Watchdog

Here is Sir Charles on Avery Johnson's firing last night on TNT:

“I hate to see Avery Johnson (get fired) but coaches are going to get fired. Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix pushed for the Shaq (O’Neal) trade. Hindsight is 20/20 and the trades did not work. I thought it was admirable of Dallas to get Jason Kidd. I thought it was admirable for the Suns to get Shaq. The Suns lost because they don’t play any defense. The Mavericks lost because they aren’t a good team top-to-bottom. I know that Jason (Kidd) is going to get the blame, but they aren’t a very good team.”

Kenny Smith on what Avery Johnson did for the Mavericks: “We know what Avery Johnson did (for the Mavericks), he changed the culture. They were known as (being) very soft with no identity. And he did bring an identity.”

Barkley: “Now they’re bad-asses sitting at home.”

Later on TNT, Reggie Miller said this about Cold Spring Harbor's own: “It looks like Wally (Szczerbiak) is trying to get out of quicksand, he is three steps slower than everyone else on the court.”

Hey! That's not nice.