[Underdog]

Pop: Dirk 'arguably best pure shooter' ever

DALLAS -- San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, the coach who has faced Dirk Nowitzki the most, pretended not to be impressed by the big German bumping Oscar Robertson out of the top 10 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

“Well, you shoot it that much, you’re going to pass somebody,” Popovich deadpanned. “He shoots it every time he gets it. Geez, oh whiz!”

The truth is that there’s a massive amount of respect between Popovich and Nowitzki. Popovich, who is notorious for giving brief answers to interview questions that don’t interest him, was extremely elaborative with his praise of Nowitzki after the Spurs’ Thursday shootaround at American Airlines Center in advance of the Spurs-Mavs game Thursday night.

“Ever since he got here day one, when nobody knew who the heck he was except Nellie [then-Mavs coach Don Nelson], he’s done a lot of great things,” Popovich said. “He started out a bit slow until he got used to the deal here and then became Dirk, a Hall of Fame player and somebody who’s arguably the best pure shooter we’ve ever seen.

“And he’s done it with class. He’s showed up every minute that he’s available, plays hard all the time, great teammate. He’s somebody special.”

It was apparent that Nowitzki was special when he went off for 42 points and 18 rebounds in a playoff game against the Spurs as a 22-year-old. The Mavs were eliminated that night, but it was apparent that a superstar had arrived.

One of Nowitzki’s greatest moments of his NBA career came on the Spurs’ home court. His and-1 layup forced overtime in Game 7 of the 2006 West semifinals, a game the Mavs won in large part due to a dominant Dirk performance of 37 points and 15 rebounds.

Production like that demands a certain level of respect, although the Spurs have gotten the best of the Mavs more often than not. But Popovich seems more impressed by Nowitzki’s process, the work ethic displayed by constantly attempting to improve his game over the course of a 16-year career that’s headed for the Hall of Fame.

“He’s obviously got some natural skills and all that kind of thing, but he worked to be the player he is now,” Popovich said. “He’s put in a lot of time.

“He’s done everything. He needed to rebound more and he did. He’s got a myriad of shots. Every year we see new things, whether it’s his fadeaways or his drives or his spins, his pump fakes. Every year he got better in some aspect of the game and worked himself into position offensively where he was impossible to guard. And he’s still pretty much the same thing. So that’s pretty incredible.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/maver...weve-ever-seen

Dirk Nowitzki among upper echelon?

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle made the case Thursday with ESPN Radio that star forward Dirk Nowitzki ranks among the 12 greatest players in the game's history.

"I think there's a certain criteria where you can say pretty much for certain that he's one of the top 12 all time," Carlisle said in an interview that will air Thursday night on the "NBA on ESPN Radio" pregame show.

"And that is, there's only been 12 guys that have been 10-time All-Stars, [NBA] Finals MVP and league MVP. So I think that firmly puts him in the top 12. And then getting into the top 10 in all-time scoring validates that even more."

After starting the season in 17th place on the league's all-time scoring list, Nowitzki moved into 10th place Wednesday night -- passing Oscar Robertson -- with 21 points in a victory at Utah. The 35-year-old, in his 16th season, has 26,714 career points and earned Finals MVP honors in 2011 after leading Dallas to the first championship in franchise history four years removed from his MVP regular season in 2007.

The other 11 players in NBA history to reach the benchmarks Carlisle tossed out are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Yet it must be noted that the NBA did not start awarding a Finals MVP trophy until the 1968-69 season, which limited the opportunities for the likes of Bill Russell and Robertson to achieve all three honors.

"He's got a lot more good basketball left in him," Carlisle said of Nowitzki. "A lot more great basketball. So I think he's going to pick off a few more guys going up the ladder.

"And if you look at his career and the way that he has played his game [and] the fact that his game is such a radically different game than any 7-foot-1 guy that we've ever seen, he's been a game-changer. ... He's been a monster in this game and he'll only continue, I think, to gain respect as time continues to go on."

Entering the Mavericks' Thursday night showdown at home with longtime rival San Antonio, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said at the morning shootaround that he regards Nowitzki to be "arguably the best pure shooter we've ever seen."

"He's done it with class," Popovich said. "He's showed up every minute that he's available, plays hard all the time, great teammate. He's somebody special."

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/...est-coach-says