Art Garcia | Mavs.com

Posted: March 8, 2008

The coach that eventually signed off on the Jason Kidd trade once again admitted that sending Devin Harris and Gana Diop, in particular, wasn’t easy.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a different feeling,” Avery Johnson said before facing the Nets. “We have some men over there that we’ve invested a lot of time into and we’ve been through a lot of different, tough games with and they cooperated while they were here and were very coachable, so, yeah, it is a little different.”

Though the NBA is a business, and trades are part of the deal that everyone in pro sports signs up for, personal relationships aren’t brushed aside.

“Devin and Diop are two of the toughest players I’ve ever had to trade,” Johnson said. “Those players, I was kind of emotionally attached to. So it was tough to talk to them and let them know they were involved in this trade, but everybody has to move on.”

Johnson went through similar separation issues as a player with two of the coaches he’s closest to – Gregg Popovich and Don Nelson. Though he parted ways on a few occasions with both, Johnson remained close to Pop and Nellie.

“You have those strong ties to some players,” Johnson said. “Some players are easier to trade than others and those two right there were definitely hard.”

Johnson also continues to believe that Harris could be an All-Star down the road: “He has that potential. Who knows how it’s going to all come together.”

Harris looks for normal in return

Saturday was a surreal yet somewhat normal day for Devin Harris. He tried to make his return to Dallas feel like a home game as much as possible, but didn’t know where the visitors’ locker room was inside American Airlines Center.

As far as basketball, the transition to New Jersey appears smooth considering the lack of practice, the lack of wins and Harris’ return from injury. He enjoys running the Princeton offense and the freedom given by Nets coach Lawrence Frank.

“It’s definitely a different set up,” Harris said. “I have no restraints whatsoever. The team is mine. The play calling is mine. I’ve got pretty much total control out there. It’s a different feeling than what I had in the past.”

During a heavily-attended press conference outside the locker room, Harris was peppered with questions about his departure from his team of 3 ½ years. One reporter asked if Dallas gave up on him.

He quickly put the question in perspective: “I got traded for Jason Kidd. That’s a lot. Give up on me? I don’t think so.”

The time is now

It’s time to get it together and quit with the excuses. That was Avery Johnson’s message to the team, one he left on the white grease board inside the locker room before the game. He hopes the not-so-subtle memo serves as a call to action with a quarter of the regular season left.

Since the Jason Kidd trade, the talk has been about “adjustment” and “incorporating new pieces” and “learning the system” and “extended training camp.” You can go on and on. In so many words, Johnson said: “Enough.” It’s time to get it and start winning.

“We don’t want to keep sucking on that pacifier for the rest of the season,” Johnson said of the multiple excuses.

Johnson added: “At some point, some things are going to start clicking.”

Stack opens and Jet sits

Jerry Stackhouse opened in the starting lineup, the 19^th different opening five used by the Mavs this season. The first group: Stackhouse and Jason Kidd in the backcourt, with Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier up front.

Jason Terry is coming off the bench for the first time since Feb. 20 after making eight straight starts. Avery Johnson had recently tabbed Terry the permanent starter with Kidd.

Brandon Bass, Devean George and Malik Allen checked into the game before Terry, who made it off the bench at the 3:41 mark of the first quarter.