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
We had a little talk with the team at halftime and they seemed to respond.
John really took a liking to me. He talked to me about the off-court stuff, about the pitfalls that trap some guys. He talked to me about why some guys stay in the league one year and that's it. We talked about how I can outlast people if I take care of my body and be a student of the game.
I love coming back here with all the great memories I have here and great friends. And everywhere you go, there's always somebody that talks about some of the teams I played on. And because of the hurricane, I got a lot of family that lives here.
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.
I've always been a man of commitment whether it was academically or professionally. But spiritually I wasn't committed. I was talking the talk and I just wanted to make that commitment. It also made the commitment in other areas of my life stronger.
I thought this was our best performance of the series. We talked about playing tough, hard-nosed defense tonight to try and close this series out.
(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 was one of the first coaches that came in and started talking about winning a championship and winning it with defense and don't even make apologies about it. Don't blink. Don't even blink when you talk about it. That's the goal. Don't be ashamed about it, otherwise you're just selling tickets.
Stack was solid, man. Stack was energized. He was ready to play. He was right in his comfort zone tonight. That's what we need from him on both ends. Obviously, he scored a little bit, but nobody will talk about how he battled those guys on defense.
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.