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 had no answer for him. We tried to double-team him, we tried to zone him, we tried to trap him in the backcourt, and nothing worked. He had his way with us tonight.
We got off to a good start in the first quarter and set the tone for the whole game. I thought our defense was pretty steady...we tried to contest as many shots as we could.
We tried to bother him and make it hard on him. He's been averaging 50 points on us and we didn't want that to happen (again).
We tried to bother him and make it hard on him.
It was a gutsy win. We were almost apologizing for being on the court in the first half. Then we got a little more physical. We tried to make some other players score (besides James) instead of letting them get from point A to point B with no resistance.
They're booing the man out there, and I'm not sure why that's going on. But he wanted to win, and I gave Stack a big hug after the game, because he tried to beat them with his scoring and his assists and his defense.
The guys really tried to get T-Mac the ball.
They had a great start to the game. They came out and really tried to throw a knockout punch on us. Fortunately, we were able to withstand it, come back and get our defense set and play some pretty good defense against a high-scoring team in the second, third and fourth quarters.
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.
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 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.
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.