From the Fort Worth Star Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/ba...ll/7220992.htm
Combating Nowitzki
Dirk Nowitzki sees how teams are guarding him, and he understands the strategy. Heck, he'd do it the same way. Foes are often sticking small forwards on the 7-footer. Despite giving three or four inches, the smaller players can stay with Nowitzki on the perimeter.
"That's what I would do, too. No question," Nowitzki said. "Especially when we have a big lineup out, where we have three big guys. It's obvious to put the smallest guy on me, because my post game is not the best yet and the perimeter is pretty much where I make my living.
"That's why I've got to keep working on my post game and try to make them pay and when they double-team. I've got to make them pay with my passes. I've got a lot of work ahead of me."
Nowitzki displayed a more complete offensive arsenal against Toronto -- for the first half, anyway. In addition to jumpers, he was taking the ball to basket and scoring in the paint with both hands. But the Raptors denied Nowitzki the ball in the second half with smaller defenders.
"They found me better," said Nowitzki, who scored 23 of his 27 points in the first half. "They contested the jump shots. In the first half, I was open a lot. In the second half, they made sure that they didn't leave me that much, and they did a good job. I just didn't have that explosiveness at the end anymore that I had in the first half."