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
carry defense fortunate morning stuff worked
We thought our first-quarter defense really set the tone. We worked on a lot of stuff this morning and we were fortunate to have some carry over.
bother care court defenders grab great guard hold league offensive players point skin stare stuff supposedly
You have great offensive players in this league who don't let anything bother them. Even when I played, you had supposedly great point guard defenders and they were supposed to get under your skin with their growl or their stare or how they would grab or hold you. There are things you can do on the court to try to take care of that. I've participated in that kind of stuff before. Just be physical.
body certain field forget giving goal language mentality moving points proactive progress stuff team trying
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.
defense game golden last missed quarter shots stuff threw worked
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.
against games high last level love playing playoffs teams wish
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.
against everybody four sure
I'm sure that we're going to see everybody against Dirk, like we have the other four games.
appealed details league seen spoken
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.
against game seem trying
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.
against bigger eight game guys houston last played rotation situation talk 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.
camp exhibition football month needed training week work
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.
defense good hold matter points seen team
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.
players terrific
They have two really terrific players in Shaq and Wade.
best game memphis played pride teams
These two teams have a lot of pride. Memphis doesn't back down from anybody, and it has not played its best game yet.
bodies favorite four glad healed rest series swings time
I'm glad to get this series over. Obviously, we would have had four swings at it. I'm glad to get it on the first swing. Now it's time for us to try to get some rest and get some bodies healed and get back to practice, because that's my favorite part of this whole deal.