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
Even the times we were in their face, they still seemed to make some shots. Our season is not over ... but we know where we are going to finish now. The only thing that really matters is to get guys healthy mentally and physically.
We just don't have the fire right now. We're not there mentally or physically. Hopefully we will be there in eight days.
No question, this was a big win for us. We stayed mentally and physically tough.
No question, this was a big win for us. I thought we showed a lot of mental toughness.
We pretty much know where we're going to finish now. The only thing that really matters for us is to get guys healthy mentally and physically.
Our team has made some progress with being proactive on defense. There's a certain mentality where I wanted us to be. ... Forget statistics, forget about how many points we're giving up, field goal percentage, all that stuff - I think our body language is moving in a way that we're trying to be a little more proactive defensively.
I think the Mavericks -- our team -- we've kind of forgotten who we are as basketball team and what made us successful. It wasn't shots on the offense. It wasn't holding the ball. We've kind of looked like some of our old teams with one guy pounding the ball instead of ball movement and player movement. We haven't been physical. Is that because we've been fatigued? I don't know. I know we've been a step slow. I can see that -- mentally and physically. We just need to get back to being who we are, and I think that will give us a better chance to win some of these games.
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.
I'm sure that we're going to see everybody against Dirk, like we have the other four games.
I'm very disappointed. I've spoken to the league, and I can't get into details on what was said. I can't even find the words. I've appealed to the league about their judgment. I've seen a whole lot worse.
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.
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.