Gauging the team’s attitude has been a staple of Avery Johnson’s coaching style. He often calls it “body language” and what he’s seen so far from his Mavericks as training camp moves from the practice to the preseason stage is encouraging.
“They’re much more focused,” he said after Monday’s workout. “They’re more mature. They’re a little bit more physical, which is a nice surprise.”
The reason for the increased focus is simple.
“They know we’re the underdogs,” Johnson continued. “The Spurs are the team to beat and you have other teams that a lot of people are talking about.”
Johnson also rattled off Houston, Cleveland, Miami, Phoenix and most of the Western Conference as teams that should be in the hunt. The preseason begins Tuesday night against the Spurs at American Airlines Center.
Check out more in the today's Camp Notebook.
Monday, October 8, 2007
More focused and mature
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1 comment:
It's a little transparent (and maybe a little embarassing) that Avery is saying that a 67 win team is the underdog in the entire NBA. Obviously this is his way of telling us that he's taking his foot off the gas, resting his players and only looking for a top 4 seed instead of satisfying his own ego with a 60+ win season.
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