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 was not a flawless game ... but I thought we were a little bit more aggressive and our aggression paid off.
I think we're better defensively and much more physical. We're a little bit more mature and a little bit more experienced and a little bit more tougher minded.
(Josh is) day-to-day. He kind of tweaked his leg a little bit but right now, talking to the doctor and Josh, I expect him back. The doctor told me (Keith) just kind of tweaked his knee a little bit and like Josh, he's pretty much day-to-day.
He wanted to play a little bit more tonight, but I told him we're looking at the big picture.
In my opinion, looking at that game and looking at some of our recent All-Star games, the game was much more serious. Now, they still scored a lot of points. But the games were a little bit more physical from what I can tell.
The guys really tried to get T-Mac the ball. The ball just didn't go in. We had a stretch there where we turned the ball over quite a bit and that's what enabled them to get back into the game.
We just made a few shots and got going pretty well. I'm happy with our hustle, I'm happy with our play, but we're not world beaters.
We just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. We're still firm that they're not going to come back until they're ready. And they're not ready. We probably won't have them back in the next game or two.
We just had to make some points about it. We've got to play our best basketball to win Game 1.
We were lethargic physically and mentally. We didn't show up. We didn't have that juice that we normally have off the bench.
We won it with our defense, which gave me some ammunition. We didn't score much in the fourth quarter, but neither did they. To hold them to 18 points, that's the only way we could win.
We got so much going on around here, I don't look at that.
We are trying to win a championship. But we're in the first year of implementing a program.
We're going to win as a team. We're going to win when Dirk Nowitzki continues to move forward and Josh Howard and Erick Dampier and Jason Terry give the consistency I'm looking for.