The 2007-08 season didn't play out the way the Mavericks because of a myriad of issues that were first addressed with the dismissal of head coach Avery Johnson. Looking back at what went wrong and forward to what lies ahead will occupy the franchise throughout an offseason of certain change.

The team is facing a major overhaul, beginning with the hiring of the next head coach. The organizational philosophy and makeup of the next season's team will fall into place from there. Changes took place when Johnson took over from Don Nelson more than three years ago, and the ninth coach in franchise history will have his own vision.

"We've got to bring a coach in that brings the best out of what he's got here," Dirk Nowitzki said. "Open up the offense a lot more, run, but still a guy that knows how to coach defense. Basically, you don't want to go back to the Nellie days where we just run-and-gun and have fun and get scored on every time down, so that's obviously not the solution you want to get to."

The Mavs struggled against playoff contenders during the season before squeezing into the playoffs in the ultra-competitive Western Conference with a 51-31 record. The playoffs opened with two double-digit losses in New Orleans and included several well-publicized off-court incidents involving Josh Howard.

It all ended with a 99-94 loss in Game 5 as the Hornets closed out a 4-1 series win. Though a number of reasons factored into the first-round setback, Nowitzki also hinted that Jason Kidd's talents might have been underutilized.

"We probably could've opened up a little more, had a little more free flow, let Jason create and not just make him a weakside spot-up shooter," Nowitzki said. "But Avery had his belief in the system and that's the way he thought we could be the most efficient and the best team we can be, and things just didn't work out."

Johnson prodded Kidd to be more of a scoring threat. Kidd admitted that he didn't feel comfortable in that role and preferred to set up the talent around him.

"For us to be the best team, I have to be aggressive," Kidd said. "That's one of my downfalls is being so unselfish that I have to look to be selfish sometimes."

He added: "Whoever the coach may be, you want to play to your strengths."

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
The Mavs locked down their eighth consecutive postseason trip with their only solid stretch against playoff contenders since adding Jason Kidd. After dropping 10 in row to winning teams, Dallas knocked off Golden State, Phoenix and Utah over a nine-day period in April. The victory over the Jazz on April 10 clinched the playoff berth.

TURNING POINT
The front office tried to find answers with the trade for Jason Kidd during the All-Star break. With less than 30 games left in the regular season to work with, the blockbuster deal didn't have the impact the team hoped. Recognized as perhaps the best pure passer in the NBA, Kidd never brought the dynamic dimension Johnson's system needed.

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