Coaching Costs Wizards, Mavericks in Game 1

Out of the 16 NBA playoff teams, the Dallas Mavericks definitely have the worst coach. Avery Johnson let his guys blow game 1 in New Orleans, and I place all of the blame on him.

The Mavs maintained a comfortable 10-point lead for much of the first half, and to be honest, they weren't even playing that well. The Hornets were looking like the most overrated playoff team, and I was feeling good about my prediction for the series.

Then, Avery allowed Chris Paul to explode. Everyone in the world knows that Jason Kidd can't defend anymore, and yet there he was covering CP3 on about half of the Hornets' possessions. Josh Howard or Devean George should have been guarding CP3 on every possession -- no exceptions, not even on switches. Paul did his thing in the third quarter, and it was all over from there.

Offensively, the Mavs reflected zero preparation and preparedness. Jerry Stackhouse attempted six or seven heavily contested shots, and Kidd wasn't making an effort to get Jason Terry involved. When the Mavs made their run to the NBA Finals two years ago, Terry was clearly the No. 2 option behind Dirk Nowitzki. Now, he's lucky if he's the fourth option. Put two-and-two together Avery -- get Terry some more looks.

The camera shows Avery calling plays from the sideline, and when it flashes back to the action, none of the Mavs appear to be listening or carrying out Johnson's requests. That's not a good sign. The Mavs dumbed it all the way down to, "Let's just dump it in to Dirk every time and put all of the pressure on him" during the second half. Step in and shake things up, Avery!

Then there's Eddie Jordan and the Wizards. I swear his players don't even know he exists. There is no way the Cavs should have pulled out game 1 -- everyone but LeBron was awful or worse. Arenas spent the final four minutes of the game playing one-on-one (the preferred offensive strategy of every Wizard) and tossing up wild, contested runners in the lane.

Move the ball around! Set some screens, get some player movement, pick and roll, something. Jeez. They were really tough to watch down the stretch. Granted, Antawn Jamison probably should have capitalized on some of the clean looks he had in the final quarter; but most of those looks came in one pass-quick shot fashion. Brendan Haywood was a force in the first half, how about a pick and roll to get him another point-blank attempt at the rim?

Nope. I don't know if Haywood was even on the floor. Didn't seem like it. Arenas was playing 1-on-5; this is the playoffs, do something Eddie Jordan!

Well, what did I learn this weekend?

I should probably be having second thoughts about my predictions of victory for the Mavericks and Wizards. Thanks Avery. Thanks Eddie. You both suck.