<><b>Coach Johnson approaches Mavs differently </b></P><><b>layers can expect a slightly different approach without Nelson </b></P><>02:44 AM CST on Thursday, January 20, 2005</P><>By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News</P><>Avery Johnson flies solo tonight for the first time. It\'ll be different for him. And, he hopes, it will be different for the Mavericks, too. </P><>Maybe not so different in terms of winning and losing. Winning two of every three games, as the Mavericks have done this season, is an acceptable pace. But Johnson hopes to leave a few fingerprints in certain spots when he begins coaching the Mavericks without Don Nelson as his co-pilot. </P><>And Nelson would have it no other way. This is no dictatorship, at least not any more. \"Used to be ... when I thought I knew everything,\" the veteran coach said. \"Now I know I don\'t.\" </P><>And so, Nelson wants the next 10 games or so, when he\'s recovering from rotator cuff surgery, to be Johnson\'s coming-out as a coach. The timing could not be better. Johnson will get a stage to show his team and its owner – and others around the NBA – that he can handle the day-to-day pressures of coaching. He also has a schedule that is fair – not too tough, but not full of pushovers – beginning with the Los Angeles Clippers at American Airlines Center. </P><>The test drive also comes at a time when Denver is formulating a list of head coaching candidates. Other positions will surely open as the season progresses. </P><P>Though Johnson has no guarantee he will be the Mavericks\' next coach when Nelson\'s contract expires after the 2005-06 season, this run will give both him and owner Mark Cuban a taste of what could come in the future. And there will be subtle differences. </P><P>\"We\'ll stick with the same game plan offensively and defensively, but Nellie and my personalities are a little different,\" Johnson said. \"Some things that maybe he\'s a little more patient or tolerant with, maybe I\'m not. And maybe some things I\'m a little more patient and tolerant with, maybe he\'s not. </P><P>\"But I don\'t think the guys want me to change my personality. I think the players kind of have a feel for what makes me happy and what makes me mad. They know where I\'m coming from.\" </P><P>Johnson said he will rely heavily on assistant coaches Del Harris, Charlie Parker and Larry Riley. </P><P>\"But at the end of the day, I\'ll make the decision and we\'ll have to live with it,\" Johnson said. </P><P><b>Keeping it simple </b></P><P><b>The biggest change for the players will be a fundamental difference that Johnson and Nelson have in priorities. Nelson\'s primary priority in Dallas has been offense. Johnson\'s tilts toward defense.</b> Tuesday night\'s 137-120 win against Washington, when the Mavericks allowed 80 second-half points, was a brilliant example. </P><P>\"I\'m not as flexible defensively,\" Johnson said. \"In the first half we saw it. Then we had the Bad News Bears show up in the second half. </P><P>\"I want us playing longer stretches defensively. That\'s a difference I want to see.\" </P><P>The best news is that Johnson has the benefit of three games in which he coached with Nelson at his side. He\'s learned from those. </P><P>\"That first game I coached, I wanted to prove to the guys I was a great coach – Red Auerbach and Pat Riley and Don Nelson and Gregg Popovich rolled together – so I gave them 100 things to do,\" he said. \"And they were out there walking around like zombies. I froze their brains. Nellie and I talked about that. Now I give them two or three things to think about.\" </P><P><b>Making a commitment </b></P><P>Those learning experiences are part of making the transition from player to coach, which Nelson said Johnson has made about as seamlessly as it can be done. </P><P>\"I clearly see the difference, and it started when he stepped forward and retired to make it [coaching] a full-time deal,\" Nelson said. \"That was the most important decision – that he wasn\'t going to hang on to being player-coach. He separated himself immediately. Now, he\'s taking the next step. </P><P>\"How can you not trust Avery Johnson? I\'ve gotten more fun this year out of watching him mature as anything else.\" </P><P>------------------------------------------------------------</P><P>好吧,看看未来两周的防守有何改观(不知道得分会不会降下来)。</P><P>再次发现,与其说爱小牛,不如说爱老尼——进攻就是最好的防守。</P> |