Avery Johnson
Avery Johnson
Avery Johnsonis an American basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. Johnson spent 16 years in the National Basketball Association as a player, and subsequently served as the head coach of two NBA teams: the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets. He led the Mavericks to their first NBA Finals appearance and to three consecutive 50+ win seasons. During his playing days, Johnson was known as the "Little General" for his...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth25 March 1969
CityNew Orleans, LA
It's much needed. He needs to play, and we need to see what we got.
It's mostly what Devin's done. He's been pretty good for us.
It's not even so much 2-0 for us, it's just trying to play this game like there's no tomorrow. When we do that, we seem to play better, we seem to play more focused, and that's the only way you can play against Memphis.
Eight out of the 10 guys in our rotation were in a quote-unquote insurmountable situation last year when we played against Houston. For us, that's something that's sunk in, that we talk a lot about. We've got some guys who know how to respond. Is this game any bigger than Game 3 in Houston last year? ... I don't think so.
Everybody's not going to play in the exhibition games, so we needed to get some work in. I don't look at training camp being the first week of October. It's the whole month of October.
It means a lot. Those are two guys who obviously can be starting. Damp's been a starter and Stack's been a starter, so hopefully, we can get those guys matched up on some of the other team's second-team players. We like to go to Damp, and we went to him tonight - and he delivered. He's been playing really hard.
It's been a pretty fierce competition at center. If today was the first regular-season game, he would be my first center off the bench.
It's a big improvement from last year, ... He's really trying defensively. And the kid is healthy. Last year he was playing on one ankle.
It was by far the most active I've seen him, ... When he has that emotion, it drives up our whole defense. I tell him every day how much he means to this team.
They were playing loose and had nothing to lose.
They were the aggressors in the first half. We really didn't get off the bus. We've got some lethargic situations here that I've got to address. It's really disappointing. Just got to crack the whip a little bit.
That first-quarter defense probably was as good as I've seen in a long time. No matter who you do it to, when you hold a team to 10 points in a quarter, that's pretty special.
It's been great. I've been able to smile. But in the back of my mind, I know I've got to watch some film on the Clippers because we play them coming out of the All-Star break. And I know I've got to watch some film on the first half of the season. But I've been able to smile.
It's a natural, because we still have to play some of those teams in the regular season. So we're pulling double duty.