Re: It's too Early to Experiment MAVERICKS PLAYBOOKIt's too early to experimentBy DWAIN PRICEStar-Telegram Staff WriterDALLAS -- Despite having a four-game cushion over Phoenix with 27 games remaining in the regular season, coach Avery Johnson acknowledged that now is not the time for him to experiment with different lineup combinations to see what else might work in the playoffs."We don't think we have a cushion," Johnson said. "I don't see a cushion."I see a basketball team that, when they're playing right, they can be pretty good. But then I see the flaws, I see the miscues and the certain times [when they are] undisciplined."Which is why Johnson isn't prepared to go into the lab and mix things up."Down the road if we're in a situation in the last week or two of the season, I don't think that's such a bad time to experiment with situations," Johnson said. "But it's not even time to think about that now because there's too much of the season left."Harris will come off benchAvery Johnson said he'll probably keep bringing Devin Harris off the bench while starting either Greg Buckner or Devean George at shooting guard.Harris started most of this season in the backcourt with Jason Terry, but was recently moved to the bench. Johnson made the move out of necessity."We started really getting exploited with our two small guys [Harris and Terry], and it didn't make Devin Harris look as good of a defender as he is when he had to guard 6-8 Kobe [Bryant], 6-8 [Tracy] McGrady."So we figured, that's why we got George and Buck, to have the option of going big like we did with [Adrian] Griffin last year, but even be better; have some guys that are even better offensively and are able to stretch the floor and do more things for us."Johnson said the move to a bigger guard also means he doesn't have to start the game with Josh Howard defending the opponent's primary outside scorer.Despite record, Johnson sees flawsTo some, it might be difficult to find flaws when a team has posted a 45-5 record over the past 50 games. But not for Avery Johnson."It's not about 45-5 in our minds," Johnson said. "We had a low rating on defense in the fourth quarter the last game against Miami, and we only scored 80 points in Houston, so we're always looking at things."Johnson craves the day when the players in his regular rotation are all on the same page."Let's see what happens if we can put everybody that's in our rotation playing efficient," he said. "We've survived at times -- I don't know if you guys ever noticed it -- where we've had three or four guys playing bad."We were able to win the game, but we saw on the film something that you didn't see."Mavs want Howard protectedThe Mavs plan to contact the NBA about why defenders keep placing their foot in places where Josh Howard can land and sprain his ankle.It happened for the second time this year Thursday when Miami's Jason Kapono slid his foot under the Mavs forward when he went up for a jumper, and Howard sprained his right ankle when he landed on Kapono's foot."I'm a guy I don't like sending a lot of stuff to the league," Avery Johnson said. "With all the technology and all the stuff that we're capable of accessing on the Internet and all."It just can't happen, and it keeps happening to the same guy on our team."Johnson said the NBA is cooperating with the Mavs' concerns about Howard.
Re: It's too Early to Experiment I don't mind the move of Harris to the bench, because with AJ gone. The need to keep a backup pg in place is far beneficial. Also, as stated in this article, bigger lineups could exploit the small backcourt.But I'm just disappointed and when I look back at the 04' draft. I think we should went with another player. Who? Luol Deng. The guy I wanted in the 04' draft. He would be perfect as Terry has cemented himself as our starting pg. Which leaves, Harris having to play behind him. Deng would have given us that starting swingman alongside Howard. Can't dwell on that though, so I hope Harris works his way back into the starting line and Terry comes off at the bench as a 6th man in later seasons.
Re: It's too Early to Experiment ^Man, the only problem with that was that I think the Mavs knew they needed an heir apparent to Nash, and maybe a few of the Mavs brass knew they may not be able to keep Nash too.Deng would be nice in the Mavs lineup...they'd be even sicker than they are now.But I'm also sure the Mavs didn't think Terry would become a pretty damn good PG for them either.
