Brooklyn Nets: Coach Avery Rings In New Year With Pink Slip

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH



BROOKLYN NETS:  A New Year Ushers A New Effort To Make Borough's First Season A Successful One.


I'm not going to say Coach Avery got a raw deal because he sort of earned his termination.  But not entirely.  He is tough, and a task-master.  I like those qualities in a coach to a certain extent.  But Coach Avery was too stubborn.  That was his downfall - not a quick start and a cooling off period on way to a .500 record.  And yes, not catering to his star partly got him fired in Dallas as well.  Coach's style took Deron Williams far away from his game.  But it was more than that.  If you're a rookie like Shengelia, Tyshawn Taylor, or Teletovic, you weren't getting on the floor much.  Some coaches just don't like rookies.  And then you can ask Kris Humphries how hard it is to get out of Coach's doghouse.  But in Avery Johnson's defense, an abbreviated pre-season, and only thirty games to get his new team to gel was a bad break.  Continued fourth quarter and overall second half collapses however screamed for attention.  And apparently, even GM Billy King couldn't save Coach from the team's basketball knowledgeable owner.


I walked out of Barclays Center on Christmas Day after that debacle against Boston saying to my son, this game just might get Avery Johnson fired.  I felt a simmer had been brought to a boil that afternoon, and there would be consequences.  However, I was thinking along the lines of what Coach Avery was going to do to the team.  Instead, the situation turned into a case of what Mikhail Prokhorov did to Coach Avery.


I'm old school.  So I can appreciate a good old fashioned post-up game and isolation offense.  But in the Nets case, something had to give.  And Avery Johnson wouldn't bend.  I never checked the official stats, but in that game I do not believe the Nets scored a single fast break point, nor one transition basket.  They additionally had an atrocious day at the line.  But that sort of thing (cold shooting) happens.  Problem was, nothing was happening Boston didn't see coming.  The Celtics see that brand of basketball everyday in practice.  It's what they're all about.  So why wouldn't they be ready to defeat it?


It is too bad Coach Avery got fired.  He was tasked with unceremoniously ending the New Jersey era and couldn't last the first season in Brooklyn.  Being just a bit too stubborn was enough.  I'm sorry to see him go.  That said, I would like for the Nets to rectify their coaching situation quickly.  Until then, while he does not have a strong supporter in me, I'm sure P.J. will do fine.




Mike.BTB