Dirkster at the Olympics - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

dude1394 · 06-08-2008, 05:39 PM

I couldn't find a thread dealing with the upcoming olympics for the dirkster. If you wanna move this feel free.

I hope for the dirksters sake that Kaman gets approved to play. That would be a nice front line.

Quote:

Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman should be getting the news within the next few days if he is going to be German citizen and therefore eligible to play for the German national team.

German basketball president Ingo Weiss is optimistic that Kaman, who has German roots (hs great-grandparents were German), will have his citizenship approved by the department for internal affairs within the next six days.

Kaman could pair up with Dirk Nowitzki, who is slated to be part of the preparations in three weeks in Spain, in the frontcourt of the German national team and certainly would boost Germany's chances of qualifying for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing.

Germany is going to face the Cape Verde Islands and New Zealand in the first round of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which runs July 14-20 in Athens, Greece, and may have to face hosts Greece or Brazil (without injured Anderson Varejao but probably with the NBA's Nene and Leandro Barbosa) in the quarterfinals.

The top three teams from this tournament will join China, Spain, the United States, Argentina, Russia, Lithuania, Australia, Iran and Angola in Beijing.

Other notable players on the German roster for Athens include Ademola Okulaja (North Carolina) , Jan Jagla (Penn State), Patrick Femerling (Washington), Joe Herber (West Virginia), Yassin Idbihi (Buffalo), Julian Sensley (Hawaii) and Konrad Wysocki (Princeton).

Caseman · 06-08-2008, 05:59 PM

I hope Dirk doesn't get sick from all that pollution floating around China. I hear most athletes are training in Japan for the time being and are going to travel to China briefly for the event due to the health hazards.

wang_mic · 07-17-2008, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caseman

I hope Dirk doesn't get sick from all that pollution floating around China. I hear most athletes are training in Japan for the time being and are going to travel to China briefly for the event due to the health hazards.

So you havn't been to China, so you got that from rumors, huh. Beijing is not inhabitable as you think, they've prepared the OG for a whole lot of years. They even set up AUTO-CURFEW to clean for foreigners. AND YOU KNOW WAHT, ALLTHIS heinious things of China aren't all true. Air pollution doesn't mean a squat.

CanadianMavsFan · 07-17-2008, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wang_mic

So you havn't been to China, so you got that from rumors, huh. Beijing is not inhabitable as you think, they've prepared the OG for a whole lot of years. They even set up AUTO-CURFEW to clean for foreigners. AND YOU KNOW WAHT, ALLTHIS heinious things of China aren't all true. Air pollution doesn't mean a squat.

Air pollution doesn't mean squat? I certainly hope that's some kind of sick joke, because I doubt you'll be singing the same tune when things get worse and some serious health problems in China start popping up.

On another note, hearing the German broadcaster shout, "NOT IN MY HOWSE!" was just brilliant. (And yes, I spelt house like "howse" on purpose).

Fidel · 07-17-2008, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wang_mic

So you havn't been to China, so you got that from rumors, huh. Beijing is not inhabitable as you think, they've prepared the OG for a whole lot of years. They even set up AUTO-CURFEW to clean for foreigners. AND YOU KNOW WAHT, ALLTHIS heinious things of China aren't all true. Air pollution doesn't mean a squat.

No we´ve got it from reporters who work for our FREE western media. You know with freedom of speech and opinion and all that. Unlike your great country where you might suddenly disappear or maybe being shot in the head if you´re a bit too critical. And now take a deep breath of heavenly clean Beijing air and then YOURSELF!

dude1394 · 07-17-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wang_mic

So you havn't been to China, so you got that from rumors, huh. Beijing is not inhabitable as you think, they've prepared the OG for a whole lot of years. They even set up AUTO-CURFEW to clean for foreigners. AND YOU KNOW WAHT, ALLTHIS heinious things of China aren't all true. Air pollution doesn't mean a squat.

I think you are right. I can see all of those joggers and atheletes in the foreground practicing.

Bayliss · 06-08-2008, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Other notable players on the German roster for Athens include Ademola Okulaja (North Carolina) , Jan Jagla (Penn State), Patrick Femerling (Washington), Joe Herber (West Virginia), Yassin Idbihi (Buffalo), Julian Sensley (Hawaii) and Konrad Wysocki (Princeton).

Patrick Femerling is done. Sensley didn't even play for them in the Euro Championships or World Championships the last two years. And I haven't even heard of Wysocki or Idbihi.

nikeball · 06-09-2008, 01:38 AM

Josh Howard knows a thing or two about bad air pollution.

If it affects Dirk..then we'd be really screwed.

Thespiralgoeson · 06-09-2008, 03:59 AM

I really wish Dirk would just take the summer off and work with Holger and Carlisle to gear up for next season. Granted, playing during the summer never seems to really affect his NBA game, but I'd much rather him start the season well-rested.

DavidDaMonkey · 06-09-2008, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I really wish Dirk would just take the summer off and work with Holger and Carlisle to gear up for next season. Granted, playing during the summer never seems to really affect his NBA game, but I'd much rather him start the season well-rested.

Not to mention the possible injury factor. We all now Dirk is a machine, but it still scares me.

MavsX · 06-09-2008, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I really wish Dirk would just take the summer off and work with Holger and Carlisle to gear up for next season. Granted, playing during the summer never seems to really affect his NBA game, but I'd much rather him start the season well-rested.

i agree.

but those Europeans are freaking crazy, if he skipped one summer, they are liable to riot and try and kill him.

DevinHarriswillstart · 06-10-2008, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I really wish Dirk would just take the summer off and work with Holger and Carlisle to gear up for next season. Granted, playing during the summer never seems to really affect his NBA game, but I'd much rather him start the season well-rested.

Esp after that injury. Carlisle has to watch his minutes this year.

mqywaaah · 06-09-2008, 08:36 AM

Kaman should play for the Mavs, oh and Okulaja too!

Flacolaco · 06-09-2008, 08:41 AM

Dirk and Kidd playing basketball all summer.... sigh.

I really want to see the U.S do well at the olympics, and it will be nice to have a Mav on the team now...but I worry about these guys wearing down.

dirno2000 · 06-09-2008, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Dirk and Kidd playing basketball all summer.... sigh.

I really want to see the U.S do well at the olympics, and it will be nice to have a Mav on the team now...but I worry about these guys wearing down.

As loaded as the USA is at guard, I wouldn't worry about Kidd getting worn down.

Flacolaco · 06-09-2008, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirno2000

As loaded as the USA is at guard, I wouldn't worry about Kidd getting worn down.

USA!!!

Ninkobei · 06-09-2008, 10:05 AM

the way the team has been going lately, I cant blame Dirk for wanting a shot at winning something worth-while. This may be his last chance to get a Gold medal, or any trophy for that matter, and he should totally take it. Lets face it, unless the mavs acquire some amazing talent this summer and put things together, this coming year is going to end up a lot like the last two years. go dirk

Kidd Karma · 06-09-2008, 11:00 AM

Kidd ran about 15 minutes a game during last summer's qualifying tournament. Billups got the bulk of the minutes and I think Deron Williams got the rest. Kidd was a starter and basically got the ball moving, once that flowed throughout the game, he was pulled until the 2nd half.

Rick41 · 06-09-2008, 11:03 AM

Well i dont know but Jan-Jagla is a BEAST in NBA LIVE 08.

bgarrett · 06-09-2008, 11:10 AM

who is that? How many seasons are you in?

Rick41 · 06-09-2008, 11:53 AM

JAGGS man, backup center for Germany. F' femerling, Jaggs is the new C for Germany.

GermanDunk · 06-09-2008, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude1394

Other notable players on the German roster for Athens include Ademola Okulaja (North Carolina) , Jan Jagla (Penn State), Patrick Femerling (Washington), Joe Herber (West Virginia), Yassin Idbihi (Buffalo), Julian Sensley (Hawaii) and Konrad Wysocki (Princeton).

Wat ?

GermanDunk · 06-09-2008, 06:56 PM

Dirk, Obi and Gino should quit that Nazi-stuff and concentrate on the league. From my point of view olympics is only waste of time. China should concentrate on shooting inmates.

BGMaverick9 · 06-09-2008, 07:32 PM

NICE sig Flacolaco!

BGMaverick9 · 06-09-2008, 10:23 PM

I would like it if he were to rest, but he could easily say he's getting more rest than he hoped for with the early exit. I can't fault him for playing with the National team.

LSMF · 06-10-2008, 01:14 AM

I just hope that Dirk's ankle is fully healed now and that he doesnt hurt it in the Olympics.

BGMaverick9 · 06-10-2008, 01:16 AM

wow, props for the sig...that's definitely a blast from the not so far past.

Rick41 · 06-10-2008, 02:28 AM

Oh wow you made me tear up.

dude1394 · 06-10-2008, 06:28 AM

Boy I miss killer.

LSMF · 06-10-2008, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick41

Oh wow you made me tear up.

I apologize

MavsX · 06-10-2008, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longsufferingmavsfan

I apologize

i dont like your sig

LSMF · 06-10-2008, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MavsX

i dont like your sig

Im guessing its cooler to talk about two Spurs players fighting Naked than to talk about our 2006 team

ty · 06-10-2008, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

wow, props for the sig...that's definitely a blast from the not so far past.

No props from me--I'm a not-fan of all things Avery. =/

ty · 06-11-2008, 12:42 AM

huh

Underdog · 06-24-2008, 01:35 PM

Olympics anything but ideal for NBA

link

We could debate talent, chemistry and the legitimacy of the choices. That would be the usual state of affairs on the day after the 2008 version of Team USA was announced.

But that wouldn't be any fun.

Rather, let's discuss the big picture of what is going on here with the advent of internationalism in the NBA, the reality of NBA players now the sole members of the Team USA roster and the effect it is having on the owners that guarantee tens of millions of dollars every year to these guys.

It isn't pretty and NBA ownership and management isn't happy.

San Antonio Spurs coach and president Gregg Popovich has made it clear he doesn't want star guard Manu Ginobili representing Argentina. Ginobili was essentially ineffective in the Spurs Western Conference finals loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and now he's going to the Olympics with a chronic ankle problem and a mangled finger? The Spurs have suffered more than anybody because they always play so deep into the playoffs and have so many international players that compete in the summer, even in non-Olympic years. Despite winning four titles over the past 10 seasons, the fact is international ball has worn out players enough that it has played in a role in their failure to repeat during that time.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote in his blog how tired he is of the hypocrisy that coaxing the employees of the NBA teams and risking their talents so the Olympic Committee and networks carrying the games can make money. Meanwhile, his superstar Dirk Nowitzki has a chronic ankle problem that he will take to the German team, and Jason Kidd will run point for the U.S. team despite his shaky 35-year-old knees. It puts into peril the money he has invested in his team, not to mention the money fans have devoted to Mavs season tickets.

How can the Miami Heat and their fans be thrilled about Dwyane Wade going to China? Offseason shoulder and knee surgery caused him to miss the first two weeks of last season and he packed it in more than five weeks before the end of the season because his body was so deteriorated. And yet he's going with the U.S. team to training camp and then to Beijing?

It just doesn't make sense.

Kobe Bryant eschewed necessary surgery on his right hand to repair a dislocated finger and torn ligament to play out the second half of the season. Doctors said he should have had the surgery immediately, and yet he went all the way through the Western Conference title and five games into the Finals. But he still won't have surgery until after the Olympics. Is the Lakers organization lacking patriotism if they ask him -- no, tell him -- not to go?

Absolutely not.

And that's not to say I don't care about the Olympic team because it's something I've looked forward too all the way back to 1960, when at 6-years-old, I watched Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Jerry Lucas with my dad.

The one that stands out the most, though, was the worst summer of basketball in my life -- 1972. Not only was the U.S. team ripped off when officials put time back on the clock and the Russians stole the gold on a miracle shot in that additional second, but it was the year my NBA team, the Royals, moved from Cincinnati to Kansas City.

This is a different time, and a different landscape for the Olympics, although ironically I am once again in a panic about losing a team since the Seattle Sonics may very well leave my adult home. If I dare blink, they may land in Oklahoma City. But that's a different ugly story, emblematic of how fleeting the commitment can be to and from the NBA.

The problem with the NBA players competing in the Olympic games has become serious enough that the Board of Governors should look into adopting an addendum to the Collective Bargaining Agreement that would prohibit players from competing in extracurricular basketball if they were injured seriously enough to miss 10 games the previous season or have a chronic injury that caused them to miss a like number of games. That would at least cut back on games lost the following season.

Then again, if you look at teams that played late into the playoffs and then had even healthy players compete internationally, too many of them got hurt. That's what happened in 2006, at least half of the players from that World Championships team struggled physically through the first half of the 2006-07season.

Is that anti-patriotic? Some may think so. It's their right. But it's even more the right of those players' employers to have major issues with what's going on here.

It's just business, and that's precisely the valid point Cuban makes in his blog. To jeopardize the future of his team in general and individual players in particular make it a major argument worth having at the next Board of Governors meeting.

The players aren't going to like it because everyone deserves the right to try out for the Olympic team, but do it when they're younger. Get them while they're in college or have an open tryout for NBDL players. At some point, a line is going to be drawn in the sand. This isn't about a world war and unless you're in complete denial, the Olympics are just as much about business as the NBA is -- so why should the guys footing the bill have to shoulder all the risk?

The negative impact on the 2008-09 teams with participants is inevitable, just wait. It's going to hurt at least one team significantly and probably more.

bernardos70 · 06-24-2008, 02:15 PM

It's not hypocrisy. I disagree with Mark Cuban in this regard. Players abroad are genuinely proud to represent their nations at the Olympics. This is a problem with the NBA's and its players' Collective Bargain Agreement, and their guaranteed contracts. It happens in soccer all the time, and teams will generally try to keep players from playing friendlies and meaningless games in their national squad, but when it comes to the World Cup or the Eurocup, you don't hear teams complaining.

It comes with the player, it's understood that player will represent his national squad, and in fact, that is one of the highest honors for player, moreso than any club level competition.

So stop the BS, suck it up and let the player play.

jacktruth · 06-24-2008, 04:52 PM

I think Holger should adopt Kidd so he could apply for German citizenship and him and Dirk can get the whole summer in and Holger can work on his son's jump shot.

jthig32 · 07-05-2008, 10:21 AM

So the final qualifying tournament for the Olympics is in nine days. Germany has to place in the top three to play in the Olympics.

Here are the first round groups:

1. Composition of groups:

Group A: Brazil, Greece and Lebanon

Group B: Cape Verde, Germany and New Zealand

Group C: Canada, Korea and Slovenia

Group D: Cameroon, Croatia and Puerto Rico

That's a very nice draw for Germany, no? I need Zoidberg and some of our other German members to give me some analysis of Germany's chances in this thing. Based on the little I know of international teams, it would seem that Brazil and Greece are the big threats (assuming Barbosa, Varajeo and Nene are playing for Brazil)

Puerto Rico is probably a bit of a danger team as well, considering Germany just lost to them in a friendly. (Kaman wasn't playing but neither was Arroyo).

Thoughts?

alby · 07-05-2008, 01:50 PM

Yup, you are right. Those four teams (Brazil, Greece, Germany and Puerto Rico) are going to contend for the three spots. But, don't sleep on Croatia either. The good thing for Dirk & Kaman is that Brazil and Greece are in the same group, and Croatia and Puerto Rico are in the same group.

mavsman · 07-05-2008, 04:44 PM

It all depends on the quarterfinal game against (most likely) Brazil. Should Germany win that game, we have two shots to qualify against (most likely) Croatia and Slovenia, both beatable teams. On the other hand, should we slip against New Zealand in the group stage, we'd have to play Greece on their homecourt and I just can't see us beating them.

OT: JJ Barea had a brilliant game yesterday and scored 32 against Greece today (6 of 10 3pts, 5 ass)