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
Our team is not playing enough of a 48-minute game and that's the disappointing thing. We know it's tough to win road games. This was a hot team team we were playing, give them credit. But you can't play 18-20 minutes of a second half and expect to beat any NBA team.
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.
Overall it was a good team effort and we were fortunate enough to be able to rest some guys in the fourth quarter.
I think I'm gifted to do what I'm doing, that this is what I'm here for. I felt like a coach when I was a player. ... In a lot of ways, I know some things are still new to me. But in other ways, I just feel like I've been doing this a lot of time, and a lot of it just comes naturally.
I think I'm gifted to do what I'm doing, that this is what I'm here for.
I sure hope we're different. We seem to have been playing more physical basketball on the defensive end. Again, that was just one of those special games, the guy got on fire and obviously, since that's happened, we're not the team he's scored the most points against.
I still think this can be a special season, but right now we are sputtering.
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'm so happy we went through that little period that we went through, because it seems to have brought our team closer together.
I wouldn't say it was expected but it's not acceptable. At the same time, these guys wanted to get it right. It was something we were able to fight through.
(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.
We feel fortunate to get out of here with a victory. Both teams played awesome defense. I don't know if we win this game in the past. Now, we're a different team.
Some of our players have made fun of our charge drill. But when you see them taking more charges in the game, it doesn't seem so silly.
My point is, what's the argument? There's no argument. It's a no-brainer.