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The Dallas Mavericks fired Avery Johnson on Wednesday, a day following the team's second consecutive first-round exit from the NBA playoffs, ESPN.com has learned.

Johnson became Mavs' coach during the 2004-05 season and walked away with a 194-70 record (.735) but only a 23-24 mark in the playoffs

Who wants him on our bench next to Pop ?

Well, I think he's going to get another head job... but I think that'd be beneficial overall if he was an assistant.

pretty cut throat... finals appearance, 67 wins, coach of the year, and he gets axed.

He didn't deserve the ax. He's not entirely to blame for the Mavs struggles. He's not the one that pulled the trigger on one of the most questionable trades in recent memory.

The shame about the NBA - and most team sports - is that the players get all the credit, but the coaches get the blame. It's not fair, but it's just how it is.

Avery will land on his feet. He's a good - not great, yet - coach. I think he'd be a good fit in Chicago. The Bulls are a team that are screaming out for a leader that preaches hard work and D.

Little General was too good for those choking Mavs anyway.

I'd love him as an assistant, but he'll probably get the Bulls job. Just don't go to the Knicks whatever you do.

I'd love him back here as an assistant coach. However my dark horse bet is that Presti snaps him up for the Sonics.

Someone had to take the blame... Cuban blamed, Avery...

It wasn't a surprise that Avery was going to go. From his three yrs he's proven that he's a good respectable coach with solid strategic sense. Two yrs ago, they had the chance to beat the Heat, but they didn'y implement the right defense to stop D-Wade from having his way on the court. Last year was crippling as we all saw the Mavs getting outsmarted and outplayed by Don Nelson and the Warriors. This year, I believe Mark Cuban should share some blame in this season. The Jason Kidd trade not only killed their depth, the Mavs as a whole never got on the same page in terms of playing well together. Avery and the Mavs had a good run while it lasted. It maybe time to either make better upgrades to their roster or tear the team down and start the rebuilding process.

He deserves credit for effectively erasing the Spurs' hopes for their first back 2 back. He deserves credit for transforming Dallas into a great defensive team. He deserves credit for placing one of the greatest regular season display of dominance. And then Cuban fires him. How ironic.

^^psst..Fisher put an end to our first b2b attempt, not AJ.

I actually think he took a team capable of beating the Spurs and winning 67 games in the regular season that Don and Donnie Nelson put together and ran them into the ground in the span of two years. He didn't build the team, he wasn't there to lay the foundation. To me it's a very similar situation to the coaching situation in Notre Dame, where Charlie Weis won that first season with Ty Willingham's players, but when it was his time to really be influential, Notre Dame has just been horrible.

I think AJ is quite possibly the most over rated coach in the modern history of this sport. He'll probably get another head coaching spot soon, and who knows, maybe he'll be more successful there, but from what he's done in Dallas, I think he's been real fortunate that he walked into such a great situation.

CoachPop wrote:^^psst..Fisher put an end to our first b2b attempt, not AJ.

No. Actually, you could say Duncan put an end to our 1st attempt at a back to back, as he was injured in the 2000 playoffs and we were knocked out in the first round by Phoenix.

Tiga wrote:Who wants him on our bench next to Pop ?

I brought that up earlier and not many of the posters wanted him to become pops successor...I would love to get him as an assistant, but also would be glad if he gets another headcoaching-job, which he surely deserves!

cuban will realize what he had in avery when he is gone...btw.: what other coaches could be a possibility for him?...isiah???...

I was a fan of Avery when he was with the Spurs, but I'm lost that during his tenure with the Mavs. I feel Avery is a pretty good coach, but his ego still gets in the way. I think his rise to fame was too quick and it got to his head. His connection with players leaves something to be desired and that came to light during this second season of his. It's easy for everyone to get along when you are winning 67 games but when the times got tough, the Mavs fell apart. On top of that, I don't think he and Tim Duncan got along very well when Avery was here. So with that said, I honestly would rather Avery not come to the Spurs unless Pop keeps him in check. Honestly, I'd probably be a bigger fan of D'antoni coming over. D'antoni is great for boosting the players' confidence which would help when Pop puts players in the doghouse.

you have a point, but if mike d came to the spurs, my days as a spursfan (its abaout 15years now) would be counted (or at least i would have to wait for him to leave again)...its just opinion, but i think mike d isnt a good coach, when it comes to coaching itself...he is great letting players do what they want...having easy trainingsessions and not dictating every bit on the court...if he wouldnt have had nash as the real coach of that suns team, I doubt they ever would have been mentioned as contenders

Well, I'd only have him as an assistant. I definitely would not want him as a head coach. But yeah, we could probably do without either coach.

I don't expect either to be with us next season

It's a hell no from me for D'Antoni. The man just isn't a winner. And has no idea how to utilize a bench.

Utilize?? D'Antoni acts like he doesn't know what the word "bench" means.

Carlisle to Dallas, good move.

Carlisle would've been good if Dallas still have Devin Harris. Kidd is the type of PG who you should let free. Carlisle is the type of coach who likes to call a play everytime down the floor. Ask the Pacers.

I'd love to see Avery go to New York. He'd be the perfect coach IMO rather than analysts such as Mark Jackson or the offensive minded Mike D'antoni. If New York wants to get back to their defensive minded ways of the old days, Avery should be the guy.