Art Garcia | Mavs.com

Posted: April 30, 2008

The 2007-08 season didn’t play out the way the Mavericks wanted for a myriad of issues that were first addressed with the dismissal of head coach Avery Johnson. Looking back at what went wrong, and forward to what lies ahead will occupy the franchise throughout an offseason that began in earnest on Wednesday.

The team is facing a major overhaul, beginning with the hiring of the next head coach. The organizational philosophy and makeup of the next season’s team will fall into place from there. Changes took place from Don Nelson to Johnson and the ninth coach in franchise history will have his own vision.

“We’ve got to bring a coach in that brings the best out of what he’s got here,” Dirk Nowitzki said after the team’s exit meeting. “Open up the offense a lot more, run, but still a guy that knows how to coach defense. Basically you don’t want to go back to the Nellie days where we just run-and-gun and have fun, and get scored on every time down, so that’s obviously not the solution you want to get to.”

The front office tried to find answers with the trade for Jason Kidd with less than 30 games left in the regular season. The blockbuster deal didn’t have the impact the team hoped. Recognized as perhaps the best pure passer in the NBA, Kidd was supposed to bring a new dimension to Johnson’s system.

The Mavs, however, struggled against playoff contenders during the season before squeezing into the playoffs in the ultra-competitive Western Conference with a 51-31 record. The playoffs opened with a pair of double-digit losses in New Orleans and included several well-publicized off-court incidents last week.

It all came to an end with Tuesday’s 99-94 loss, as the Hornets closed out a 4-1 series win. Though a number of reasons factored into the first-round setback, Nowitzki also hinted that Kidd’s talents may have been underutilized.

“We probably could’ve opened up a little more, had a little more free flow, let Jason create and not just make him a weak side spot-up shooter,” he said. “But Avery had his belief in the system and that’s the way he thought we could be the most efficient and the best team we can be, and things just didn’t work out.”

Johnson prodded Kidd to be more of a scoring threat. Kidd admitted that he didn’t feel comfortable in that role and preferred to set up the talent around him.

“For us to be the best team, I have to be aggressive,” Kidd said. “That’s one of my downfalls is being so unselfish that I have to look to be selfish sometimes.”

He added: “Whoever the coach may be, you want to play to your strengths.”

The Mavs have been in a similar position during the run of eight consecutive playoff appearances. The 2003-04 squad featured the one-year experiment of Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison, a 52-30 regular season and a 4-1 loss to Sacramento in the first round.

Nelson made it into next season, though Walker and Jamison were both dealt that summer. Nelson would resign with 18 games left before the playoffs. A rookie assistant took over and subsequently led the Mavs through their most successful run. But after four playoff trips, three full seasons and two straight first-round exits, it was apparent another direction was needed.

“In our business, it’s always the coach,” Nowitzki said. “You can’t fire 15 players, so that’s what always is going to end. Was it a time for a change? I guess. We lost this year. We didn’t play up to our capabilities, so things are always going to fall back on the coach. I think he’s done a great job for us for this franchise.”

Though he’s the foundation, Nowitzki said no one, including himself, should feel safe. Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Erick Dampier and Jerry Stackhouse have been with the team since Johnson took over. All are under contract, but one or more could be traded.

“You’re a little concerned, but if you look at the nucleus we have, we’re not real young, but we’re young enough to compete,” Terry said. “The West is getting tougher though, so we are going to have to make some improvements. What those are right now, it’s too early to say. Like I said, it’s going to start with trying to fill Avery Johnson’s shoes.”

Promising power forward Brandon Bass established himself in the league with a solid season and superb playoff run. The organization has strong interest in young swingman Antoine Wright. Reserve point guard Jose Barea, a restricted free agent, has shown definite flashes. The future is more unclear for players such as Devean George, Eddie Jones, Malik Allen and Tyronn Lue.

“It’s already far past time to tweak,” Stackhouse said. “The guy that spearheaded what’s gone on since Nellie is gone.”

A new guy is coming at some point. The Mavs are less than two years removed from a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals and Nowitzki, one of the game’s best players and hardest workers, is still in his prime. The cupboard isn’t bare.

“We’re just at a stumbling block, at a standstill,” Terry said. “We’ve had disappointment now two years in a row. Obviously, we want to get better. I guess management’s going to take a look at us and see what pieces we need, and see where we go from here.”