Nowitzki - a revoultionary player

[germanwunderkind_41]

Just found some old stories on my desk. Wanted to share it

Especially the first part: Dude.....

Nowitzki a revolutionary player
By Chris Perkins
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki ventured out to South Beach with teammate Dan Dickau to grab dinner Wednesday night. As Dickau exited the cab and slammed the door, he heard Nowitzki's voice.
"Dude," Nowitzki said, "open the door. My fingers are in there."

Yes, it was his shooting hand. And, yes, the next night Nowitzki, the 7-foot German All-Star import, proceeded to bust the Heat for 41 points.
This, folks, is a good basketball player. He's the best power forward in the league after San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett. Yes, he's ahead of Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal.
As Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said, he's one of the great and "truly unique" players in the game.
"I don't know if there's ever been a 7-footer like Dirk Nowitzki," Van Gundy said. "The guys you compare him to are 6-8, 6-9 guys. I don't know that there's ever been a 7-footer like him who handles the ball in the open floor, who leads the break and shoots the three."
Heat forward Malik Allen knows all about Nowitzki. He's chased him around for almost three years now.
Yes, Allen said, Minnesota's 7-foot forward Kevin Garnett also is uniquely gifted. But while Garnett posts up down low, Nowitzki roams on the perimeter, in the land of the spry, agile, 6-6 and 6-8 guys.
"He puts a lot of defenses in unconventional positions," Allen said.
Like having your power forward defending out on the perimeter instead of banging down low and getting in position for a rebound.
With a sore right (shooting) hand against the Heat, Nowitzki went 12-of-24 from the field and 13-of-13 from the free-throw line.
You should have seen it coming. The 26-year-old Nowitzki, a three-time All-Star and All-NBA selection, is averaging 26.7 points per game this season and shooting.491 from the field. Now in his seventh year, he has career averages of 20.5 points and 8.3 rebounds, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
Before he destroyed the Heat, Nowitzki, a nice guy but one who doesn't speak with the media before games, was on the court shooting. Dressed in gray sweatpants that were scrunched up to his knees, he popped shots from all over the court.
It was a harbinger. It was a prelude to what Nowitzki was about to unleash on the Heat and what he's unleashed on the rest of the league.
Nowitzki is revolutionary. He redefines the way his position is played.
Right now, Nowitzki is on the best Dallas team he's had in his career. The Mavs are without All-Star guard Steve Nash (he bolted for Phoenix) but they have more depth and balance than ever before. True, they still have no top-flight inside presence, but with Erick Dampier (OK, so they overpaid) in the middle and Michael Finley, Marquis Daniels and Josh Howard joining Nowitzki, they have the best chance they've ever had.
And by bringing players such as Jason Terry off the bench, the Mavs keep their perimeter attack going. And say what you will about centers Shawn Bradley and Calvin Booth, at least Dallas has some size.
But it all starts with Nowitzki. He's not the best power forward in the league, but he's the most unusual.

[germanwunderkind_41]

Dirk Outduels T-Mac in OT
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DALLAS, Dec. 2 (Ticker) -- Tracy McGrady had his best game as a member of the Houston Rockets, but Dirk Nowitzki had the best game of his career.

Nowitzki scored a team-record 53 points to offset the season-high 48 scored by McGrady as the Dallas Mavericks posted a 113-106 overtime victory over the Rockets.
NBA TV highlights from
Rockets-Mavericks: 300k

Having already reached a season high by the end of regulation, Nowitzki kept Dallas from trailing in overtime by scoring the first 10 points of the extra session. The All-Star forward capped the surge with a 3-pointer that gave the Mavericks a 103-93 lead with 3:35 remaining.

"It was a great night," Nowitzki said. "I made my first couple of shots and that usually gets my confidence up and I was just trying to be aggressive."

Nowitzki went 15-of-32 from the floor and an astounding 21-of-22 from the line to become the first player to reach the 50-point plateau in the NBA this season.

"All night long I got to the line," said Nowitzki, who also added 16 rebounds while playing 50 minutes. "On nights like that you just can't settle for the jumper. Guys were leaning all over me so I drove inside and made them pay from the line."

After averaging just under 16 points in his last three games, McGrady easily eclipsed his previous season high of 32 points by going 19-of-36 from the floor, including 6-of-13 from the arc.

"That was exiting," McGrady said. "It was fun. I think that was good basketball right there; two guys at a high level. I hope the fans enjoyed it."

"It was amazing," Nowitzki said. "We double-teamed him (McGrady) and he just jumped over us and made shots. He's one of the best perimeter scorers in the league."

The two-time NBA scoring champion had only taken 20 or more shots in three of his previous 14 games.

"I had a long talk with coach (Jeff Van Gundy) and kind of had an understanding of what he wanted me to do," McGrady said. "He wanted me to be aggressive and make my team better."

"He was just playing," Van Gundy said. "I thought he was very assertive and that was good."

The two stars knew what they had been a part of and acknowledged it after the game.

"We sort of winked at each other a couple of times," Nowitzki said. "After the game, he came over and congratulated me. I congratulated him too."

"This is (the) number one (game I've been part of)," McGrady said. "I've never been part of a game when another guy scored 50. Just to be a part of that was an honor."

With Dallas leading 93-92, McGrady collected three consecutive offensive rebounds before drawing a foul with 27 seconds left in regulation. He made the first free throw before the second rimmed out.

Bob Sura had a chance to win the game in regulation for Houston, which has lost five straight, but his desperation 3-pointer fell short as time expired.

Jim Jackson, who shared the previous Mavericks' single-game scoring record of 50 points with Jamal Mashburn, added 17 off the bench for Houston.

"When you've got guys out there like that it's exciting to be a part of," Jackson said. "I wish we had come up with the win."

Marquis Daniels and Jason Terry each scored 14 points and Jerry Stackhouse 13 for Dallas, which won for the third time in four games.

"This was a classic shootout," Terry said. Like Bird-Jordan, Dominique-Jordan, just big classic. "Two young superstars in the league shooting it out, trying to do what they can do to will their team to victory."

Dallas needed the win after losing three of its last four games, including a 107-89 drubbing at the hands of San Antonio on Tuesday.

"I'm just glad we won to be honest with you," Nowitzki said. "It was so close and we had lost a couple of bad games. We decided to do whatever it took to win the game."

[germanwunderkind_41]

Reason for his 3pt shots

How do you turn a 7-footer into a great shooter? Push-ups, integral calculus and jazz
Q&A With Holger Geschwinder

By Johannes Berendt

COLOGNE, Germany -- Granted, there are many ways to practice 3-point shooting. Just ask Dirk Nowitzki. Ever since meeting his mentor Holger Geschwindner, the Dallas Mavericks star has probably come across some of the most unusual ways. A former German international who now runs a project management business, Holger has combined his great knowledge for the game, mathematic calculations and intuition to make Dirk a deadly shooter. In the third edition of the Opel 3-Point Report, he provides NBA.com an inside look at his sometimes-odd training methods.
Q: What’s the best way to practice 3-point shooting?


Holger Geschwindner: Push-ups on your fingertips - that’s the most important thing to do. It’s just because many players commit a mistake during the shot process. They start pushing the ball. Since nobody can grab the ball during the shot, you need to accelerate it continuously -- until the final acceleration at the end. That’s when most of the players lack strength, and that’s why they push the ball too quickly at the beginning. At the end, the ball leaves the hand at a sub-optimal velocity. And then you get a wild range on your shots.

Q: How many special push-ups does it take?

HG: Start out slowly. Begin with push-ups on your knees before doing normal push-ups. Ten or 15 after every practice should be enough.

Q: What else is important?

HG: A good arm movement. The elbow does the targeting. He needs to point to the basket for the arm to move into the direction of the shot. Then you’ve eliminated the most common mistakes.

Q: How did Dirk do in the early stages - was it hard for him?

HG: Of course it was. It’s hard for anybody. The youth lack strength but want to do everything at the same time. Shooting triples. Dunks. Back-flips. All at one time, of course. You need a systematic approach and, believe me, that can be excruciating.

Q: Even with Dirk?

HG: Well, we got to know each other when he was 16 3/4. So we’ve systematically started from scratch, which made it easier.

Q: How long was it until Dirk showed some early success?

HG: Five minutes after we started, that goes without saying (smiles).

Q: You have studied physics and mathematics. There is talk you’ve once calculated the optimal shot curve...

HG: It’s true. Well, you need to do just that in order to find out whether there is an optimal shot or not.

Q: So?

HG: Of course there is one! The reflection behind it is quite simple. How do you have to throw the ball so that, despite committing as many mistakes as possible, it still finds its way through the net. It’s a question of error tolerance. But every college student should be able to make the same calculations. Take differential and integral calculus. Make some derivations and create a curve. Everybody can do it. It’s no secret. The optimal angle depends on the player’s height and the distance. I’ve calculated it for Dirk and my other players.

Q: Are you pleased with Dirk’s 3-point shooting?

HG: There’s always room to improve. He shot slightly worse last season than the years before but it relates to the many prayers he had to take with the shot clock running down. That’s why his percentage went down. But he’s doing quite well in practice.

Q: Considering Dirk’s overall play, what role does his three-point shooting play?

HG: It’s one of his weapons. As a seven-footer he can draw his defender to 3-point territory, meaning a big man will be missing out on the rebound. It’s a huge advantage for your team if you have a tall guy who can shoot the three. Dirk is certainly one of the league’s better 3-point shooters for his size.

Q: Some call you a coaching guru...

HG: That’s rubbish.

Q: So what is it that you makes you different from other coaches?

HG: Nothing. It’s just our basic mentality that is different. We don’t want to educate players. Neither do we have a special recruiting program. We just assess the players individually and try to evaluate what’s best for everyone to help him develop to his potential. That’s the only difference. We don’t tell them "You gotta do this and that" but we try to help them develop step by step.

Q: You are legendary for staging summer basketball camps during which your players practice rowing and fencing as well as basketball. What’s up with that?

HG: The youth - especially when thinking of turning pro - need to talk to former gold medal winners. The sooner, the better. Those are athletes who have won it all. It’s good for young players to speak to them. Smell the air of competing at top level and find out about what frame of mind you need to reach elite level. That’s why we put them together with a bunch of former gold medal winners, like from fencing and rowing. It’s a tremendous help.

Q: What’s your basic coaching philosophy?

HG: B-ball is jazz.

Q: Why is that?

HG: Because you’ve got top individuals -- who are all absolute experts in one or another part of the game -- teaming up. Everyone steps up for a short time and plays the main role - like during a solo. And the others guys remain in the background.


Holger's unorthodox training methods have helped Nowitzki become one of the world's best shooters.
Glenn James
NBAE/Getty Images

[kriD]

World of talent: Dirk more than a player of import

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

He is the main reason NBA scouts have filled up their passports with stamps and visas.

He's one reason they know every back-roads gym from Moscow to Madrid. And he's the reason European basketball is better than it's ever been.

Everybody is scouring Europe for the next Dirk Nowitzki.

The German is a giant, both in stature and the way he's playing these days. Unlike the incredible shrinking Spaniard, Pau Gasol, who Nowitzki and the Mavericks swept out of the NBA playoffs in the first round, Nowitzki is as hot as any player east of Kobe Bryant or west of LeBron James.

It's no longer fair to ask whether Nowitzki is the best European player in the league right now. He is. And because most Euros didn't arrive on the NBA scene until the last 20 years and most of them who are worth their salt are still in the league, the bigger question is whether Nowitzki is the best European player ever."I don't think there's much question about that," said Del Harris, who has coached internationally for four countries, including China in the 2004 Olympics and been a keen observer of the global growth of the NBA. "I don't know of anybody from that continent that you'd rather have over Dirk."

Nowitzki is clearly better than anybody else from Europe who is currently playing. His 26.6 points and nine rebounds per game in the regular season made him a strong MVP candidate. France's Tony Parker of San Antonio, Russia's Andrei Kirilenko of Utah and Serbia & Montenegro's Peja Stojakovic of Indiana are high-profile stars. But none is in Nowitzki's class.

And of former players, only Drazen Petrovic of Croatia, whose life was cut short by an automobile accident, and Lithuanian Arvydas Sabonis, who didn't get to the NBA until his best years were behind him, can be considered threats to Nowitzki.

Milwaukee's Toni Kukoc, a Croatian who still is hanging on after a wonderful career (and three championships) also deserves to be in the discussion.

But none can challenge Nowitzki's individual greatness.

Carroll Dawson, general manager of the Houston Rockets, has coached and drafted his share of international players – Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming among them.

He doesn't deal in absolutes because, invariably, somebody will take offense. But he knows what everybody else knows about Nowitzki.

"He's just a force," Dawson said. "I don't want to say he's a freak, because that sounds bad. But he's a 7-footer who can get his shot inside or outside, no matter what you do.

"Everybody wants a force like that. I got the highest respect you can have for the guy and I love watching him play – except against the Rockets."

As Orlando coach Brian Hill said: "He's probably the toughest matchup in the league. You put a big guy on him, he's got a counter for that. You put a small guy on him, he shoots over him."

The NBA playoffs feature 44 international players from 25 countries and territories. Of those, 25 are from Europe. Only two teams, Miami and Washington, are composed completely of U.S. natives.

That the best player for the Mavericks – and one of the best for their next playoff opponent, if the San Antonio Spurs make it to the second round – are Europeans makes this the possible poster series of the NBA's international movement.

The league has come a long way since Sarunas Marciulionis was a novelty because he wasn't American.

With the speed that Europeans and players from other continents have infiltrated the NBA, maybe it won't be long until the league has players from other planets, although it can be argued Dennis Rodman already broke that barrier.

"There are no secrets anymore," said Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations. "There was a time when you could find players nobody else knew about. But you can't go into Europe to scout anymore without running into somebody you know from the league."

At the close of the regular season, 82 players in the NBA were non-American. That's roughly 20 percent.

And while Nelson and the Mavericks had a big role in pioneering the league's international expansion, the second round of the playoffs could offer an even greater glimpse into the phenomenon.

San Antonio has more foreign-born players than any team in the league with seven.