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
The road wasn't too friendly to us the last time. I'm already getting a bad memory. Hopefully, we'll have a better response on the road overall than the last game and give ourselves a chance to win by playing our system. But we've gone back to some basics that seem to have helped us.
You always worry about what adjustments they might make. We thought they might change their lineup the last game. You just never know.
We couldn't get any space between us and them, and they didn't quit. And then we could only make five of our last eight free throws. Just a very disappointing night.
I don't' think we're going to actually find out who we play until the last game or two of the regular season.
We're much more mature than we were then. Obviously I think we're better defensively. We're much more physical than what we were last year. We move the ball a lot better. We're tougher-minded.
Fifteen offensive rebounds...when did a Dallas team last do that. We put a lot of emphasis on that this year.
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.
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.
Being born is easy. So is taking your last breath. Everything in between, that's the hard part. Life is in between, and it will offer challenges and opportunities beyond measure.
All you're going to remember is the last shot. That's all that matters.
This is the best he's looked in the last couple of days. Hopefully, we can get in a good practice in Utah, and then we'll see how he looks.
Our first quarter defensively really set the tone. We worked on a lot of stuff this morning. They (Atlanta) missed a lot of shots but the defense was better than it was in that last game (against Golden State). We just threw out that last game.
I'm not going to do what I did last year. He's been on me about how I managed his minutes last year and he seems to think that that had an effect on him going into the first round. So Coach is going to accommodate him.
I love it. I wish we could play the last 20 games like this because I really want to try to go into the playoffs playing at a high level. But you can't play at a high level when you're playing against teams that don't really have anything to play for.