Mavs' Nowitzki Has Way of Bouncing Back

[MavKikiNYC]

Interesting.
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June 6, 2006
Mavs' Nowitzki Has Way of Bouncing Back

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:46 p.m. ET
DALLAS (AP) -- As the Miami Heat try to find ways to handle Dirk Nowitzki, they'll no doubt look at his mistakes that cost the Mavericks playoff games against San Antonio and Phoenix. The Heat would be wise to heed what happened next.

The Mavericks didn't lose another game in each series, and Nowitzki more than atoned for each flub.
Against the Spurs, Nowitzki missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the end of Game 6, then immediately chided himself for not driving for a layup and drawing a foul.

Given a similar chance in Game 7, Nowitzki did exactly what he said he would. He converted the three-point play, forcing overtime and helping Dallas knock out the defending champions.

Against the Suns, Nowitzki went 3-for-13 and scored only 11 points in a loss at Phoenix that tied the Western Conference finals at 2-2. He came back to score 50 points the next game, then sparked a late rally in the following game that sent the Mavericks into the championship for the first time in the team's 26-year history.

''He's been good all season long and he's turned into greatness'' in the playoffs, teammate Jason Terry said. ''Dirk is a legend in the making.''

Nowitzki goes into Game 1 of the NBA finals Thursday night averaging 28.4 points and 11.9 rebounds this postseason. If there was an NBA MVP for the entire playoffs, he'd likely be the leader thus far.
Sure, Dwyane Wade has been terrific for Miami. But he has Shaquille O'Neal to help carry the load.
In Dallas, the playoffs boil down to this: As Dirk goes, so do the Mavericks. The numbers back it up.
In their five losses, Nowitzki has averaged 22.6 points and been the team's top scorer only twice. In their 12 wins, he's averaged 30.8 and led the team 10 times.

''I've seen him thrive in the moment,'' Terry said. ''He knows what's at stake, that every opportunity gets us closer and closer to the championship. He has that vision in his head. You can see when he drives to the basket, there's more intensity. It's on his mind constantly.''

Nowitzki has always been great in the playoffs, raising his regular-season averages every time. Well, except last year.

The German struggled with his shot, screamed at his teammates and the Mavs were a mess. They scrambled out of an 0-2 hole in the first round, then lost to the Suns in the second round, an ousting made more painful because his good pal and former teammate Steve Nash was leading Phoenix.

''I had a tough summer last year sitting on that one,'' Nowitzki said. ''But I think it pushed all of us.''
This season, Nowitzki's eighth in the NBA, was his first without both Nash and Michael Finley, the team leaders who helped bring him along early in his career. It also was his first full year without coach Don Nelson.

Still, it turned out to be his best yet -- a testament to his desire to keep improving.
''Dirk is the epitome of what hard work will do to make you a great shooter,'' assistant coach Del Harris said.

At the urging of new coach Avery Johnson, Nowitzki developed more of a low post game and improved his defense. But he also kept his long range shot sharp enough to win the 3-point contest at the All-Star game, a first for a 7-footer.

''I've always had big goals for Dirk,'' said Johnson, who was Nowitzki's teammate on the 2003 club that reached the conference finals. ''I think there's another level for him to go to. We'll keep trying to push him there.''

Count Shaq among those awed by Nowitzki's game.

''He may be one of the best players in the world,'' O'Neal said.

O'Neal considers Nowitzki the poster child of a worldwide evolution among big men. He sees fewer behemoths like himself hunkered down under the basket and more guys like Nowitzki nimble enough to be all-around threats.

''When they talk about great big men, it'll be based on if guys can play like Dirk or not,'' O'Neal said. ''He's the future. I'm actually going to let my children watch his game when they get older.''

Told about those comments, Nowitzki broke into a huge grin. He appeared to blush a bit, too, as if Michael Jordan had just asked for his autograph.

''That's great,'' he said, then changed the subject to his admiration for O'Neal.
Terry expects Nowitzki to win more fans during the next two weeks.

''We know how good he is and some of the world knows, but now all of the world will know,'' said Terry, whose 5-year-old daughter wears Nowitzki's No. 41 jersey to games instead of her dad's No. 31.

''Now you get in the same breath as the legends -- the Birds, the Magics, the Isiahs, the Jordans, the Shaqs. All the great ones do it in the championship-type environment. Now Dirk gets a chance to do it.''

[Tokey41]

Well this certainly addresses my questions about the media love for Dirk, it's great Shaqs giving him his props too. Hes been the best player in the playoffs no doubt so he deserved this article.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Yeah, he's starting to get some more recognition now, and it is very well deserved.

I really love how humble he is, and that he's never satisfied with his play, he always wants to improve something. He's a true superstar.

[nah-vit-ski]

Yeah, Shaq lets his children watch Dirk. He approves of him. Now time to rob him of his 4th title.

[EastDallasCowboy]

Quick question about this line....

In their five losses, Nowitzki has averaged 22.6 points and been the team's top scorer only twice. In their 12 wins, he's averaged 30.8 and led the team 10 times.

Take out the 50pt game, and what does he average in the other 11?

Hell, take out his lowest scoring game as well and average the 5 losses too.

My guess would be if you removed both those games, you'd get a very similar point average between both wins and losses, somewhere in the neighborhood of 24-25 points. I'm too tired to do the math.

And if that is correct, well, then this writer is echoing very hollow numbers. My gut says this is the case.

And to follow even that up, a good writer would write some fluff about Dirk, and how he is the Son of God, and then focus on basketball and say that Dirk is going to get his points....for the Mavs to win the points need to come from X. (Howard?)

[nashtymavsfan13]

Hey Kiki, can you post the link for this article? Thanks.

[kriD]

Link

[kriD]

NBA hasn't seen Dirk's best shot, mentor says

By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News

To almost everyone, the evidence is irrefutable. Dirk Nowitzki has arrived. Angekommen, as they say in his homeland of Germany.

His Dallas Mavericks are in the NBA Finals. His play has been nothing short of wunderbar – except in the estimation of his mentor.

He is Holger Geschwindner, Mr. Nowitzki's coach and confidant of 12 years. While Mavericks coach Avery Johnson prepares his team to host the Miami Heat in Game 1 on Thursday night, Mr. Geschwindner sits quietly in the corner, formulating ways to improve Mr. Nowitzki.

"We have two seasons to go to develop him," Mr. Geschwindner says. "He knows it. I know it.

"There's a lot left."

The 27-year-old Mavericks star has averaged 28.4 points and 11.9 rebounds during the playoffs. At times, the 7-foot, 245-pounder has carried Dallas on his back, most notably when he poured in 50 points against Phoenix in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

Mr. Geschwindner's assertion that his pupil's game has room for growth piques the imagination. It is almost as curious as the role Mr. Geschwindner plays in Mr. Nowitzki's basketball development, which makes him something of an X-factor in the Finals.

During Monday's practice, Mr. Geschwindner studied plays that were run for Mr. Nowitzki as part of the Mavericks' plan to attack the Heat. With those plays in mind, Mr. Geschwindner devised "exercises" for his private workout with Mr. Nowitzki that night.

How many franchises would allow their star player to do that any time, much less 72 hours before the NBA Finals?

"Holger is not an intrusive person," Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris says. "He's not a problem. He's a no-maintenance guy. And it works for Dirk."

Explains Mr. Geschwindner: "We try to get his individual skills ready for what the coach wants from him."

The Mavericks don't seem to mind that some of Mr. Geschwindner's methods are ... well ... unorthodox.

Tapping a teen's talent

Mr. Geschwindner, captain of Germany's 1972 Olympic basketball team, met a 16-year-old Nowitzki after watching him in a summer club game near Würzburg.

Mr. Geschwindner spoke to Mr. Nowitzki's parents, Joerg and Helga, explaining that if Dirk wanted to become Germany's best basketball player, he must begin systematic training.

During the past dozen years, Mr. Geschwindner's training has included fencing, rowing, ballet, Rollerblading, guitar lessons and saxophone playing.

If Mr. Nowitzki is doing anything unorthodox to prepare for Miami and Shaquille O'Neal, Mr. Geschwindner isn't saying.

Asked where Mr. Geschwindner figures into Mr. Nowitzki's development, Mr. Harris replies "shooting."

"And probably in his intellectual, mental, psychological aspects," he says. "Obviously, he didn't spend a lot of time on defense. However, we have bridged that gap over the last couple of years."

Mr. Harris smiles about the last part of that statement. Mr. Nowitzki's struggles with defense are well-chronicled, and Mr. Geschwindner concedes there is room for improvement.

A seven-stage process

That is one of the reasons Mr. Geschwindner says Mr. Nowitzki has not quite fulfilled the seven-stage plan laid out shortly after he turned pro in 1998.

Mr. Geschwindner has said that fulfillment would mean Mr. Nowitzki can play all five basketball positions, offensively and defensively. Stage seven also includes "emotional intelligence" and "broadband literacy."

"So far," Mr. Geschwindner says, "we are pretty good in the plan."

Mr. Nowitzki acknowledges that many of Mr. Geschwindner's methods are old-school, "from the '70s or even the '60s," but can anyone argue the results?

Mr. Harris says the bottom line is that Mr. Nowitzki is a "gym rat," always looking to improve and taking on whatever tasks are asked of him.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says that when he purchased the team in January 2000, he didn't flinch when former coach Don Nelson said Mr. Geschwindner had access to team practices.

"He's not a presence at practice, other than maybe to be watching," Mr. Cuban says. "He's not here all the time. He helped Dirk's transition. He's been here since I've been here, so it hasn't been hard at all."

Mr. Harris says the first player he can recall having a personal trainer was former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan. Mr. Harris credits Mr. Nelson and Mr. Johnson for being "safe within themselves" to allow it.

"You can try to present yourself as the dictator: 'You'll only hear one voice and everybody else get out of the room,' " Mr. Harris says. "Or you can include those kinds of things that might be of help to your players."

Mr. Geschwindner notes that his teaching isn't meant for just any player. Besides Mr. Nowitzki, most of the players he works with in Germany are Olympic and Junior Olympic-caliber, although his clinics and workouts are open to anyone.

"From time to time, parents bring their kids over," he says. "But usually, by the time one practice is over, you have to tell them their kid is 100 percent talent-free."

Goals to be reached

Why he believes Mr. Nowitzki is two years from fulfilling his potential is unclear. Perhaps it is because Mr. Nowitzki, who turns 28 on June 19, is about two years from reaching the so-called age of reason. Or perhaps it has to do with Mr. Nowitzki's goal of playing in the 2008 Olympics.

As for the present, Mr. Geschwindner cautions that neither Mr. Nowitzki nor the Mavericks have attained their season-long goal.

"Back home, we have a saying," Mr. Geschwindner says. "If you tumble on the way up the hill, it's fate. If you fall down, it's bad luck."