Avery Johnson Guys Quotations

We want our main guys to start playing now. You'll see some different looks.

My guys are pretty smart. They know exactly where they are. I kind of like that we have something to play for, playing against playoff teams.

I wish they would take more people, but they can't. You have that every year. Every year you've got guys that's deserving. Guys that get out there every night, lay it on the line.

If we get both of those guys back by the end of the week, great. If not, we'll have to wait until they're ready.

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

He's got to play more minutes and be more responsible. That's why it's team game. You can have a 10th man in the starting lineup. We have guys one through 12 that we feel good about putting in games.

There is going to come a time here - I don't know when - when we're going to start getting some guys back. And it's going to be very important that those guys get back on the practice court and things will get back to normal. But now isn't the time.

We looked like we were a little tired. But our guys have been battling. I'm on the train with them, whether it gets rocky or not. Right now we are just sputtering.

I wouldn't say it was expected but it's not acceptable. At the same time, these guys wanted to get it right. It was something we were able to fight through.

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.

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.

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.

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

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'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.

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.

Even the times we were in their face, they still seemed to make some shots. Our season is not over ... but we know where we are going to finish now. The only thing that really matters is to get guys healthy mentally and physically.

I've never really gotten excited about games too much in February. But at the same time, obviously the guys are doing a lot of positive things on the court. You'd be crazy not to think so.

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.

I told the guys if they have any guts, they'll pick Southern to get out of that region.

It's nothing about me. If we're fortunate enough to be a part of that situation, it just shows that the guys that play for the Mavericks won some games and we're in the heat of the race. It's no goal of ours. It's a nice honor if something like that were to happen.

It's those guys reading each other, Damp getting in the right spot and our guards making passes and getting him the ball. Spacing is a key. You can't get anybody the ball if three people are standing next to him.

It means a lot. Those are two guys who obviously can be starting. Damp's been a starter and Stack's been a starter, so hopefully, we can get those guys matched up on some of the other team's second-team players. We like to go to Damp, and we went to him tonight - and he delivered. He's been playing really hard.

Eight out of the 10 guys in our rotation were in a quote-unquote insurmountable situation last year when we played against Houston. For us, that's something that's sunk in, that we talk a lot about. We've got some guys who know how to respond. Is this game any bigger than Game 3 in Houston last year? ... I don't think so.

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

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.

The guys really tried to get T-Mac the ball.