from LMF: Nowitzki 'hack-a-Shaqed'

[denig]

from the LMF:

I forgot to mention another new article I found and considered Franzlating -- it was written by a long time observer of Nowitzki at www.sport1.de named Sarah Beckmann, she's been covering him for years. Her point was that Dirk is starting to be treated in a similar fashion to the 'hack-a-Shaq' philosophy some NBA teams use against the Lakers. Nowitzki had 26 points in the first 20 mins vs Croatia the other day, hitting almost everything he threw at the basket. The Croats decided that the only way to stop him was to hack and bump and deny to the extreme. She said the French took it a step farther and frankly dangerously crossed the physical line. Wolfie the German BB Fed was positively indignant ["it was unbelievable"] with the ref's inability to control the abuse Dirk was getting from the French. The Mavs have Nash and Fin to take over should a team focus wrecklessly on Dirk. The German national team has no such option - no alternative should the refs allow Dirk to be physically denied to have a voice in the outcome of a game. Dirk is used to the strategy, but it's getting out of hand. Then she goes on to say how Cuban's not getting any sleep over his worry for Dirk's health and the risk to his investment - I'm guessing she exchanged e-mails with Mark for some quotes.
http://www.sportsonly.com/boards/mavs/
Dirk article/
LOL Posted by Franz Kafka 67.202.40.44 - 12:47:17 8/27/2003