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NBA FINALS: HEAT v MAVERICKSJune 20, 2006Avery JohnsonDALLAS, TEXAS: Game Six Q. There was a time there when you had several quick 3-pointers that went awry; was that kind of the start of the beginning of the end there? AVERY JOHNSON: Yeah, we were in a situation there where we came down and took two back-to-back threes and missed both of them. That kind of changed the momentum. But we still had a chance to win. I am just so proud of our team. Just before somebody asks, I'll just tell you that I just told them how much I love them, through thick and thin. I loved them during the 13-game winning streak, the three-game losing streak in the regular season, this four-game losing streak. I told them that I loved them, I think that we've made a lot of progress this year. We got knocked out in the first round two years ago, second round last year. We aimed high this year, and I told them that a lot of teams have to go through this. This is going to really hurt this summer, and I hope it makes them work out harder; it makes me a better coach, because I'm willing to try it again. Q. You came short of your goal for the Championship, but can you still look back, will you still be able to look back and say that you had a great season? AVERY JOHNSON: Well, again, it all depends on what you -- how you determine great. You know, for us, I would say a great season is actually winning it. But whatever the step below that is, you know, that's what we've done. When we took over, we talked about aiming high and winning a championship. We didn't talk about getting here. But this was a tremendous learning experience for our players and coaches. And you can't really get this good on-the-job experience like this until you're here. So we came up short. We know they don't give any awards for coming in second, but we've provided -- we provided an awful lot for the whole City of Dallas and our families and fans. We don't have anything to necessarily be ashamed of. Q. As far as Dirk in the fourth quarter, was it something that they were doing or it just seemed like it was tough for him to get opportunities. AVERY JOHNSON: Well, we tried to get him the ball. You know, in that last play there, we really didn't -- we didn't want Shaq in the play, but he got in the play. They were trying to trap him just as much as we were trying to trap Wade and get the ball out of his hands. But Dirk's a warrior. He tried. No excuses. Miami deserved to win. They have had an incredible year. Like I said early on, I don't think when the season started anybody picked Dallas and Miami to be in The Finals. So take your hats off to them. We've had a lot of highs and lows. You guys have seen me at my best and at my worst this series. I just think it's no excuses. They deserved to win, and we'll come back. Q. You left hear up 0-2, and it seemed like it was right there, the difference in these four games was Dwyane Wade. Can you talk about his performance and how it just seemed that he just had a will to win? AVERY JOHNSON: Yes, he did. And you know, some of that stuff, you just can't teach, all right. When a player is making those kind of plays, it's really no tricky play. He's beating double-teams, he's beating triple-teams. There's no tricks there. It's a straight isolation play. But he had a lot of will to win. You've seen a lot of players, like Jordan, a lot of players in history that have really had those type of performances. We tried a lot of different things, but he just had a lot of desire to get it done. Q. How do you build on next year to go to the next two more games that you were lacking for this year? AVERY JOHNSON: You know, really, I didn't plan on giving this speech. So I think more than anything, you know, you've got to try to keep your core together. Like I said, we've fought a lot of adversity, especially during these Finals. We've had a guy suspended; Mark's gotten fined. We've had a lot of different things that happened throughout the course of these Finals. But our guys, they are fighters, all right. We've kind of shared that label of kind of being a soft team. I don't think you can be soft and try to fight through a lot of the stuff we did. We had a chance to win Game 3, came up short. Had a chance to really win Game 5 without Stack, and had a chance to win this game. But the ball didn't bounce our way, no excuses. Q. In the third quarter, Marquis Daniels comes off the bench and takes the ball to the hole and steps it out. You talk about will; how pleased were you with his performance? AVERY JOHNSON: Again, he gave us a big lift right there. In that stretch, you know, his fiancee was in labor, so he got to the game late, so what a valiant effort by Marquis tonight. Q. Do you feel that Game 3 was the turning point in this series? AVERY JOHNSON: Well, you know, that will be debatable. We were up 12 and we didn't put a finish on it. Normally we play really well in the fourth quarter. Obviously we had won that game, then we would be playing a Game 7, had we lost these three games. It will be something that we will go back and look at. Again, we shoot 37 percent from the field tonight. You know, we shoot over 40 percent, we probably have a chance to win this game. But I go down with my guys. I'll try to get better this summer. They will try to get better. But we've had an incredible year, and I think you guys have been really fair to us.
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