Practice made perfect for Johnson

In the Season of the Nine Sacked Coaches, give or take a couple "He Jumped Before He Was Pushed" or "It Really Was My Decision To Leave," we bring you the story of the coach-in-waiting whose turn came sooner than he, or most anyone else, expected.

Avery Johnson began this season as a player for Don Nelson, the coach of the Dallas Mavericks. He is going to finish the season as the successor to Don Nelson, now the ex-coach of the Dallas Mavericks. And yes, it was all part of the plan, sort of.

Johnson retired as a player at the end of training camp and moved to the sideline to be Nellie's aide de camp. He auditioned for 13 games during the season, filling in when Nellie was recovering from surgery, aiding his sick wife, or simply deciding that he wanted his assistant to do the night's work and see how it really felt to make the decisions. Last night, prior to his team playing the Celtics, Johnson called the auditioning an invaluable experience.

"I wouldn't trade that for anything," he said. "I think it really helped me."

Thus, when March 19 arrived and Nellie decided he'd had enough, it was almost as if there was some Tudorian line of succession in place. Nellie left. Johnson took over. The same people who were stunned to see Nellie leave -- and it was a surprise to many -- were equally unfazed to see Johnson take over.

"It was a no-brainer," said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was with the team last night. "Nellie did a great thing. He auditioned him. It made my job easier. The players loved him. The response has been good. We've played well with him. I love the way he approaches the game. I love the way he approaches the locker room. It was a unique situation. It gave me a chance to audition A.J. and reduce a lot of the risk. That's what business people look for: reduced risk."

In the 13 games Johnson subbed for the absent Nelson, the Mavericks went 9-4. In the first six games since Johnson took over for the resigned Nelson, the Mavericks were 5-1. The overall numbers (offense and defense) aren't that different, although Dallas opponents were scoring almost 4 fewer points per game. But Johnson has been trying to reduce Dirk Nowitzki's minutes and give more time to rookie Devin Harris all with one goal in mind: to have a healthy team for the playoffs.

"Avery coaches to win in the playoffs," Cuban said, "which means you give up a little something in a given game."

Normally, when in-season coaching changes are made, the new guy usually has a lot of cleaning up to do from the old guy. George Karl has basically turned around Denver's season. Brendan Malone should be able to hold on in Cleveland (until the Cavaliers' new owner goes for someone else). But the other coaching changes have all come to teams likely going to Secaucus in the spring, including the two teams who played in the Western Conference finals last season, the Lakers and Timberwolves.

Johnson fell out of the tree and landed in clover. He took over a team that already was 20 games over .500 and was a solid No. 4 in the West. Now, Dallas is 25 games over .500 and an even more solid No. 4 in the West. When Erick Dampier comes back, and it could be sooner rather than later, the Mavericks could be a tough out in the postseason.

How lucky does Johnson feel that he got the call when he did?

"I'm fortunate to be in the situation I'm in," Johnson said. "But things can change from day to day. I've been on teams that won 59 games one year and the next year won 20. But I feel real fortunate to be in the situation."

Doc Rivers, who counts Johnson as a friend, said he noticed one thing right away when he watched tape of the Avery-coached Mavericks: They play a lot like Johnson, whose nickname, "The Little General," was a testament to his fire and leadership qualities on the floor.

"You can see their energy," Rivers said. "You can see the effort on defense is up. They're fronting the post more than they ever did. They're better."

Maybe Johnson knew all this was going to happen when the Mavericks signed him to a one-year, free agent deal Sept. 30. Less than a month later, Johnson announced his retirement and joined the phalanx of Dallas assistant coaches, player development coaches, and others on or behind the bench. But it was clear from the start where all this was going. Johnson was the designated successor, not Del Harris, not Donnie Nelson, not (for now, anyway) Phil Jackson.

"Avery is not an interim coach," said Cuban, although Johnson does not have a contract beyond this season. "Avery is our head coach and we have long-term, high expectations for him."