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 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.
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 got our defense under us in the first half and kind of set the tone for the rest of the game. We had a little lull defensively in the third quarter, but they're a very good offensive basketball team and they weren't going to come out of the locker room lying down.
We are fortunate to get out of here with a victory. Both teams played some really awesome defense and we just couldn't get our offense in gear in the second half. This is another game that we proved to ourselves that we can win basketball games with our defense. I don't know if we would have won this game in the past. Now we are a different team.
What we have here is a failure to communicate.
He's a scoring point guard. I want him to make the right pass at the right time and lead. But we need 18 points, too. No pressure. We just need him to be what he was in the playoffs.
He's definitely the best point guard in the history of the Spurs franchise.
He wanted to play a little bit more tonight, but I told him we're looking at the big picture.
He can't seem to get it fully healed.
He just still doesn't know all the ins and outs of the game. He started playing basketball so late in life that he's still catching up.
He knows it's not permanent. Stack has been one of our best hustle players. He's wrapped up in that mode of being an offensive player. Sometimes you don't notice the hustle plays.
Guess what? I went out on a limb for it. I stand behind it. I've done pretty much all I can do. I need to get a return on my investment. I think Damp will respond. Whatever minutes he plays, I expect him to be a terror out there on the court.
If the commissioner changed the schedule and you had to play three or four games in a row, championship teams still find a way to win. So we don't use tired as an excuse. We didn't deserve to win. We weren't very efficient offensively. And give their defense credit. They did a good job of limiting Dirk and Josh's looks late in the game. They have a lot of pride in their locker room.
He's coast to coast, one of the quickest guards in the league. He causes havoc when he gets in the paint, and he's a pretty good passer. He's a one-man fast break, all by himself.