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
I think we're better defensively and much more physical. We're a little bit more mature and a little bit more experienced and a little bit more tougher minded.
(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 wanted to play a little bit more tonight, but I told him we're looking at the big picture.
In my opinion, looking at that game and looking at some of our recent All-Star games, the game was much more serious. Now, they still scored a lot of points. But the games were a little bit more physical from what I can tell.
The guys really tried to get T-Mac the ball. The ball just didn't go in. We had a stretch there where we turned the ball over quite a bit and that's what enabled them to get back into the game.
It was not a flawless game ... but I thought we were a little bit more aggressive and our aggression paid off.
I was concerned about this game. Byron Scott has done as good a job as anybody in the league, and they have that team in playoff contention.
I thought this was a gutsy performance by our team. Cleveland really jumped out on us and put us in a big hole and our team responded in the second half. Our third quarter defense was pretty special.
I think any of the teams at the top, I think they should have at least multiple people on it. I think with our situation, I would have liked to have seen Josh (Howard) or (Jason) Terry, just somebody else besides Dirk on it because I think they should be rewarded.
I think there's another level for us to go to. We did some good stuff. We did some bad stuff.
I thought we were a little more physical with them. We seemed like we were apologizing for being on the court in the first half.
Jason wasn't 100 percent for us tonight, but he played big and gave us some offensive punch.
Jason came out firing, man. That's the Jason Terry that I see. I sleep good at night when he shoots the ball. I know he's not going to make every shot, but when he's aggressive to score that's one of the ways I sleep good. I don't elbow my wife when he shoots like that, so I hope he continues to do that so I can sleep good.
We have some injuries but so do they. We just have to regroup now and start another winning streak at home and on the road.