery Johnson jersey..!

[wescx]

Wrote about Avery today

Ortegal said during game one that it would be one of the biggest crimes in sports history if Avery didn't win coach of the year. I don't know if I would go that far, but almost.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Jerry Stackhouse

Congrats to AJ. I would have voted for Mike D'Antoni, though. The Suns scored 140 points in one game. It was no fluke, either. They also scored 133 on the Knicks IMO.

Damn stack..you traitorous slob! Greatness..

[nashtymavsfan13]

Originally Posted by Jerry Stackhouse

Congrats to AJ. I would have voted for Mike D'Antoni, though. The Suns scored 140 points in one game. It was no fluke, either. They also scored 133 on the Knicks IMO.

Funny

[nashtymavsfan13]

Mavs' Avery Johnson Named Coach of Year
By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer
April 25, 2006
DALLAS - Avery Johnson was honored as the NBA's coach of the year Tuesday after leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 60-win season in his first full season as coach. That matched the team record for victories, first set three years ago when he played for the team.

While the 2002-03 team was known for its scoring, Johnson transformed the Mavericks into a defensive squad. Dallas ranked in the league's top 10 in scoring and points allowed, ranking higher in the defensive category.

After the Mavericks won 60 games in 2003, they didn't put Johnson on their playoff roster. Instead, he played the role of a player-coach during practices that postseason and sat with the coaching staff on the bench during games. Coach Don Nelson already had let Johnson run some practices and considered the "Little General" a possible successor.

Dirk Nowitzki, an NBA MVP candidate this season, and Adrian Griffin are the only current Mavericks who were teammates of Johnson in 2002-03.

"Avery's done a great job with us, preparing us every single night, teaching all the little things over the whole season and really turned the franchise around into a defensive ballclub first," Nowitzki said Tuesday. "He's done a great job, so he deserves a lot of credit."

Dallas plays Game 2 of its first-round Western Conference series against Memphis on Wednesday. The Mavericks won the first game.

The Mavericks traded Johnson and Nick Van Exel to Golden State in August 2003 for Antawn Jamison. A year later, Johnson was back in Dallas - technically as a backup guard but realistically as another coach. He retired as a player before the season and became Nelson's top assistant.

Johnson replaced Nelson as head coach on March 19, 2005, inheriting a club headed toward its fifth straight 50-win season. The Mavericks went 16-2 down the stretch and won their first-round playoff series against Houston after losing the first two games.

As a player, Johnson was undrafted and repeatedly released. He finally became the starting point guard on an NBA champion in San Antonio, and hit the series-clinching shot in 1999.

[kriD]

Leading man

'Little General' is first Mav to win Coach of the Year award

By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - The sight of Avery Johnson and Gregg Popovich sharing a hug stuck in the mind of Joe Prunty.

It's still a vivid image, though nearly 10 years old. Something about it just felt, well, historic.

"It was one of those moments that for whatever reason stayed with me," said Prunty, a first-year assistant with the Mavericks who spent the nine previous years in the San Antonio Spurs organization.

"It was Pop's very first win and I just remember thinking I was looking at something special. I didn't know what it was then. Looking back on it now, I was looking at two future Coach of the Year guys."

The future became the present Tuesday, as Johnson joined his former coach in San Antonio, his predecessor with the Mavs and a host of other distinguished names in an elite fraternity.

Johnson is the 2005-06 NBA Coach of the Year. He's the first Mavs coach in the 26-year history of the franchise to claim the award.

"I'm humbled by this because it's not really about me," Johnson said, seated behind the Red Auerbach Trophy at an afternoon news conference inside American Airlines Center. "It's about those 15 men that I work with on a daily basis, our players that really make all of this happen.

"Obviously, I'm not the happiest guy to work with every day, but they tolerate me. They know that I'm trying to get the best out of them. We have a lot of fun times together, too."

Johnson playfully chastised the media for not reporting enough of the "fun times." They didn't miss the job done on the court by the "Little General," who won the award in a landslide.

Johnson, 41, earned 63 first-place votes from a league-wide panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters, and was listed among the top three on 109 ballots.

Runner-up Mike D'Antoni of Phoenix, last season's Coach of the Year, had the second-most first-place votes (27), and Detroit's Flip Saunders appeared on the second-most ballots (79 ).

Johnson's résumé built a strong case - three coach of the month awards beginning with last season, the Western Conference coach in the All-Star Game, a 60-22 record his first complete year on the job, fastest coach to 50 wins, et al.

Those reasons added up to a Coach of the Year award. They don't explain Johnson's success.

Johnson has always been a coach-in-training. From his days at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans to Southern University to a 16-year NBA career, he prepared.

"This is what I'm here for," Johnson said. "I felt like I was a coach when I was a player, and even though this is only my second year, I feel like I've been doing this for a long time."

Undersized but undaunted, Johnson quarterbacked San Antonio to a championship in 1999 and became only one of two players under 6-foot in league history to play at least 1,000 games (Calvin Murphy).

"He's put in the work, he has the desire, and he also has the persistence and mental toughness to drag a team his way, to have it do what is necessary," Popovich said. "He won't give up."

Johnson expects the same from his team.

"He's demanding, but he was demanding as a player, too," Dirk Nowitzki said. "He's fun to play for, he has a great relationship with his players. Obviously, he can be very hard on you, but he's just trying to push you and we love him."

Even when it appears Johnson pushes too hard and is really getting on a player with that relentless Cajun mouth, it comes with a genuine sense of respect.

"He's able to let the players know by not only what he says, but by the way he behaves that he really cares about them," said assistant Del Harris, a former Coach of the Year (1994-95) who has assisted three award winners.

"You can be very demanding and even very critical if you show the passion you have for these people as individuals."

The personal relationships forged with his players, and everyone in the organization, are just as important as the X's and O's. Johnson is part of their lives.

When Jason Terry's niece unexpectedly passed away last month, Johnson reached out. He did the same when Jerry Stackhouse's junior high coach passed a few days ago.

"I care about what's going on in their families," Johnson said.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban is hopeful Johnson remains part of the family for years to come. He's a full year into a four-year contract after succeeding Don Nelson last March.

Incidentally, Johnson's incentives are based on how far the team goes in the playoffs and not on individual honors. Johnson said the day he was hired that if he can't win a championship before the contract is up, he'll fire himself.

"I hope he's coaching here 30 years from now," Cuban said. "Who knows? Maybe he'll be the guy smoking the cigar sitting on the bench in the next trophy they have."

[Spurs Fan]

Congratulations, AJ. Well deserved! Here's an article from a SA paper. The bolded part cracks me up...

Spurs-Kings notebook: Popovich lauds Mavs' Johnson
Web Posted: 04/26/2006 01:18 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer

Avery Johnson was named the NBA's Coach of the Year on Tuesday, and one of his former mentors couldn't be happier.

"I'm thrilled to observe Avery's success because he's been many things to me," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He's been a great friend, a great player, and he's obviously established himself as somebody who can coach the game.

"To watch his progress over this short year and a half is just amazing."

Johnson was one of the first players Popovich signed after he took over as general manager in 1994. He played under Popovich from 1996-2001 and hit the shot to clinch the Spurs' first championship in 1999.

Popovich used to call Johnson his "coach on the floor" and never had any doubt he would make a successful transition to the bench. Johnson took over as Dallas' coach late last season after Don Nelson resigned.

"His love of the game over the years was exhibited by what he gained from each coach he played for and every player he played with or against," said Popovich, who finished sixth in the Coach of the Year balloting. "He has a natural affinity for the game. He understands how the game works, he understands what wins, he understands what's fluff and what should be ignored.

"He also has the persistence and the mental toughness to drag a team his way, to have them do what he thinks is best. He won't give up. If somebody else doesn't buy in, they'll have to figure out what to do."

Popovich and Johnson remain close and talk frequently. So how did Johnson thank his friend?

"Nellie was tremendous in helping lay the foundation for me. I learned a tremendous amount from him," Johnson said. "And the coach down south, who's one of the sorriest coaches in basketball, I worked with him, too."

[kriD]

Gutsy calls make Johnson special

Coach of the year's gutsy calls demonstrate why he deserves the distinction

[By Kevin Sherrington / The Dallas Morning News]

In the first 24 hours since he earned a title no Mavs coach ever wore before him, Avery Johnson heard from a few old friends.

"Some of 'em really pretty special," he said.

Gregg Popovich. Joe Dumars. Tony Parker.

Nice to know they remembered the NBA's latest coach of the year. But nothing probably meant as much as what Johnson heard from deep down his own bench Wednesday.

DeSagana Diop can't get out on Memphis' Pau Gasol?

Erick Dampier's ineffective with three fouls, too?

Up steps ... D.J. Mbenga?

Question: When was the last time the Mavs went three deep in centers in a playoffgame?

Better question: How many centers in Mavs history would you want in a playoff game?

"We're going to need all three of our centers in this series," Johnson said.

Don Nelson wouldn't have gone through two before he made Dirk Nowitzki move over.

But this isn't Nellie's team anymore.

The national media recognized the point with this week's vote, and Johnson justified it Wednesday.

He knows how to push this team's buttons, and he's not afraid to do it, either.

He proved it early this season by switching Dampier and Diop and, in the process, getting Damp to buy into his role off the bench.

In Game 1, Dampier's terrific. Can he do it again in Game 2? Always a question.

Or as Johnson put it, "I know his body."

Translation: He knows when Dampier's into the game and when he isn't, and he's not wasting any time on him.

Of course, it's one thing to have a two-headed center. But three?

Consider the position it put Mike Fratello in: He gets 31 points in the first quarter and 10 from Gasol, who was well into the third quarter Sunday before he scored that many.

And what happens Wednesday? Johnson starts making moves to rectify the situation, a couple of which probably took some guts.

Example No. 1: Even after making 10 of their first 13 shots, the Mavs' lead is just 24-21. Nowitzki has eight. He's perfect from the field. But the Mavs are timid, in foul trouble, reluctant to make stops. In other words, they look just like they did before Johnson took over the team, not that it would have made any difference as to Dirk's playing time. But Johnson pulls his superstar, and Dirk smoulders on a long, slow walk to the end of the bench.

Example No. 2: After Gasol shows the range of his offensive skills in the first quarter, Johnson responds with the depth of his bench.

Now most coaches don't go with a rotation of more than seven or eight in the playoffs.

Johnson didn't even hesitate. He waves in Mbenga, who's as raw as a Siberian winter.

Next thing you know, the Grizzlies are going more than nine minutes without a field goal.

Now, not all that frustration was because of Mbenga's considerable muscle and energy. Memphis made a lot of its own problems, too, particularly late in the half.

"Four offensive fouls," Fratello said, shrugging. "Self-inflicted."

Nowitzki's return from the bench made a difference, too. On his way to a game-high 31 points, he finally was part of a combination that overpowered the overmatched Griz.

A scheduling note: Don't pay any attention to Johnson when he says this is going to be a "seven-game series." Don't bet on it even coming back here. Even though Memphis has its moments, the weight of their losing streak probably is getting a little much to bear. Cheer up, fellas. As droughts go, your playoff skunk doesn't really amount to much. You're just cubs.

Let me give you some local perspective: The Rangers have been around 34 years, and they have only one playoff win.

Johnson's going much deeper. He's doing it because of the demands he makes on this team to play defense.

Overall, the Mavs haven't played that well in this series. "Shaggy," is the word Del Harris used to describe Game 1. And it'd be a good description of Game 2 at times as well.

Said Johnson: "There's still another level for these Mavericks to go to."

And he's going to find it if he has to run Keith Van Horn out there in loafers.