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're making progress, but it was just a tough loss.
We thought we had a legitimate beef with the way they were playing Dirk. When you don't complain, sometimes it can give the message that you don't care.
We thought we had it won in regulation. Carmelo made a tough shot. If we had to do it all over again, we probably would have fouled.
Very few teams go there. I think that's a great accomplishment. In our league, and in the Western Conference particularly, 50 wins means a lot.
When he's on his game and he's playing tough, hard-nosed defense and getting rebounds, getting some assists, guarding one of the better perimeter players and scoring, I'm a much better coach.
What we have here is a failure to communicate.
What they have done the first half of the year, I wouldn't have disagreed with five.
We're trying to get people to realize that even though he doesn't play exactly like Elton Brand or Tim Duncan or Karl Malone, that's OK. His body's not built like those guys', but he still makes strong moves. And I don't know how much people are convinced of that yet. We hope he continues to get the respect.
We want our main guys to start playing now. You'll see some different looks.
We were climbing uphill from the start. We didn't have it.