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- The Dirk Nowitzki appreciation thread -

  • Thread starter Thread starter rikhardur2
  • Start date Start date
Dirk scoring 41 and capturing 12 rebounds as the Mavs beat the Spurs in OT.

 
Dirk is also 31/31 FT's made in either OT or 4th Quarter. Very dependable in crunch time.
 
Dirk Nowitzki's game hits new heights for Dallas Mavericks

01:44 PM CST on Friday, November 20, 2009

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com

Dirk Nowitzki has been unconventional ever since he arrived in Dallas a dozen years ago.

So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that when the game was on the line Wednesday against San Antonio, Nowitzki was doing what he does best – but doing it in a most unusual way.

After blistering the Spurs with step-back jumpers, Nowitzki was pump-faking and ripping through the defense toward the basket. And finishing with layups and three-point plays.

It wasn't completely shocking. He's done it before. But when crunch time cometh, great players tend to stay in their wheelhouse, not stray toward plan B.

But that's the way Nowitzki rolls.

"Some guys approach the game by getting to the basket first," he said. "I usually try to open my drive up by making a couple jump shots, so I got it all messed up."

Or, maybe, he's got it all figured out, and it's the rest of us who have it all wrong, because it's hard to argue Nowitzki's logic given the results.

"I was able to make a couple [of jumpers] in the second half and they were really pushing up on me, so I was able to get to the basket for some and-ones," he said. "I always approach it the other way. I want to get my shot going first, and that opens the drive for me."

So far, just about every decision Nowitzki has made in the first 12 games of the Mavericks' season has been the right one. In only three weeks, he's piled up a list of outrageous accomplishments.

• He broke a franchise record with 29 points in the fourth quarter of a win over Utah.

• He's topped 40 points twice.

• He's averaging 27.5 points, pulling down 9.3 rebounds per game and averaging career highs in steals (1.08) and blocks (1.58).

The longer the 7-footer keeps doing this, the more he will creep up various lists, like most points. He'll also continue to ascend the mythical list of best international players, which is topped by Hakeem Olajuwon, most experts would agree.

Nowitzki credits a summer free of basketball for making him even hungrier than usual early in the season. His competitive juices were ready to flow from the start.

He's always been a relatively quick starter. But this year he's found a new plateau. Even coach Rick Carlisle, whose job it is to keep a firm grip on perspective and reality, knows this has been a special run for the Mavericks' superstar.

"He's playing great, we know that," Carlisle said. "But we got to keep our eye on the ball. I'll grant you, he's been unbelievable – unbelievable. But I don't want to get too caught up in feeling good about how things have gone. You've got to move on to another game."

Carlisle doesn't want that to sound like it's a what-have-you-done-lately statement. He's impressed, just like everybody else, as Nowitzki has been as good as anybody in the league so far.

Those who used to play against him are impressed, too.

"I had to chase him around, too," Drew Gooden said. "I chased him around when he was a [small forward]. I was looking at the defenders the other night, and I remember being in those shoes doing the same thing – and he hit that shot. Now I'm standing under the rim getting position, and I'm like: 'Do I keep fighting for position or just watch these shots keep going in?' "

Nowitzki didn't just attack the basket Wednesday. He also kept Tim Duncan from doing so in overtime. And in the first half, when neither shots nor foul calls were being made, Nowitzki kept his poise.

That, as much as anything, allowed him to perform heroics in the overtime win. After one of his drives to the rim, Nowitzki struck a bodybuilder's pose, flexing both biceps. He admitted he needs work on that particular move.

But the point was made.

"He's clutch," said Tim Thomas, another first-year Maverick. "I've been on the other side of it. He's one of those guys who has the most confidence in himself and his abilities. He might be struggling for a couple minutes, but he just continues to go after it.

"That's the mentality you want in a guy who is your franchise player."

FOREIGN TERRITORY

Mavericks' beat writer Eddie Sefko, who has covered the NBA for 20 years, puts together his list of best players in league history who were born to international parents.

Hakeem Olajuwon: The Dream Shake remains one of the great unstoppable moves of all time.

Tim Duncan: The rings are the only things that put him above Nowitzki.

Dirk Nowitzki: Helped redefine the power forward position and continues to do so.

Steve Nash: Twice an MVP, he's still going strong when nobody expected him to.

Drazen Petrovic: His untimely death kept him from becoming maybe the best shooter ever.

Others receiving consideration: Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Arvydas Sabonis, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Dikembe Mutombo, Hedo Turkoglu, Peja Stojakovic, Sarunas Marciulionis.

FAST STARTER

A look at Dirk Nowitzki's first 12 games this year vs. the last four seasons:

Year PPG FG Reb.
2009 27.5 .447 9.3
2008 24.7 .439 8.3
2007 20.7 .468 7.8
2006 26.4 .502 9.3
2005 25.3 473 8.6
Click to expand...
http://dirk-nowitzki-news.newslib.com/story/2465-3236608/
 
dirk is doing the works that he must do every time, he a leader in the court and you can count on him on crunch time. he can take over if the game was on the line. and be a hero in the end.
 
This guy just makes it look so easy. He probably hits the most off balanced shots in league. There are some guys in the NBA who just are not guardable when they get hot. With Dirk you are surprised if he misses, he's been really clutch in this early season too.
 
he hit clutch jumpers to win the games, several times.
and its like an off balance shot most of it.
 
Thunder faces nemesis Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas

Is it the headband? It’s got to be the headband.

Dirk Nowitzki’s performances this season have evoked memories of Spike Lee, in his old pestering pitchman role as Mars Blackmon. Only now, instead of Michael Jordan, Blackmon would remix his inquisition of Jordan’s shoes and suspect it’s Nowitzki’s latest accessory that has powered his play.

Nowitzki leads his Dallas Mavericks into the Ford Center tonight to face the Thunder for the first time this season. The 7-foot forward is playing some of the best ball of his career, ranked sixth in scoring with a career-high-tying 26.6-point average.

Nowitzki has scored at least 32 points in three of his past five outings. New Orleans, however, held him to a season-low 10 points Monday, and the Thunder would be wise to spend a sizable chunk of time dissecting the Hornets’ defensive scheme, because Nowitzki has been one of Oklahoma City’s biggest problem players.

In three games against the Thunder last season, Nowitzki averaged 38.3 points, 6.3 more than his next-highest average against an opponent. He shot 53 percent from the field and made 25 of 28 free throws to help the Mavs win the series 2-1.

"He’s one of the best offensive players in the game, a tremendous shooter. His shooting touch is as good as any player in this league. It’s as smooth as it gets,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks.

It’ll be Brooks’ job to come up with something that can limit Nowitzki’s effectiveness. Poring over film of Dallas’ two games against the Hornets this year is a good place to start.

New Orleans held Nowitzki to a previous season-low 12 points in a 114-107 victory over Dallas on Nov. 4. Nowitzki’s 11-point average against the Hornets this season is five fewer points than his next-lowest output against an opponent. And he’s shot just 30.8 percent against New Orleans.

"They’re just running at me aggressive,” Nowitzki told reporters after his 4-of-11 shooting performance Monday. "Every time I faced (the basket), I was looking at two, three guys on my side. Sometimes I spun, and then another guy or two guys were there. So I just passed the ball and let other guys make plays.”

The Mavs escaped with a four-point win Monday despite Nowitzki’s struggles largely because their star rose to the occasion late. Like he has so many times in the past, Nowitzki netted two buckets inside the final minute.

Last season, Nowitzki scored 11 of his 46 points in the fourth quarter of December’s 103-99 win against the Thunder at American Airlines Center. He had 17 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and overtime of February’s 110-108 victory.

"We’ll have to throw a bunch of guys at him,” Brooks said. "Everybody will get a crack at him.”

It should help the Thunder that, like the Hornets, there is more than one capable defender in the lineup. New Orleans slowed Nowitzki with a mix of size, strength and speed, switching forwards David West, James Posey, Morris Peterson and Julian Wright on him. The Thunder likely will start Jeff Green on Nowitzki and mix in Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Durant.

The biggest key to the Thunder’s success could lie in how effectively it keeps Nowitzki out of the lane, where he can get mid-range pull-ups, finish at the rim or create contact and get to the free-throw line. Nowitzki ranks seventh in free-throw attempts with 197 and is an 88.8 percent foul shooter.

"He’s so versatile,” Durant said. "He can really shoot, and he shoots some crazy shots. But that’s his game. He’s so talented. I think he’s the best big man in the league.”
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http://dirk-nowitzki-news.newslib.com/story/2465-3236616/
 
Kevin McHale sizes up Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki: A title someday?

By RAY BUCK

rbuck@star-telegram.com

Merry Christmas, Dirk.

Whatever St. Nicholas won’t bring you, the media obviously will.

It’s a Dirk Nowitzki love fest around here right now.

Here’s some holiday cheer sent from someone with plenty of NBA skins on the wall ... three championship rings with the Boston Celtics of the ’80s, to be exact.

This guy says the Dallas Mavericks appear to be for real, and now after five wins in a row to move to 19-7, he might be onto something.

Nowitzki is averaging 26.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and nearly three assists per game this season. His 30-plus scoring nights are now up to nine.

"I just think Dirk is back playing at the same level as when he won the MVP [2006-07]," said Kevin McHale, who is working his first year as an analyst for NBA TV.

He went on to explain.

"At 7-foot, Dirk is such a great shooter, he can create that shot almost at will, anytime he wants," McHale said. "We worked together a little bit this fall at Mavs training camp, and I told him, 'Dirk, you’ve got to be able to draw smaller guys into the post — then make ’em pay. And when they adjust with a bigger guy on you, then drift outside and hit your 17-18-feet jump shot.’ I mean, the reason Dirk can pick-and-pop, move to spots on the floor where he can get open, is because he understands how the game is played."

Dirk surely appreciates the shout-out, but he’s on record saying that an NBA championship is all he’s playing for now.

So, I figured this would be a good time to play Scrooge for a moment and ask McHale if perhaps Dirk is getting dangerously close — in his 12th NBA season — to finding his name bandied about when discussing "Best Players Never To Win an NBA Ring."

The unwavering McHale was a bit uncomfortable with the question.

"Unfortunately," he began, "Dirk is so good that his name could eventually come up on that list. But because he’s playing at such a high level right now, you have to give him a couple more years before he gets tagged with that."

McHale laughed.

But it was no laughing matter for Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing, who all ended up retired and still members of the club.

"I think the list you’re talking about," McHale said, "is more for guys who are on the downhill slide — 'gee, he didn’t win one in his heyday’ — whereas Dirk still has his game going for him."

OK. ’Tis the season to be fair.

Christmas TV schedule

In case you haven’t noticed, the NBA has become to the yuletide spirit what the NFL is to turkey and stuffing.

Five NBC games will be televised on ESPN or ABC — including Kobe Bryant’s Lakers vs. LeBron James/Shaquille O’Neal’s Cavaliers — as part of a more than 12-hour TV marathon on Christmas Day.

Although the Mavs are idle that day, the country will get to see Heat at Knicks (11 a.m., ESPN), Celtics at Magic (1:30 p.m., ABC/Ch. 8), Cavs at Lakers (4 p.m., ABC/Ch. 8), Clippers at Suns (7 p.m., ESPN) and Nuggets at Trail Blazers (9:30 p.m., ESPN).

"Christmas Day for the NBA has become like Thanksgiving Day for the NFL. It’s just big," Kevin McHale said. "When I first came into the NBA [1980], we didn’t play on Christmas Day ... [and] we’d just as soon be home with the kids. They were little at the time.

"But it’s now become something that people consider an honor to be playing on Christmas Day."

McHale, after his playing days with the Celtics were over, served as broadcaster, then general manager, then coach of his home-state Minnesota Timberwolves. He says he likes being in the media again.

"This [Mavs] team just needs to get healthy and spend a little more time together on the floor," McHale said. "Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden and Kris Humphries give them three active players they didn’t have before."

Well, this really should bring tidings of comfort and joy to Mavs fans.
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http://dirk-nowitzki-news.newslib.com/story/2465-3236618/
 
this is more interesting thing about Dirk:



what I can't believe is the fact that Landry was called with a foul :rolleyes:
 
landry was the one hurt in the contact but still he is the one who has the violation. even though the rules must be followed all the time.
 
Promise fulfilled as Nowitzki reaches impressive plateau

Promise fulfilled as Nowitzki reaches impressive plateau

In an age when pre-teen players are scouted from the time they begin filling up hoops in middle school, there are very few surprises when it comes to identifying prospective NBA talent.

Yet on one night in San Antonio, back in March of 1998, the echoes of basketballs bouncing off the walls were mixed with the sound of so many jaws practically hitting the hardwood floors.

Donn Nelson, then a Dallas Mavericks scout and now the team's president of basketball operations, remembers glancing around the stands and wondering how many other NBA bloodhounds were on hand to catch a whiff of what he'd just witnessed. There was the scent of potential in the air.

A tall, skinny, blond-haired teen from Germany had just put on a clinic against the best young talent that America had to offer at the Nike Hoop Summit -- 33 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and more moves than a belly dancer -- and all Nelson could think of was the future.

"A versatile 7-footer who could shoot from out there and run the floor?" Nelson recalled not so long ago. "Imagine the possibilities."

Nearly 12 years later, the promise has been fulfilled as Dirk Nowitzki moves to become the 34th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points in a career. He is averaging 25 points a game this season and needs 16 Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers to reach the plateau.

From the record books, one can see that Nowitzki has been an eight-time All-Star, a four-time All-NBA first team selection and was chosen the 2007 Most Valuable Player. From the video highlights, it's easy to see an ambidextrous, multi-position player who is unique in combining his size with his shooting skills. He's a 7-footer who is a career 47.2 percent shooter from the field and has canned more than 1,100 3-pointer while also grabbing 8.5 rebounds. Nowitzki is a deft ball-handler and nimble enough big man to spin around defenders and finish with slam dunks.

But who sees and understands more than an opposite number in a different color jersey, the player most often regarded as the fiercest competitor in the game today?

"He's tough," said the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. "That's what I like about him. He's not a punk. A lot of superstar players don't like to get touched. They're kind of finicky about how they go about things. Dirk's nasty and that's what I like about him. He'll take the gloves off and go at it."

That's a far cry from the early days of a career that had him labeled as "soft" and had Nowitzki known as Irk -- no D. Over the course of his career, Nowitzki has developed into a solid team defender, become the Mavs' unquestioned team leader and has staked his claim as the best international player to jump straight to the pro ranks in the NBA. Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon spent three years learning the ropes at the University of Houston before stepping into the NBA and Argentine Manu Ginobili honed his game for two years in the Italian League before joining the San Antonio Spurs.

The Americanization of Nowitzki began as a 19-year-old with little more than a sweet jumper and an outsider's tentative grasp of a different culture, coming from the picturesque Bavarian town of Wurzburg, Germany, known for architecture, art and white wine. His career path has been a steady, upward line on a graph that has frequently had Nowitzki playing off the charts.

"It's tough to argue that he's not the best international player ever," said Bryant. "We're gonna try to make a case when it's all said and done for [Spaniard] Pau Gasol years from now. But Dirk is phenomenal right now.

"If you look at some of the games that he's had against great players, it's amazing. I think his coming out party years ago was against [Kevin] Garnett. Garnett is a phenomenal player and Dirk was putting up 35 and 20 rebounds. That's ridiculous. I'm looking at that like, 'Whoa, Garnett's one of the best defensive players ever and [Dirk] torched him.' "

Two nights before, Houston's Tracy McGrady had his legendary 13-points-in-35 seconds finish to defeat the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 4, 2004, T-Mac dropped 48 points in Dallas. In the same game, Nowitzki hit back and scored 53.

"Dirk's not gonna back down. I like that," Bryant said. "He's not soft. Oh, no."

Though he grew up trying to emulate the all-around skills of Scottie Pippen, because he's blond and tall and white and can shoot with either hand, from the time he entered the league Nowitzki has always drawn the comparisons to the legendary Larry Bird.

"They're very different actually," Bryant said. "The similarity is that they're big guys that can shoot. But I think that's where it ends. Bird with the Celtics, they ran a lot of things through him to facilitate things for others. In Dallas they use Dirk more as a striker.

"Hopefully the fans in Dallas can appreciate what they watch -- a 7-footer that can put the ball on the floor, can shoot it from the outside, can post. Dirk's a rare breed, man. A rare breed."

Who's come a long way to get so far.
Click to expand...

It's so nice to see where Nowitzki has reached after many skeptics were doubting him and his toughness when he first joined the NBA back in 1998. The guy has tremendous basketball ethics and is a very dedicated and committed bball player. I really wish he can win an NBA championship before he retires but this will be quite unlikely if he is to stay with the Mavs till the end of his career.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/fran_blinebury/01/12/nowitzki/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1
 
Nowitzki surpasses 20,000-point milestone

DALLAS (AP) -- Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks is the 34th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points.

Nowitzki reached the milestone with a 14-foot fadeaway jumper from the left baseline with 10:57 left in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers. It actually gave him 20,001 points, and it pulled the Mavericks to 78-75.

The 31-year-old Nowitzki is in his 12th season from Germany. This was the 876th game of his career.

Drafted for his potential as a 7-footer who could make 3-pointers, he's blossomed into the franchise's greatest player, having won a league MVP award and leading the club to the NBA finals for the first time.
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http://www.nba.com/2010/news/01/13/mavs.nowitzki.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2
 
Rejected, not dejected: Dirk Nowitzki OK with All-Star snub

PHILADELPHIA – Dirk Nowitzki understands. Really, he does.

And to be honest, he's not even upset a little bit about not being voted in by the fans to the NBA All-Star Game that will be at Cowboys Stadium next month.

He figures he'll be there, regardless.

"I think it's an honor either way, whether you're voted in by the fans or the coaches," Nowitzki said Thursday, when the starters for the Eastern and Western conferences were announced. "It really never made a difference to me, starting or not. To be there and be part of the weekend, especially in my new hometown, is an honor."

Nowitzki finished third among West forwards in fan voting. Denver's Carmelo Anthony and San Antonio's Tim Duncan are the starters.

Kobe Bryant of the Lakers and Phoenix's Steve Nash are the guards, and the Suns' Amare Stoudemire will start at center.

In the East, Cleveland's LeBron James and Boston's Kevin Garnett are the forwards, Miami's Dwyane Wade and Philadelphia's Allen Iverson are the guards and Orlando's Dwight Howard will start at center.

The reserves will be selected by each conference's coaches and will be announced Thursday.

Nowitzki is a cinch to be voted in by the coaches for his ninth All-Star appearance. He had been running second in fan balloting but was overtaken by Duncan down the stretch. He finished with 1,093,005 votes, about 67,000 behind Duncan.

The coaches for each squad will come from the team with the best record in each conference through games of Jan. 31. Phil Jackson of the LA Lakers and Mike Brown of Cleveland are ineligible because they filled those roles last season.

As of Thursday, the Mavericks had the best record in the West after the Lakers, which would put Rick Carlisle and his staff in line to coach.
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http://dirk-nowitzki-news.newslib.com/story/2465-3236642/
 
ESPN anounced that Nowitzki was leading the voting for his position before the last day, when Duncan surged by over 20,000 votes. There was a lot of advertising over the weekend for voting, during the football and college basketball games here.
 
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