Jason Kidd has done wonders to his reputation as a coach in the NBA this season. There were questions surrounding Kidd after his failures at his previous stops in Brooklyn and Milwaukee, but he has done an amazing job as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Getting the fourth seed in the West was a fine achievement in itself, but he has now topped it up by leading the Mavericks to the Conference Finals.
They stunned the top-seeded Suns in spectacular fashion in Game 7 and Kidd deserves a lot of credit for the adjustments he made after losing Games 1 & 2. He outcoached the coach of the year, Monty Williams, in this series, and Kidd had a little something to say after they came out on top:
“No one gave us a chance. A lot of people said this would be a blowout. Well, they were right. But they didn’t have us on the winning side. This is a good win.”
“A lot of times in this league, if you are team, you find yourself winning games that you are not supposed to.”
Kidd is on the money when he says many felt this would be a blowout against them, like Game 5, which the Suns won 110-80, but the Mavericks dramatically flipped the switch. They pounced on a tentative start by the Suns and never let up after that on their way to a 123-90 win. His team seems to have brought into with what he was preaching prior to the game when he said there isn’t any pressure surrounding Game 7.
Now Kidd gets tasked with trying to get the better of the Golden State Warriors, who managed to get past the Memphis Grizzlies in six games. It would be another major upset if they manage to pull it off, but Kidd would no doubt put them in the best position possible to make an improbable Finals run.
