Dissecting An Interview

Recently, Avery Johnson sat down with Dallas Morning News Mavs beat writer Eddie Sefko for a little pre-training camp 10 questions.  Even more recently, I sat down to dissect the answers.  It’s easier and cleaner than dissecting a frog so I figured what the hell?

Question #1: It was a relatively quiet summer by Mavericks standards.  Was that by design?  Or were there some things you’d hoped to accomplish and couldn’t get done?

Avery’s Answer: It’s strictly by design.  When we tried to entertain some situations . . . [other institutions] pretty much wanted us to liquidate our team.  We really like our team.  We’re not going to liquidate our team for one player.  We like Eddie Jones [and] Brandon Bass.  And we like that a lot of our returning players are going to be 20 percent better.  We’re banking on that.

Dude’s Dissection:First off, I’m glad they didn’t “liquidate” the team for a big name guy.  That’s a move that desperate teams make.  The Mavs aren’t desperate.  But “we like Eddie Jones and Brandon Bass”?  We are putting a lot of faith in a past-his-prime shooting guard and a 3rd year power forward that hasn’t really seen much playing time for those to be our only free agent acquisitions this off season.  And where did 20 percent come from?  I would expect our returning players to be, I don’t know, 100 percent better, especially after the Finals heartbreak and then the quick ouster last post season.  “We’re banking on that”.  Of course you are, because you haven’t done s**t else so far.

Question #2: Devin Harris has signed a five-year contract extension.  What does that say about his importance to the organization?

Avery’s Answer: We think he has an enormous amount of talent and potential.  We feel he’s moving in the right direction.

Dude’s Dissection:First of all, dumb question.  I think that the fact the Mavs signed Harris to a five-year extension pretty much sums up his importance to the organization.  Also, I think Harris is moving in the right direction by simply allowing him to start at the point and actually play the point full time.  It’s not until you give him the reins that you will find out what he’s truly capable of.  This will be the first time the Mavs have done so.

Question #3: Who’s your backup power forward right now?

Avery’s Answer: Brandon Bass.  Brandon was brought in to be a different type of power forward from Dirk, different from what we had.

Dude’s Dissection:I agree that it would be a nice change of pace to bring in a low-post power forward when Dirk goes out, if only to change up the offense and wear down the opponent.  If the opponent gears their entire defensive strategy to stop Dirk, then you sub in a lesser form of Dirk, what do you think they are going to do?  They don’t have to adjust their defensive strategy, and they will be even more successful because the guy isn’t nearly as good as Dirk.  Brandon Bass isn’t the point here.  It’s that they are willing, finally, to throw out a traditional, back to the basket power forward in contrast to Dirk.  But Brandon Bass?  I love him already because he has a kickass first name, but seriously?  I hope he proves me wrong.

Question #4: It’s a departure from the past, isn’t it, because previous backups to Dirk have been more like Dirk starter kits?

Avery’s Answer: We don’t want to go that route this year.  We wanted something different.

Dude’s Dissection:Great question.  Now we have a 9 question interview.  We’ve pretty much reiterated what Avery just said in Question #3.  I might as well tell Avery we are going to conduct a 2 question interview.  First question:  How are you today?  Avery says: I’m doing well.  Second question: So you’re doing well?  Avery says: Yeah.  End of 2 question interview.  Horsecrap question.

Question #5:If you had to make a gut guess right now, would Chris Webber or P.J. Brown end up in a Mavericks uniform this season?

Avery’s Answer: Ooh, I hope so.  But we’ll have to wait and see.  Either would be a tremendous asset in terms of a role-playing guy.  But they have some other opportunities that they’re looking at.

Dude’s Dissection:Sounds to me like the answer is no, or at least, no until the season starts.  I wanted Brown last season, but if either player isn’t down with the Mavs now, who’s to say they will be down with the Mavs come November, December, January, etc.?

Question #6:With Kevin Garnett, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen all heading to the Eastern Conference, did the West perhaps get just a shade easier?

Avery’s Answer: I don’t think so because Portland’s going to be a little bit better, San Antonio and Phoenix and Houston are going to be better.  I don’t think the West is going to be any easier.

Dude’s Dissection: Again, dumb question.  I might as well have asked Avery if he thinks people will send more or less mail now that stamps cost 42 cents.  You can send any amount of quality players to the Eastern Conference, it doesn’t change the fact that the Western Conference has the best teams.  Players are one thing, but the teams that employ them are entirely different.  The teams in the East don’t take care of their business the same way the teams in the West do, and that’s the difference in quality.  It’s not the players.

Question #7: With Devin Harris signed long term, what does that mean for Jason Terry?  The pair was effective last season but was undersized against basically everybody they played.

Avery’s Answer: Jet is a huge part of our team.  Whenever Jet is on the floor for us, he’s a significant threat.  Whatever role he’s playing, if you look statistically at what he’s done, we wouldn’t be here without Jet.  He’s one of the best shooters in the league.  We need Terry.  And we found out that he and Harris can play together, and . . . play independent of one another, too.

Dude’s Dissection: In other words, Jet’s coming off the bench next year.  If he’s willing.  And if he wasn’t willing, they would have traded him by now.

Question #8: Last year, you start 0-4, then go 67-11, then 2-4 in the playoffs.  What did you learn from that as a coach?

Avery’s Answer: You learn several things.  The main thing is you learn you have to keep focusing on the program.  We talked about finishing, and . . . we didn’t finish.  Now, . . . we start and we start strong and we try to stay strong.  That’s the trick.

Dude’s Dissection: Hey, Avery.  Thanks for the interview.  Do you mind if I stab you real quick with a knife?  Yeah?  Okay, here you go.  Avery handled this the only way you can: cliched rhetoric.  But that was a low blow.  Remember that time you had massive mooky stinks on the team plane?  Care to expound upon that?

Question #9: What does Dirk have to do this year to improve on an MVP season?

Avery’s Answer: There are some things that Dirk can improve in that may not be basketball-related.  It may be leadership-related.  He’s the reigning MVP, and if he’s not willing to be stretched by his coach, he never would have improved.  So he’s willing to be stretched, . . . but it may be in the area of leadership, and we’re willing to get him better in that area.

Dude’s Dissection:Personally, Dirk will never win MVP again unless he’s won a championship.  I don’t think there has ever been an MVP that has been as lambasted afterwards as Dirk.  Sure there were the guys that won when Jordan was in the league, and everyone would say that they only won because people were tired of giving it to Jordan, but Dirk will never live that season down.  No one ever wanted to give him that trophy in the first place, but they wanted to give it to Nash 3 times in a row much less.  Then Dirk accepts the trophy after getting bounced in the first round by the 8th seed.  Dirk will never win MVP again unless he wins a championship.  Mark it down.  And as far as the leadership thing goes, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, smells like a duck, and has never taken a vocal leadership role, then it’s not going to be a leader.  Dirk wouldn’t talk if you gave him a lead role in Glengarry Glen Ross.  Dirk leads by example.  He goes out and plays ball.  End of story.  Let the duck be a duck.

Question #10: One hypothetical question – a few years down the line when you’ve picked up a championship or two with the Mavericks, what would you see as the next logical step in your coaching career – coaching the Houston Rockets or the New Orleans Hornets, your two hometowns?

Avery’s Answer:I would say, really and truly, I want to have a [Utah Jazz coach] Jerry Sloan run with the Mavericks, but with a championship.  I want to have kind of a Jerry Sloan/[San Antonio Spurs coach] Gregg Popovich run.  That’s what I want to have for the city of Dallas.

Dude’s Dissection:Good to hear.  I would love to have him.  Avery’s one of those guys that you couldn’t hate even if he ran over your dog.  He’s good people, and he’s great for the Mavs.  I will have him as long as he wants to be here.  Of course, if he ever left for someone else, I would hate him in the same way I would hate him if he ran over my dog.

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Here’s a theory: If you are a professional football player, and the news media actually refers to you by your nickname, you’re probably a felon.  Take Pacman Jones for example.  First he was Adam Jones, then he was Adam “Pacman” Jones, and now he’s just Pacman Jones, who just so happened to spark a melee at a strip club during which he punched a stripper in the face and a bouncer got shot and paralyzed.  Take Tank Johnson for example.  First he was Terry Johnson, then he was Terry “Tank” Johnson, and now he’s just Tank Johnson, who just so happened to be caught with enough guns and ammo in his home to storm Normandy all by his lonesome.  Take O.J. Simpson for example.  What’s that?  O.J. isn’t a nickname, they’re his actual initials?  Damnit, research team!  Why didn’t you tell me this?  Now I just look stupid!

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If you’ve ever questioned the power of The Dude, then look no further than this little blog entry.  If you scroll down to Michael A. De Leon’s 4th point of the blog, you will find that even a Spurs blogger can be a fan of The Dude’s Mav-centric Awesomeness.  Thanks for the plug, Michael.  I hope I’ve returned the favor.  I look forward to a friendly yet fierce rivalry.

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That’s all I have for now, folks.  Training camp will be starting in about 2 weeks, so there should be plenty more to write about by that time.  In the meantime, The Dude has some more imaginary interviews to conduct.  Stay tuned, and Go Mavs!