Official Dirk is Great Thread

[rabbitproof]

Get healthy, you old fart!

[BGMaverick9]

Need to speak to some more people, but I think Dirk will give an update tomorrow.

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

Need to speak to some more people, but I think Dirk will give an update tomorrow.

I feel he's close. A few more weeks away.

[EricaLubarsky]

We NEEEED those giant, metal balls. I Think we found Dirk an upgrade on Terry. Now we just need the big man.

[Kante]

Yep:

Dirk Nowitzki will speak to the media on Tuesday afternoon. It will be the second time that Dirk will address the media and give an update on how the rehab process is going on his knee.

[BGMaverick9]

Don't expect anything until around 2:30 or 3. Full audio will be on MOR tonight

[rabbitproof]

So hard to get info. Nervous we are going to get bad news.

[Murphy3]

Dirk will begin practicing early next week.. return based upon how practice goes.

[markus1234]

"Dirk said two weeks until he can get back to practice, not game action"

[EricaLubarsky]

6-6 now

5 more games until he will practice again roughly.
Knicks (7-1)
Lakers (5-5)
@76ers (6-4)
@Bulls (5-5)
Pistons (2-9)

If he takes 2 weeks of practicing, then that is another 8 games.

@Clippers (8-2)
@Suns (4-7)
@Rockets (4-7)
Kings (2-8)
@Celtics (6-5)
@Raptors (3-7)
@wolves (5-4)
76ers (6-4)


So IF Dirk takes 2 weeks to practice and 2 weeks of practice to return and we lose every game to a team that is currently .500 and win every game against a sub.500 team, that puts us at 5-8 until he comes back for a total of 11-14 and 3 games under .500 with 57 games remaining. I wouldn't be happy if I bought tickets for the next two weeks but I would still be eyeing playoff tickets. This team has a ton of potential and at 11-14 with 3/4 of the season left to play and a healthy Dirk, I'd really consider us to have a chance.

Of course we are also losing against bad teams, so that could be worse-- and probably will be. But Dirk is also a fast healer so when he is cleared for practice he will probably be back pretty quick unless "practice" is "no contact", in which case we could be looking at more like late December for a return.

[BGMaverick9]

http://www.thetwomangame.com/2012/11/target-setting/

[twelli]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

http://www.thetwomangame.com/2012/11/target-setting/

Why do I always read that address as "the woman game"....?

I kind of like the fact that we are around .500, because this way the guys don't start thinking that they are fine without Dirk.

[Bayliss]

Really wish he would have gotten it done earlier....

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by Bayliss

Really wish he would have gotten it done earlier....

Every time I hear someone say this, I wonder what you wanted him to do?


Back in October:
“There was a question of, ‘Why didn’t you do it in the summer?’ I think there was no indication that it needed to be done. I had no problem all summer. I had some trouble last year when the season started, but then I made it through the season great. I didn’t have any swelling again for the rest of the season, didn’t have any swelling over the summer. Even when I started working out, running, lifting, shooting in Germany, I didn’t have any swelling at all. I was actually thinking I’m getting through the season fine. So I had a little setback, and that’s why it had to be done.”

[rabbitproof]

Taking foreverrrrrrrrrr. Dude has lost his bionic healing ability. Just be 100% dude.

[markus1234]

Originally Posted by rabbitproof

Dude has lost his bionic healing ability.

Dirk can still play through (ankle) pain, but (knee) swelling is a different story...

[saclare]

I'm thinking they wait until the 15th of December. The second game of a back-to-back against Toronto that Friday and Minnesota that Saturday (15th). Then he will have rest until the next game on Tuesday and another night off until Thursday. A good way to ease him back into game action against the Timberwolves then 76ers in time for the Thursday clash with the Heat.

An optimistic return could be the 10th against the Kings before we head off on a 3 game road trip, including Boston.

[Bayliss]

Bg.. had the surgery a week or so earlier.....

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by Bayliss

Bg.. had the surgery a week or so earlier.....

How much earlier did you want it? There weren't issues during the summer.

[spreedom]

More Dirk Nowitzki through 2015-16?

DALLAS -- While delivering the disappointing news that he probably won't play until mid-December, Dirk Nowitzki dropped a nugget that should be encouraging for Dallas Mavericks fans -- he fully intends to continue playing after his current contract expires at the end of next season.

Nowitzki indicated Tuesday that he'd like to play at least through the 2015-16 season.

"I'm hoping maybe after these two years to play a couple more years," Nowitzki said, "so it would be the wrong thing now to push it and come back too early and maybe make something worse for the long term."

That's as revealing as the 34-year-old Nowitzki has been about his future beyond this contract. He has often said that he'd make the decision on whether to continue his career based on how his body feels, but the desire is clearly there.

Barring a change of heart, there's no question that Nowitzki will remain with the Mavericks until he retires from the NBA.

Ideally, Nowitzki will be part of a supporting cast, and not the franchise's centerpiece, during his next contract. Other than team options on the current rookie class's contracts, the Mavs have nothing on the salary cap's books for the 2014-15 season.

Not a huge surprise but still great to hear!

[ChileanMavsFan]

Originally Posted by spreedom

Not a huge surprise but still great to hear!

Best part of the interview for sure! . It's gonna be though without Dirk, but I think both he and the team are handling this really well, no need to rush this.

[Bayliss]

How much earlier did you want it? There weren't issues during the summer.

A week or so.

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by Bayliss

A week or so.

So you're upset about a week? Okay.

[vinylstar]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

So you're upset about a week? Okay.

This could be difference between the 8th and 9th seed, so yes.

[Murphy3]

Well, my guess was wrong.. nothing like a pre-Thanksgiving kick in the nuts.

[Murphy3]

How dare the Mavs and Dirk try and explore other alternatives to surgery.

[Bayliss]

So you're upset about a week? Okay.

So Carlisle is pissed off about **one** game? To quote you: okay.

A week to a week and a half matters considering it is anywhere from 4-7 games. And considering it could very well be the difference between HCA and the eight seed a la last year. Or the difference between the 8th seed and no playoffs.

If the Mavs don't want to make the playoffs, then the week/week and a half doesn't matter. But I'm willing to bet the Mavs want to make the playoffs, and with that mentality then having Dirk for around 5 more games could be a difference maker.

So yeah, I wish he would have done it sooner.

[BGMaverick9]

You're basically wanting him to rush to a decision. When it's that serious, I doubt that's the best way to go. To each his own, I guess.

[chumdawg]

I heard Ben Rogers on the radio the other day say that he hears the recovery is going not at all well and that it could be a long time still. For what that's worth.

[markus1234]

Ben Rogers is a Dirk hater. For what that's worth.

Last yr he said Dirk looks "done".

[nowhereman]

2 things:

1) This isn't the Dirk's knee injury thread. Don't sully the greatness thread.

2) You're all burying the lead anyway: Dirk staying beyond his current contract?

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/...rrent-contract

[chumdawg]

Is it "lead" or "lede?"

[nowhereman]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

Is it "lead" or "lede?"

By convention "lede," although my understanding is that either is acceptable.

See e.g. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bury_the_lead vs. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bury_the_lede

[chumdawg]

I think "lede" is close to a worthless word, so I can support you on this.

[dirt_dobber]

I'm thankful for Dirk today.............

Dirk Nowitzki is the only player in NBA history to get 100 blocks and 150 3-pointers in a single season (2008).(per wikipedia)

Only Nowitzki and three other players have ever averaged more than 25 points and 10 rebounds in the NBA playoffs.

Only Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have managed 4 consecutive 30-point, 15-rebound games in the playoffs.

In 2006–07 Nowitzki became only the fifth member of the NBA's 50–40–90 Club for players who shot 50% or better from the field, 40% or better on three-pointers, and 90% or better on free-throws in a single season.

One of only four players with an NBA Playoff career average of 25 ppg and 10 rpg (25.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, May 5, 2012)

One of eleven players to have been NBA Champion, NBA regular season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and a 10× NBA All-Star.

One of only three players to surpass the mark of 1000 in both three-pointers and blocks for the career.

:-)

[sike]

Great stuff, dobber. It needs to be clearly understood by fans that when we're talk Dirk, we're talking an All Time NBA Legend. +rep

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

I'm thankful for Dirk today.............

Dirk Nowitzki is the only player in NBA history to get 100 blocks and 150 3-pointers in a single season (2008).(per wikipedia)

Only Nowitzki and three other players have ever averaged more than 25 points and 10 rebounds in the NBA playoffs.

Only Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have managed 4 consecutive 30-point, 15-rebound games in the playoffs.

In 2006–07 Nowitzki became only the fifth member of the NBA's 50–40–90 Club for players who shot 50% or better from the field, 40% or better on three-pointers, and 90% or better on free-throws in a single season.

One of only four players with an NBA Playoff career average of 25 ppg and 10 rpg (25.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, May 5, 2012)

One of eleven players to have been NBA Champion, NBA regular season MVP, NBA Finals MVP and a 10× NBA All-Star.

One of only three players to surpass the mark of 1000 in both three-pointers and blocks for the career.

:-)

One of the most telling achievements to the greatness of Dirk is the fact that he is one of the only Superstar players to ever win a Championship without another current all star (or multiple all stars) at his side. I think that is amazing. Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Bird, Duncan, etc...NONE of these great winners won without other All Star teammates.

[dude1394]

The greatness.. Awe inspiring and such a priviledge.

[EricaLubarsky]

Is Dirk still on pace to start practicing next week?

[Kante]

At least Sir Holger is in town:

DALLAS – It’s been exactly six weeks since Dirk Nowitzki underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

The Mavs are being mum about whether Nowitzki has resumed basketball activities, as he had hoped to do at this point, but there was a pretty strong hint hanging out on the balcony above the Mavs’ practice court Thursday. His longtime mentor and personal coach Holger Geschwindner has arrived in town.

“He’s doing a little bit more each day,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Nowitzki, “but it’s not time for a Dirk update each day.”

Carlisle noted that Geschwindner also worked with other players on the Mavs’ roster. Geschwindner did put Rodrigue Beaubois through drills after Thursday’s practice, but it’s unlikely he flew in from Germany to work on a third-string point guard’s game.

Nowitzki, who originally hoped to resume basketball activities a few weeks after the operation despite the official announcement that it’d take “about six weeks,” recently said that he hopes to be playing in games by mid-December.

“There is no timetable,” Carlisle said. “It’s going to be whenever Mother Nature and his rehab merge, whenever that magic moment is.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/maver...ives-in-dallas

[EricaLubarsky]

Sometimes I love how mum Carlisle is with the media. This is not one of them. I am DESPERATE for an update.