DALLAS — When Avery Johnson became coach of the Dallas Mavericks in March, his first priority was changing the team's identity. His mantra: When you defend, you always have a chance to win.
That's sound logic, especially from someone who learned it while winning a championship with the San Antonio Spurs. But this is Dallas, where the Mavericks have a long reputation as scorers, not stoppers.
So when Kobe Bryant scored 43 points against Dallas a few weeks ago, then came back a few days later with 62 -- in three quarters! -- the reaction around the country was predictable.
Critics who've been paying attention to Johnson's push said it proved he'll never change the team's mind-set. Others who remembered Don Nelson's annual halfhearted pledge to step up the defense laughed them off as "the same old Mavericks."
Johnson was furious, of course. Yet instead of punishing the team with a five-hour film session, he considered it a good test to see whether his principles were taking root.
"How do you respond when you're the lead story even on 'Good Morning America,' not just `SportsCenter?' " Johnson said.
The answer is enough to make "The Little General" drop his usual sideline scowl and revert to his trademark wide smile and cackling laugh.
Dallas is 3-0 since its last Bryant debacle, overcoming fourth-quarter deficits to win road games against Sacramento and Seattle, then returning home and outhustling Indiana from the start.
The Mavericks also went into the weekend on an 11-2 roll, with both losses coming against Bryant and the Lakers. The streak took Dallas to the second-best record in the Western Conference, barely behind San Antonio, and third-best in the NBA behind Detroit, a team they beat by 37 earlier this season.
"It's a big motivator," small forward Josh Howard said of rebounding from the Bryant games. "We've been a good defensive team and don't want to let that happen again. We're conscious of who can score the ball on the other team. We take that as a personal challenge."
Johnson knows this is a work in progress, so he's always looking for signs of when he has his team's attention and when he doesn't. He could tell they were reverting to bad habits by trying to outscore Seattle last week, so he went extra heavy on his monologues, hammering them at every timeout and at halftime. It paid off toward the end when he overheard players telling each other, "Let's try to win with our defense."
