Avery Johnson Named Coach of the Year
 Avery Johnson was presented the Coach of the Year award on Tuesday, April 25.
Danny Bollinger/mavs.com |
NEW YORK, April 25, 2006 – Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson has been named the winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2005-06 season, the NBA announced today.
In his first full season as the Mavericks head coach, Johnson received 419 points, including 63 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received. The 2004-05 Coach of the Year Mike D’Antoni of the Phoenix Suns was second with 247 points (27 first-place votes) and the Detroit Pistons’ Flip Saunders was third with 223 points (18 first-place votes).
Johnson, the first coach in Mavericks history to receive the honor, led the Mavericks to a 60-22 (.732) record, the third-best mark in the league and tied for the best season in franchise history. Johnson, named head coach on March 19, 2005, was the fastest coach to 50 wins (50-12) and recorded the best start by a first-time coach in league history, winning 66 of his first 82 games. Johnson led the Mavericks to a 34-7 mark at home, tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the best home record in the Western Conference.
Johnson’s focus on defense guided the Mavericks to the third-best point differential in the league, as they posted 99.1 points per game while holding opponents to a franchise-low 93.1 points. This year marked only the seventh time in the franchise’s 26 years that the Mavericks held opponents under 100 points per game. After being outrebounded last season, they tallied 3.9 more rebounds per game than their opponents this season (3rd best in the league), pulling down 42.2 boards per game and holding opponents to 38.3.
After retiring as a player on Oct. 28, 2004, Johnson began the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach with the Mavericks. In 16 NBA seasons, Johnson played 1,054 games and averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 25.3 minutes. Johnson spent the majority of his playing career in San Antonio (1992-2001), where he was part of the 1999 NBA Championship team and remains their all-time leader in assists.
The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.
 Danny Bollinger/mavs.com
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I guess it was about a year and a half ago, talking to Avery, trying to convince him that “I know you can still play, but we want to start you on that path to being a Hall of Fame Coach. His response was, “I don’t know…I don’t know.” Finally he made the decision to join the coaching staff, which I know wasn’t easy for him, with Nellie’s health and everything. Then his response was “I’m ready boss, I’m ready boss, put me in.” When Nellie decided not to go forward, I went around the locker room to the different guys and talked to them and they all said Mark—“this is a no-brainer”. Stack said “this guy is amazing”, Dirk said “The General is awesome.”
With all that behind us and so much ahead of us, I’m really really proud and excited to present Avery Johnson, The General, with the coach of the year award. Congratulations.
Avery Johnson:
Thanks Mark. This is a really exciting time for our franchise. I’m really humbled by this opportunity. I want to thank all of the people I work with on a daily basis. First of all I want to thank Mark because anything that happens to me in a positive way, whether winning games, coaching the All-Star game, hopefully winning a championship, winning this award, is really for him. He was the guy that believed I could do this, and obviously Nellie deserves a lot of credit, Donnie deserves a lot of credit, but Mark is the number one guy, so I want to thank him for his support on and off the court. I want to thank my coaching staff—Joe Prunty, Rolando Blackman, Del Harris, Larry Riley, Bernard Griffith, Paul Mokeski, everybody. All of you guys, thank you for your support. Also thanks to the guy behind the scenes, Keith Grant, who does everything, and thanks to my assistant Leslie.
I’m humbled by this because it’s not really about me. It’s about those 15 men that I work with on a daily basis, our players that really make all of this happen. Obviously I’m not the happiest guy to work with everyday, but they tolerate me. They know that I’m trying to get the best out of them. We have a lot of fun times together too…you guys don’t seem to report that, but we do have a lot of fun.
Additionally, I really have a great support system at home in terms of my wife taking care of things, our wonderful children. It’s just been a great fit for me. Dallas has really accepted me, when I was a player and now as a coach. I’m really thrilled to be a part of this organization and trying to build a system and a program here that we can go forward with and win a championship. Del was telling me earlier that he’s worked with 3 coaches of the year now, so Professor, I’m glad to be the third one and I’m glad to be working with you because you were a coach of the year also. Thanks again to everybody that has had a hand in anything good that has happened so far with me and the Mavericks.
What has made the transition from playing to coaching so natural for you?
Well, I think for me, and I really don’t like to talk about myself, but I just think that I’m gifted to do what I’m doing. This is what I’m here for. I felt like I was a coach when I was a player, and even though this is only my second year, I feel like I’ve been doing this for a long time since a lot of it comes naturally.
Talk about your two former soon to be Hall of Fame coaches and the effect they had on you as a player:
Well, Big Nellie was tremendous in helping lay the foundation here and I leaned a tremendous amount from him. Of course he’s been a huge influence on me. I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of coaches in my NBA career, another one of them being the coach down South (Greg Popovich), who’s one of the sorriest coaches in basketball. It’s been good to work with him too. He called me yesterday, by the way. He needs to stop calling…he calls me too much.
What has been the one thing you have learned the most this season?
I’ve learned a lot of different lessons. I think for me, in being here for my first whole season, managing all the injuries we have had has taught me a lot. That’s why I think Dirk should be the MVP. He hasn’t really played with a full squad this year, and he’s still playing with some new guys who are making their first run through the playoffs. Compared to when I was a player, I’ve learned that it’s a different time and a different player, and I’ve learned how to manage injuries and be patient with guys and just trust the training staff and the doctors. That’s what it’s all about, just building trust regarding injuries and letting the players go out onto the court and play their game.
How important was it for you to coach the Mavs Summer League team last summer?
I think it was awfully important. I didn’t think I was too big to go to Las Vegas and coach our summer league team. I told Donnie and Mark that it was important to me, and they signed off on it. I don’t think I managed time outs well last season amongst other things, so we had some things to work on. We had just hired Joe Prunty and Rolando Blackman too, so it was good to get a feel for those guys and get a jump start on the season. Rolando is going to be doing it this year, so I think I’ll just watch.
You are a very passionate person, both on and off the court. Have you had to harness that to an extent when it comes to how you interact with your players?
Mark hired me to be myself. I can’t be anything else, but I have leaned from my coaches, Mark, and Donnie that you’ve got to know when to back off. Hollering and screaming at guys or throwing remotes at televisions, whatever I’ve done, it gets old. It’s very important here with the Mavericks that I have a relationship with my players. We spend a lot of time going to lunch, going to dinner. I care about what’s going on in their families. When the unfortunate situation happened with Jason Terry and his niece, I was right on top of it. I want to be able to hold his hand and be there for him, not just celebrate with him when he mak
