Avery Johnson Quotations | Page 2

Our first quarter defensively really set the tone. We worked on a lot of stuff this morning. They (Atlanta) missed a lot of shots but the defense was better than it was in that last game (against Golden State). We just threw out that last game.

Overall it was a good team effort and we were fortunate enough to be able to rest some guys in the fourth quarter.

Stack was solid, man. Stack was energized. He was ready to play. He was right in his comfort zone tonight. That's what we need from him on both ends. Obviously, he scored a little bit, but nobody will talk about how he battled those guys on defense.

Some of our players have made fun of our charge drill. But when you see them taking more charges in the game, it doesn't seem so silly.

My point is, what's the argument? There's no argument. It's a no-brainer.

My point is, what's the argument? It's a no-brainer.

My relationship with the players is very important. We think that's had a positive effect, so that when I do scream every now and then, they take it the right way.

Marshall was outstanding tonight because he really competed at a high level. He had to play point guard for almost three quarters and that is not his natural position. We are really excited about what we did in the regular season.

I think I'm gifted to do what I'm doing, that this is what I'm here for. I felt like a coach when I was a player. ... In a lot of ways, I know some things are still new to me. But in other ways, I just feel like I've been doing this a lot of time, and a lot of it just comes naturally.

I think I'm gifted to do what I'm doing, that this is what I'm here for.

I sure hope we're different. We seem to have been playing more physical basketball on the defensive end. Again, that was just one of those special games, the guy got on fire and obviously, since that's happened, we're not the team he's scored the most points against.

I still think this can be a special season, but right now we are sputtering.

John really took a liking to me. He talked to me about the off-court stuff, about the pitfalls that trap some guys. He talked to me about why some guys stay in the league one year and that's it. We talked about how I can outlast people if I take care of my body and be a student of the game.

I'm so happy we went through that little period that we went through, because it seems to have brought our team closer together.

I'm so happy we went through that little period, because it seems to have brought our team closer together. Nobody pointed fingers. At the same time, we played against some really good basketball teams that were really hot.

That was pretty much a complete game. I'm really proud of the way we battled. We played a tough, hard-nosed game.

That was one of the reasons why we won that first quarter, ... Doug was running the offense a lot of the time, and his on-the-ball defense is always good.

That's the key, play at our tempo. We don't play as fast as we used to, but we're at our best when we get out in transition. That's what we want to do when we get a chance. That's when we feel pretty comfortable.

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 couldn't get any space between us and them, and they didn't quit. And then we could only make five of our last eight free throws. Just a very disappointing night.

We feel fortunate to get out of here with a victory. Both teams played awesome defense. I don't know if we win this game in the past. Now, we're a different team.

We played a very small stretch of decent basketball out of a 48-minute game. We've been defending the 3-pointer pretty well this year, but it didn't happen tonight. We pretty much know where we're going to finish now (the No. 4 seed).

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.

We have some injuries but so do they.

We couldn't stop anybody tonight. We were lethargic physically and mentally. We just didn't have it but they deserved to win.

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 had a little talk with the team at halftime and they seemed to respond.

You always worry about what adjustments they might make. We thought they might change their lineup the last game. You just never know.

We have big goals, but it's no small feat. I don't think anyone before the season thought we were a 60-win team.

We're really striving to be the top dog in June, not February.

We couldn't be where we are had we not gotten those guys. There's so many little ways, detail things, things that don't show up on stat sheets. You need your stars. But their roles are very significant for our team.

We could have gotten a little lethargic. We won't rule it out.

We have three centers and none of those guys can do any cameos at small forward or point guard, so that leaves the rest of the guys. We need them to play now.

Three games in four days, playing teams below .500, above .500, it really doesn't matter at this point. Everybody's got schedule stuff. The schedule is not a problem. We haven't played well since the All-Star break, all right? We have not played well since the All-Star break.

Yeah, that puts them at an advantage I would say. So what I'll try to do is when he puts his four guys out there, I'll try to have combinations. I'll try to play Steve and Dirk together since they played together. And maybe I'll play Yao and T-Mac. So maybe we at least have four guys out there . . . two and two. And then throw in somebody else. . . . Maybe Kobe (Bryant); he's a whole team himself.

We've been going pretty hard in practice and in the games. It's something we like to do.

We came up short. They got to the free throw line more and they were the aggressors and they deserved the win. We had too many lethargic situations tonight and I need to address that.

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 fought. This was a playoff atmosphere. We wish we'd have been able to match their intensity down the stretch. But we didn't. We just did not execute. We were hesitant. We didn't get to the foul line. We didn't deserve to get there. We didn't make strong enough moves.

We didn't earn our paycheck. We need to give Mark Cuban a rebate, all of us.

We haven't had a guy who can play that kind of defense,

We haven't done anything. We can win 30 games in a row and what does that mean?

We'll get past this. But it's just the beginning.

We were just battling uphill all night. We couldn't get it in gear tonight.

We didn't come here to get any moral victories. I'm disappointed with his loss.

We didn't come here for any moral victories. We're very, very disappointed that we lost this game.

We pretty much know where we're going to finish now. The only thing that really matters for us is to get guys healthy mentally and physically.

We had some good moments of team defense, but there's nothing really to get too excited about, ... I thought the big guys really tried. They're making a conscious effort to improve.

We battled, we fought - this was a playoff atmosphere. We wish we would have been able to match their intensity down the stretch, but we didn't.

Yao is playing some awfully good basketball. I had a firsthand look at him during All-Star Weekend, and he looked to be moving pretty good. Obviously he's a big focus of our defense.

We don't like losing one in a row. You can only imagine how two in a row feels.

We're excited to get out of here with a win. Those guys play physical, and they play hard.

We stepped up big defensively in the fourth quarter. We were fortunate to get away from them.

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 obviously have been playing some pretty good basketball. We knew we were on a streak. In my mind you don't think it's ever going to come to an end. When it does it just doesn't feel good.

We were not very good for the first three-and-a-half quarters, but between the fourth quarter and overtime we outscored them, 41-22. There's something unique about this team.

We have guys watching all of the teams we can possibly play against, logging the miles, flying across the country. I think over-preparation is a good thing.

We're all disappointed with this loss. You have a team that has a lot of character and they are very competitive. We are just disappointed with the way we finished the game.

We put together a pretty decent game from start to finish. We had a few key contributors from Dirk and Devin finding Terry for those big shots to start the third. But again, we have a few things to work on.

We put out a lot of energy out there but it was a total team effort. It was a hard-fought overtime game and fortunately we came out on the winning end. They're tough when you lose them and they're tough when you win them.

We don't care how we win. We'll take it however we can get it.

The reason we won the game tonight is because of the fans. They are the reason we won the game tonight. They stayed with us the whole game. Nobody was booing or questioning the players. I can go on and over and over about the game, but thank you fans.

We're much more mature than we were then. Obviously I think we're better defensively. We're much more physical than what we were last year. We move the ball a lot better. We're tougher-minded.

We thought our first-quarter defense really set the tone. We worked on a lot of stuff this morning and we were fortunate to have some carry over.

We thought our defense and offense was good in the first half, but in the second we struggled. We had one turnover in the first and 10 in the second half. That is something we will take a look at.

We're not playing any defense. They shot 55 percent from the field and score 56 points in the first half. You're not going to win many games in this league playing like that. We've definitely taken a step back in that area.

We're not looking at anything like that right now.

You have great offensive players in this league who don't let anything bother them. Even when I played, you had supposedly great point guard defenders and they were supposed to get under your skin with their growl or their stare or how they would grab or hold you. There are things you can do on the court to try to take care of that. I've participated in that kind of stuff before. Just be physical.

This tragedy didn't hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It hit America.

This series is not over. We've been in that position (down 0-2) before and we have a lot of respect for what they do throughout the game and see why they are one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

The players challenged themselves to pick it up defensively. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well tonight. We had a good team effort. We had a lot of contribution from a lot of different people.

Fifteen offensive rebounds...when did a Dallas team last do that. We put a lot of emphasis on that this year.

We seemed to have a lot of energy tonight. I gave them (two days) off and they gave me one back by responding with energy and concentration pretty much throughout the whole game. It's pretty rare for us to play that long of a stretch of good basketball.

We were fortunate to win for several reasons.

We were fortunate enough get some stops and play some tough, hard-nosed defense. This is the fifth win on a five-game road trip. We have been on the road eleven or twelve days and we played some pretty good defense against a team scoring 150, 120 and 115 points, so I am awfully proud of our guys.

We've had a pretty good year up to this point. So we don't want to let all of that go down the drain because we got four guys injured.

We've had some guys out for long periods of time. We've got to whip those guys back in shape. We're waiting on (Keith) Van Horn to come back, which we think he can come back in about a week to 10 days. Hopefully, that other series will stretch to seven games.

We'll just take this victory any way we can get it. There's still another level for the Mavericks to go to. We're just not there yet.

Tonight we needed a good start and that set the tempo for the rest of the game.

We had to get this game behind us for a lot of reasons. We hadn't played well this year against Lakers, and Kobe's been averaging 50 points on us. We didn't want that to happen again.

We had to get this game behind us for a lot of different reasons. We hadn't played particularly well this year against this team.

We had to get more physical on him in the second half.

We had three of our top scorers shoot 12-for-40 from the field, and that won't happen many nights. We were really fortunate to win this game.

This team doesn't like losing one in a row.

This was a disgusting game for us tonight. We deserved to lose. Kobe was spectacular and we had no answer for him. You have to take your hat off to him.

We just don't have the fire right now. We're not there mentally or physically. Hopefully we will be there in eight days.

We knew it was going to be a dogfight coming in here, playing against a well-coached team. That's the sign of a good team. ... We were kind of on our heels, but we kept battling. It was a gutsy performance by our team.

We kind of threw the first punch and kept on punching. We were fortunate enough to put together one of our better games of the (season).

We just made a few shots and got going pretty well. I'm happy with our hustle, I'm happy with our play, but we're not world beaters.

We just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. We're still firm that they're not going to come back until they're ready. And they're not ready. We probably won't have them back in the next game or two.

We just had to make some points about it. We've got to play our best basketball to win Game 1.

We were lethargic physically and mentally. We didn't show up. We didn't have that juice that we normally have off the bench.

We won it with our defense, which gave me some ammunition. We didn't score much in the fourth quarter, but neither did they. To hold them to 18 points, that's the only way we could win.

We got so much going on around here, I don't look at that.

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

We're going to win as a team. We're going to win when Dirk Nowitzki continues to move forward and Josh Howard and Erick Dampier and Jason Terry give the consistency I'm looking for.

We're disappointed with the way we finished the game. Our defense wasn't very good tonight. We gave up 65 points in the second half. We had a lot of things go wrong defensively.

You got to be able to go to guys one through 12. We're not afraid to go to D.A. (Darrell Armstrong). We're not afraid to go to D.J. It's a good positive.

Both of those guys are out indefinitely. I trusted some different situations (before), but now I'll bring them back when I want to.