Avery: Don't TiVo the season

Think of 2007-08 – the preseason, regular season and playoffs – as one program on your TiVo. Sure, there’s a temptation to skip through the boring stuff and get to the big finish. But what fun is that? Avery Johnson has already put down the clicker. He’s up for watching the whole thing, commercials and all.

“We don’t want to fast-forward or rewind,” he said. “Just stay in the moment.”

Johnson preached the same a year ago, but the words seemed somewhat hollow. Coming off a long playoff run and short offseason, neither of which felt rewarding at the time, the regular season ahead didn’t have much appeal. The focus then was to get back to the playoffs and “finish” the job.

There’s nothing to finish this time since they’re starting over. Starting from scratch. Johnson has always seems more comfortable and at ease in the underdog role, and he’s selling it hard. To convince a team that won 67 that it’s the underdog is quite a feat, but the way last year ended should be enough do the trick.

“We can do it with these guys,” Johnson said. “The only problem is I believe we can do it more than them. That’s what we’re working on.”

It never ends.