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Avery over D'Antoni ??
I would say that D'Antoni is better than Avery. More experience and better offensive schemes.
Plus, as an Italian, he would get along well with the Europeans on the Bulls team.
Anyway, Avery is not a bad choice as well. He's decent, even if he did get intimidated by Nellie last year when the Mavs got upset by the Warriors. He's still okay.
- JL

Oh jeez, Paxson is such a loser as GM. Yet another ex Bulls player in over his head as management. More years of mediocrity ahead, I'm afraid.

I don't think either team would be good to coach

Avery Johnson would be a better personal fit for John Paxson, as they share the same philosophies on basketball. But if the Bulls want to make money and create excitement within the community, they would be better off with D'Antoni. The Bulls would be fun to watch and definetly bring more fans to the arena.

Avery was fired prematurely, in 3 ?? years his teams went 194-70. A coach shouldn???t get fired for winning 73 percent of his games. Comparatively, Jerry Sloan totaled 149 wins in his first 3 years in Utah. First round playoff exits in his first two and second round exit in his third. Utah didn???t fire him for far less production. The Jazz management remained patient with Sloan. Coaching wasn???t the problem in Dallas, it was (is) the roster.

Avery is a better choice than D???antoni for several reasons. The most obvious, Avery beat San Antonio!!! Something D???antoni never could do. Hell, D???antoni couldn???t beat Dallas!!! If Avery and D???antoni had switched places during those playoff runs, the Suns would have a title. The suns had (have) more talent. Chicago, my team, needs to hire a defensive minded coach that uses an up tempo offensive scheme (Avery), Not an offensive minded coach with no clue about defense. Avery is my choice.

D'Antoni has more experience right now, but Avery will be a better coach in the long run. D'Antoni's next job may be the one that makes or breaks him. People will remember that he had a very talented team in Phoenix...that he couldn't get to the Finals.

TSizzles -
I couldn't agree more with basically every point you made. Avery beats him in basically every category. Cuban jumped the gun in getting rid of Avery to begin with. I would have rather seen Avery in charge as they dismantle part of the Mavs and start over but it wasn't meant to be.

JL-
D Antoni has better offensive schemes? How do you figure that? He played Nellie ball as he had his players continually playing a full court full throttle offense. On top of that you have to say that the talent he had could make any coach look good. Nash alone was able to make the Suns offense look good. They couldn't play D though. Avery has done a good job with the talent he had and with the talent playing below par in the playoffs. If the players were taking bad choice of jump shots then I would complain and lay it all on Avery but when your team has wide open (no one within 5 feet of you) jump shots from 15 feet or so and they can't sink them then it falls on them. Oour #2 player, High Howard looked as if he lit it up right before the game and had a case of the munchies so bad that he couldn't wait till it was over so he could go munch on some doritos. The only thing I can say negative about Avery is his use of Kidd. You don't put Kidd as a shooting guard no matter what. He made Kidd look even older than he is by the way he played him.
Bottom line - I think Avery is one of the best coaches out there and that is why he will pretty much have his pick of where he wants to go. He may be laughing at Mark and the Mavs one day if we continue to make bad trade choices and not develop young talent.

The Dude-
You should get paid for that post!!! Brilliant!!! I couldn't agree more!!!!

The Bulls would be MUCH better off with Avery. D'Antoni's offense worked in Phoenix because he had Nash, Stoudemire, and Marion. They're watching the rest of the playoffs on ESPN, because D'Antoni doesn't play defense. Chicago doesn't have the personnel to go out every night and simply outscore their opponent. Contrary to popular belief, you MUST play defense in todays NBA.

AJ is the best coach on the market. D'Antoni is a gimmick in a suit. Give AJ a young squad and some trading freedom and let him work his majic. Remember he wanted to trade Dirk and build on what Dallas had. Instead, Cuban didn't listen and out they went again in the first round. Chicago take AJ and you'll be a top contender in the East within 2-3 years.

Hllywd -
Exactly. That is why I'm amazed at Golden State continuing with Nellie. Nellie will build and play an exciting game but he will never win a title with his no defense needed approach to coaching. If they are hot then they can beat anyone but sooner or later they get cold and it is game over. The most cosistant winning teams do so on defense. Pistons are a good example.

pick "em
not a championship between the two

but if I was Paxon with that gang on Chicago it would have to be D'Antioni

In fairness....I would reserve judgement on D'A until he goes somewhere else and we see him run another squad.
Maybe he looked at Phoenix' roster and realized he had no other option- but to outscore his opponent. It's all about your personel. If you have defensive-mined players, you play D
And in reality- how many teams in the NBA play GOOD deefense 4, maybe 5 teams?

Although I think Avery was prematurely ejected (heh) from his job with the Mavs reading what T-sizzle said about Jerry Sloan had me saying "huh, he has a good point." the more I thought about it though I realized that the Mavs probably spend a good bit more money then the Jazz due. Think about this the Jazz's big mid season acquisition was Kyle Korver. Meanwhile the Mavs send Diop and Harris to NJ for Jason Kidd. The Mavs job comes with higher expectations because of the money involved. The pressure to win now is higher.

BTW The Warriors continue to keep Don Nelson becuase he knows how to win regular season games. Bay Area fans are incredibly loyal and just want a successful franchise. A ring would be nice of course but Golden State has a hard time attracting big name free agents so whoever can put an entertaining (and comparitively successful) team on the floor, we'll roll with them.

Someone to think about: If Jerry Sloan doesn't win a title this year (and smart money is against him) who do you think will win one first (if ever) Jerry Sloan or Don Nelson?

Twizlamic just hinted at a brilliant idea.
Why doesn't Avery follow his mentor, Don Nelson, to Golden State?
He can work with Nellie as an assistant for a year, and then, when Nellie's
contract runs out, he can take over as Head Coach.
We here in Northern Calif would love to have a young, passionate coach for the Warriors. He already gets along with Nellie, and I think he would get along
well with GM Chris Mullen also. In some ways, the Warriors are like the Mavs - a running, offensive team that simply needs to play a little tougher defense and get some more size, to become a contender.
If Mullen can trade for some size, and Avery Johnson can continue Nellie's success, things would look good.
- JL

Jay L.

That's so crazy that it just might would work. LOL!

I actually like your idea as well Jay L. It could be a good career move for Avery and in two years he'll probably have a choice of head coaching jobs in Golden State, Utah and San Antonio.

Check your facts. D'Antoni and the Suns oust the Mavs in the 2nd round in 2005.

Dallas consider to be one of the deepest team in the league in the last few years how can anyone say the Suns have more talent? Mavs fans are so delusional.

Cuban is an idiot, his biggest mistake was to let Nash go a few years ago. Last year 1st round exit really took everything out of Dirk. Everyone can tell he has lost his confidence. The dude has no swagger left. I look for a steep decline for Dirk in the next few years unless something drastictly change.

Suns can play defense, they have all the ingredient to play very good defense. The problem is D'Antoni is almost ignorant on other side of the ball. He doesn't preach defense, he doesn't practice defense, and when the Suns offer to hire a defensive coach last summer he didn't want any of it. When upper management ask for it this summer D'Antoni and his bloated ego rather leave than listen.

Is Phil available?