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Avery not a fan of AJ

exodus

By exodus
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exodus Newbie

exodus

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THE TRUTH ABOUT THE AJ TRADE

By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

Want the truth about the dumping of Anthony Johnson? You get it here, first and exclusively:

No, it's not about "faith in JJB.'' No, it's not about an unwillingness to pay Johnson $9 mil over two years. No, it's not because Johnson's accidental elbow broke Greg Buckner's nose in practice. No, it's not because the Mavs wanting to open up a roster spot for Keith Van Horn.

Anthony Johnson had been traded to Atlanta for a second-round pick because the Mavs didn't like his sluggish game, didn't like his attitude and didn't like the fact that he was 20 pounds overweight and couldn't or wouldn't lose it.

Period.

Leave it to classy coach Avery Johnson to explain the deadline deal by saying it was motivated by a renewed faith in Devin Harris. ("Let's just say we feel really, really strong about Devin," AJ said.) Leave it to the classy coach to make it sound as if a second-round pick is a heckuva commodity. (That's like a late first-round pick!'' AJ said.)

Leave it to me, though, to give it to you straight: Avery, initially a fan of Anthony because of his toughness and experience, grew more and more disappointed in Anthony's weight issue. Dallas shouldn't have been surprised; there are old-time NBA'ers who will always argue that a thick-bodied small guard, once he gets into his 30's, is in constant danger of "losing it.''

And Anthony Johnson -- thick-bodied and thick-legged by nature, carrying 20 needless extra pounds, and in his 30's -- lost it.

The staff was also disappointed in some occasional behavior things -- "little b.s. things,'' one staffer said -- difficult for outsiders to detect because Anthony had a knack for saying the right thing to both the media and to coaches. But, a source said, his actions did not match his words. And his performance was even poorer than his actions.

Johnson came here this year from the Pacers in the Darrell Armstrong trade. He averaged 2.8 points, two assists and 14.1 minutes in 40 games -- numbers that cause me to long for D.A.

Make no mistake, the Mavs are clearly Avery's team. Because of the respect he's earned from Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson, he is able to win debates on these sort of issues. The owner might argue that the investment should be seen through. The GM might argue that an insurance policy third PG is important.

But Avery didn't like Anthony. So Anthony is gone.

It might be logical to wonder if it wasn't about the money, but it wasn't. It might be logical to think there is an ensuing move on the way. But while it might be nice to fall into a third-string center at some point, that's not the plan, and it's certainly not a plan that includes Keith Van Horn, who I'm told is not an Avery fave, either. How much of it is about getting a pick from the lousy Hawks? In this summer's talent-thick NBA Draft, a top-40-or-so pick would be OK, I guess. How much of it is about Devin? Heck, he's already a part-time starter at the point; what does Anthony Johnson have to do with him? And how much of it is about JJ Barea?

I was told before the game that Barea might be able to play four or five minutes in a big game, but only in the unlikely event that Dallas loses both Jason Terry and Harris. And really, that even in that case, Dallas would be able to rely on other, better players (Howard, Buckner) to bring the ball up and then, according to one coach, "Just pass the ball to Dirk.'' (Barea's work in mop-up time Thursday was less than impressive.)

Naturally, I wondered all day how comfortable the Mavs would really be in any third-string PG scenario.

And now we know: Avery Johnson would be more comfortable doing most anything than he would be keeping Anthony Johnson around.

106am Feb 23 2007

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TroyMcClure Newbie

TroyMcClure

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I've always loved Avery. Much respect for him. Glad to know idiots like him feel the same way I do. Funny how people's views will change when the messenger is Avery Johnson and not me. You can say that I know nothing. Fine. If you say that Avery knows nothing, you're lying to yourselves.

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Packfill Proficient

Packfill

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I am more concerned about the "20 pounds overweight" part.

Agreed. I'm not worried about Avery not liking him, but he's the kind of guy where weight's always been a bit of a concern. I don't really know how he looks as of today though.

Hopefully the Hawks scouts were able to determine that he was not in fact overweight prior to the trade. If he is overweight, shame on them and the front office.
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mrhonline Community Regular

mrhonline

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Agreed. I'm not worried about Avery not liking him, but he's the kind of guy where weight's always been a bit of a concern. I don't really know how he looks as of today though.

Going from playing a few minutes every other game to playing 20-30 minutes regularly will do a lot to help him lose that weight.

Also, some of the very same things were being said about LoWright last year in Memphis. We've heard nothing but good things about his time in Atlanta this year.

Time will tell, but worst case scenario is that the Hawks trade him for a 2nd rounder in the offseason. It's really a no-risk move.

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TroyMcClure Newbie

TroyMcClure

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Also, some of the very same things were being said about LoWright last year in Memphis. We've heard nothing but good things about his time in Atlanta this year.

But we've seen nothing but the opposite. His play has been tragically negative. He played hard for about a week early in the season. Then he stopped. That's what fat, lazy, unmotivated, rich guys do.

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Popeye Newbie

Popeye

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Also, some of the very same things were being said about LoWright last year in Memphis. We've heard nothing but good things about his time in Atlanta this year.

But we've seen nothing but the opposite. His play has been tragically negative. He played hard for about a week early in the season. Then he stopped. That's what fat, lazy, unmotivated, rich guys do.

Actualy he plays hard, it's just that he is not good. You can't blame him for that. nol2.gif
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DJ_Money Newbie

DJ_Money

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This reminds me of every article ever written about any player that has just left any team. ("Oh, he was bad in the clubhouse..")

Yeah me too. Anyone know if this guy is legit or just another bozo with a website?

Took a second, but it came off dallasbasketball.com, a fan site, much like this one.

So, yeah, it's as credible as any of the crap posted here.
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