I recently happened upon Washington Wizards owner, Ted Leonsis’ personal blog in a roundabout way after reading TrueHoop’s Wednesday Bullets. In any case, he blogged about luck, deserving the first pick, and thanked Irene Pollin for being at the NBA Lottery Draft amongst other things. From what I’ve read, Leonsis seems like a genuinely happy and regular kind of guy who happens to have a ton of money. In any case, I have to say, I now like the dude. One reason being is he actually approved the above comment when he really didn’t have to. Yes, his comments do require moderation. In any case, thanks for approving the comment, Ted… you’re good people. You can check out the blog entry itself here.
I’m sure most New Jersey Nets fans are a bit disappointed by the other night’s NBA Draft Lottery. Actually, maybe more than a bit. It could even be seen in new Nets owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, a man who has appeared every bit as super cool as 1990s Samuel L. Jackson. However, once the placard showed the Nets were picking third overall, Prokhorov looked a bit rigid and tight, the opposite of his usually loose and focused demeanor. In one fell swoop, “accepting every single role” 2000s Samuel L. Jackson appeared… still kind of cool, but definitely tainted.
Prokhorov, like most Nets fans wanted the first overall pick, which the Washington Wizards won, and the draft rights to Kentucky point guard, John Wall. Although, I personally wanted Evan Turner, the versatile swing man from Ohio State. Unless the Philadelphia 76ers, owners of the second overall pick, decide to go big and select someone like DeMarcus Cousins or Derrick Favors, I’m afraid the Nets won’t be able to draft Turner either.
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So far this week we have looked at three coaching candidates (Coach K, Tom Thibodeau, and Jeff Van Gundy) and now it is time for me to talk about another pretty solid candidate in Avery Johnson. Avery Johnson has been out of coaching since the 2008 season, but he is a strong possibility with the Nets this season because he is looking to get back into coaching. It also helps that our new owner is looking for a head coach with NBA experience.
Johnson was well known for motivating his teams and getting them to preform strongly in the regular season. So far in his 3+ seasons Coach Johnson has a record that is 62 games over .500 (194-70, good for a 73.5% winning percentage).
After taking over for run-and-gun happy coach Don Nelson, Johnson was able to take over and turn his Mavericks into a very good defensive team. The lowest his team was ranked in defensive efficiency was in 2005 when they were ranked 11th (they were ranked 24th in 2003-2004):
- 2005-2006: 11th (105.0 points per 100 possessions)
- 2006-2007: 5th (103.2 points per 100 possessions)
- 2007-2008: 9th (106.1 points per 100 possessions)
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