Avery Johnson Trying Quotations

Nick is so hungry for a championship. I remember when we lost to San Antonio in the Western Conference finals. I had never really seen Nick that emotional. All he had on his mind was trying to get back ... trying to get back. I think that's why when that trade happened he took it so hard.

But we are trying to figure out how to take the next step. We've got a system in place now, and we're trying to plug in the right pieces.

I don't want our team to misconstrue the message of us trying to get to the next level. We're not going to get there in one night, all right? No matter what's been said over the All-Star break or what race we're supposed to be in, it's all meaningless right now.

For us to be injured and trying to get some guys back, I guess we've got to be pleased with the results.

It is a disappointing loss. When we come to the games we try and give ourselves a chance to win. I wasn't trying to rally the team by getting ejected; I think it was more a difference of opinion.

Our team has made some progress with being proactive on defense. There's a certain mentality where I wanted us to be. ... Forget statistics, forget about how many points we're giving up, field goal percentage, all that stuff - I think our body language is moving in a way that we're trying to be a little more proactive defensively.

I wasn't trying to rally the team by getting ejected. I think it was more just a difference of opinion. We were dealing with things the whole game, and we thought that we had a legitimate beef with the way they were playing Dirk. I guess we were wrong.

You just play it out, because you're just trying to win as many games as you can. Wherever you land in the playoffs, you've got to go out and play anyway. I just couldn't see myself doing anything but giving 1,000 percent on the sideline.

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 are trying to win a championship. But we're in the first year of implementing a program.

There was a four- or five-day process when they were on their rooftops, sleeping on roofs and in attics trying to escape, ... Once it hit, you don't have any communication no cellphone, no e-mail, anything with your family. It took five or six days just to find some of my close family. They're OK right now, and we're grateful. Now it's a matter of helping people who are less fortunate than my family.

This gives our assistant coaches a chance to show what they can really do. Basically we're down to about eight guys in the rotation. It's not like we have two at each position. We're just trying to make adjustments.

They know I love to practice, and we don't really brag on how much we practice or how much we prepare like a lot of other situations. But they know I love to practice and I've been missing out on my good practices trying to just keep them fresh a little bit.

It's a big improvement from last year, ... He's really trying defensively. And the kid is healthy. Last year he was playing on one ankle.

It's not even so much 2-0 for us, it's just trying to play this game like there's no tomorrow. When we do that, we seem to play better, we seem to play more focused, and that's the only way you can play against Memphis.

It was nice to get the big lead and to spread out the minutes a little bit. But we are a flawed basketball team and we are still working through some things. We have to keep working hard and trying to get better.

The guys were consciously trying to get him the ball. And he was hot.