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
My point is, what's the argument? It's a no-brainer.
My relationship with the players is very important. We think that's had a positive effect, so that when I do scream every now and then, they take it the right way.
That was pretty much a complete game. I'm really proud of the way we battled. We played a tough, hard-nosed game.
That was one of the reasons why we won that first quarter, ... Doug was running the offense a lot of the time, and his on-the-ball defense is always good.
That's the key, play at our tempo. We don't play as fast as we used to, but we're at our best when we get out in transition. That's what we want to do when we get a chance. That's when we feel pretty comfortable.
Marshall was outstanding tonight because he really competed at a high level. He had to play point guard for almost three quarters and that is not his natural position. We are really excited about what we did in the regular season.
The players challenged themselves to pick it up defensively. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well tonight. We had a good team effort. We had a lot of contribution from a lot of different people.
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.
We're not playing any defense. They shot 55 percent from the field and score 56 points in the first half. You're not going to win many games in this league playing like that. We've definitely taken a step back in that area.
We're not looking at anything like that right now.
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.
This tragedy didn't hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It hit America.
We obviously have been playing some pretty good basketball. We knew we were on a streak. In my mind you don't think it's ever going to come to an end. When it does it just doesn't feel good.
We were not very good for the first three-and-a-half quarters, but between the fourth quarter and overtime we outscored them, 41-22. There's something unique about this team.