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International play can help a player develop, but I think that Dirk is past the level where he gets major benefits from international play.
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I'll sign this, but not much of the rest. First off, let's be sure to know what we are talking about. When I say "International Competition", I don't mean some wacky qualifying tournaments like when the US has to play Aruba to qualify for the Olympics or Germany has to face Albania to get to the Euro Championships. Dirk doesn't play these kinds of games, as at least in Europe, they are being held during the regular NBA season. He only plays in the actual tournament, when the real amateurs, the dangerous ones, are already eliminated.
Also, on his position, he's been facing NBA players like Gasol, Kirilenko, Peja, Nachbar, Okur, Turkoglu and sometimes Tsakalidis all the time. Even if they're Euros that don't play NBA defense, they're still in the NBA.
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When playing for national pride, it is much more likely to take a cheap shot that could cause serious injury
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Hmm, don't know if this is true. I've seen Dirk lose a tooth and I've seen him take a couple of elbows to the face and some nasty slaps on the wrist when he had an already injured shoulder, but I've never seen any of this happen in international play.