http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031901610.html
Nowitzki Admits Getting Tense in Pressure Situations
Tuesday, March 20, 2007; Page E02
Dallas Mavericks all-star forward Dirk Nowitzki, who is still hearing criticism for his meltdown during a 129-127 double-overtime loss to Phoenix last week, admitted yesterday that he gets tight during pressure situations.
"I think everybody who says they don't get tense, they're lying," Nowitzki said following practice at Dodge Fitness Center on the campus of Columbia University, where the Mavericks were preparing for the Knicks tonight.
"It's big games. You got to find ways to stay loose and relax. I've been doing a decent job of not letting the pressure get to me and still enjoying the moment."
Nowitzki said he took the home loss to Phoenix -- in which Dallas blew a seven-point lead in the final minute -- harder than any regular season defeat.
Nowitzki said he couldn't sleep for two nights because he missed two free throws in the final minute of regulation and jumpers that would have won the game in regulation or forced a third overtime.
"We had it. No way we should've lost that game, but we did because I didn't make the necessary plays," he said. "I guess I'm 28 now, I shouldn't miss a free throw down the stretch. It happens. We're all humans. If we were all machines, the game would be boring. I guess emotions play a factor in a big game like that, and I missed two free throws that were crucial."
He bounced back, however, in the next two games, scoring 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter of a 106-101 win over the Celtics on Friday night and going 9 for 12 in the second half to help defeat the Pistons, 92-88, on Sunday.
Nowitzki said he wouldn't shy away from pressure situations in the future. "I love to have the ball at the end of games. That's what it's all about," Nowitzki said. "We all know if you make it, you're the hero. If you miss it, you're the goat. That's the position you have to be comfortable in. I guess I am."
-- Michael Lee
"We all know if you make it, you're the hero. If you miss it, you're the goat. That's the position you have to be comfortable in. I guess I am."
That "I guess I am" part is what really concerns me as a Mavs fan. Sometimes he seems to love being in pressure situations, other times not at all. Hopefully this changes.
I dont think you ever want to hear your leader say this, with how long he has been in the league already, he needs to get past this
true but then, as much as i've heard other guys like jho refer to dirk as their leader, dirk himself has shied away from such labels. he's even come out and said he doesn't see himself as the leader. i'm fine with it as long as he continues to produce and improve his game. dirk's admittance of this problem doesn't mean he hasn't come through in tense games this season, sometimes he does, other times he doesn't. i don't think his honesty about a problem means anything when it comes to his game and how he approaches a game, it's still the same.
He's just being honest. Maybe he shouldn't have admitted to it...I don't know? If he's sometimes nervous and still does as well as he does at the end of games (shots & free throws) then most of the other guys in the league must be really nervous. While he's choked a few times, he still comes thru under pressure more times than not. I've seen Duncan not come thru many times yet I don't consider him a choker.
he's just being honest. everyone in those types of situations feels the tension and the pressure, whether or not they want to admit it. dirk's made his fair share of game-winning free-throws and jumpers and he'll make more. were i a mavericks fan (which would make me a whiney bag by law), there's no one i would rather have taking the last shot than dirk.
Well, I guess its only a problem if it affects him wanting to take a shot at the end of the game, because he does need to take those shots. Players like Kobe, Arenas, Wade, and so on, just seem cold blooded at the end of the games with the ball in their hands. Dirk almost reminds me more of Lebron, where it seems like he is taking the shot because everyone expects him to take it, not because he wants to take it. Im not saying he isnt clutch, or that he isnt a fantastic player, because he is. I just wonder if he really has that killer instinct.
Me either, maybe Kobe, Nash, Wade or Arenas, but thats about it
The only guys on this team with that killer instinct are Terry and Stackhouse. That's why the Mavs blow so many big leads, they don't really ever finish a team once they have them pinned down.
well, yeah...
if they played for the mavs.
if i had a choice of any player in the league and it was a game 5, 6, or 7 type situation i'm forgoing all those guys and giving it to horry.
It amazes how good of a player Terry turned into in Dallas, to be hinest, I thought he was gona your team up when you got him, but he has become an awesone player for you guys
I had watched him a lot at Arizona and Atlanta and knew he was a fairly clutch shooter but he's turned out better than I anticipated. Avery is really turning him into a decent all-around guard. He & Dirk have that pick and roll down now. Terry almost never misses that shot from the right side of the court when the defenders decide to stay with Dirk.
I was always a big Jason Terry fan, and at the same time completely despised Antoine Walker....so needless to say, I was jumping for joy on the day that trade was made.
But I never thought Terry would be as valuable as he is...I just figured he'd give us a good 10-15 points a game and that's about it.
This will probably get blown out of proportion by the national media...
probably? too late for that.
If they dont finish a team off, i attribute it to team leadership. I think when the team loses lead, there is no player who gets in their face and demands results. Avery is the only one who does that, in the right way. Dirk as the best player in the team and one who commands most respect, he has to do it more often and in the right way.
Dirk doesnt know how to get in the players face and demand results when we slump. He sure gets frustrated and angry and he also gets in people's faces but not in a positive way but often just critisizing them.
some people use guess as filler. so if you read too much into it, then youre looking for an answer to something where there was no question in the first place. same way anybody use a random phrase just out of reflex and it resulting in confusion.im pretty sure if you asked him point blank, then he say hes more than comfortable in those situations.
But hes right about one thing;
"The only way we can make that change is to get there again. We win 17 in a row, lose one, and people say we're nothing. It doesn't mean we're all of a sudden a team that chokes leads away."
Just because hes missed a few free throws and a few shots in the final ticks of a few games doesnt mean hes a career choker. Its easy to forget what the times he has come through and for how long hes been consistent in pressure situations. Rarely will a player "always" perform perfectly in those situations simply because there are great players that are measured by the same standards on both sides of the ball. You have to tip your hat one way of the other in those games and you just hope that it tips in your favor more often than not. its not a cop out, but its either on eof two things:
1. a function of his personality,
2. a remnant of having nellie as a coach for the first part of his career.
Yeah, in the past when Dirk got in a player's face (like he did to Terry a couple years ago in the playoffs) it seems like it was more to berate them for ing up, and not to try and push them to do better. And of course he took alot of heat for doing it, so now he goes overboard to not ever get in a teammate's face, which is also not good. He's figuring out how to be a leader but he's still got a little ways to go.
being a leader isnt just getting in someones face or yelling at players when they dont perform. It can be a subtle comment, or sowing someone how to overcome a difficulty but never has being a leader encompass nothing but vocal bertaing and theatrics. Being a leader is "translating intention into reality and sustaining it with action and behavior". he And he does that better than most and hes consistent with it and thats why this team is as successfull. It starts with 41 and ends with 41. people can say what they want, but this team follows the example of the big german.
"I love to have the ball at the end of games. That's what it's all about," Nowitzki said. "We all know if you make it, you're the hero. If you miss it, you're the goat. That's the position you have to be comfortable in. I guess I am.". Dirk's POV is correct.
Even after his expressive anger bouts (The bicycle, media baits)
I still have somewhat of respect for his at ude as a player and his love of the game.
I'd say Dirk could stand a little self-control (a personality issue I'm thinking) in front of the cameras. But it's mostly compe ive anger if anything. Michael Jordan got in people's grills. Some leaders do that depending on their compe iveness. The only difference is Dirk let the media play it up, wherein now he's looked at as this "bad leader" and what not.Yeah, in the past when Dirk got in a player's face (like he did to Terry a couple years ago in the playoffs) it seems like it was more to berate them for ing up, and not to try and push them to do better. And of course he took alot of heat for doing it, so now he goes overboard to not ever get in a teammate's face, which is also not good. He's figuring out how to be a leader but he's still got a little ways to go.
Which sucks, because Lebron did the same thing in the playoffs telling I forget who it was the player that looks like "Ludacris" to stop laughing at one of his blunders during the game. In a pissed off manner. And the commentators. "THAT RIGHT THERE IS JORDANESQUE!"
While Dirk does admonishes a player similarly (whether Terry or Dampier for flubbing a play.) Instead of noting his compe iveness, they zoom in on his face. Color commentator: "uh...Dirk's been known to have anger management problems in the past. Sad day. Sad day for basketball."
But yeah as for the Bicycle thing, Dirk really ed up. Because he could have at least waited to go to the locker room to punch things. A Lot of players do it after losses. But national t.v. at primetime, Dirk was probably really aware he had to stop being so angrily expressive.
I agree with what ManuTim said in regards to Dirk's POV
The thing is, Duncan has missed several clutch shots over his career (end of game 5 against detroit in 2005, end of game 7 against dallas, even if people do want to say he was fouled but whatever its the end of a game 7)
I even remember during games 3-6 of the 2005 finals people were saying duncan's stature in history would be diminished if he didn't show up in the finals with a complete disregard to what he did for the team in 1999 and 2005 (though admittedly I was amongst the doubters)
So my point is, I think when Dirk does miss clutch shots now and again it's amazing how harsh people are to jump on him. It's almost a shame that people will arguably think of the last year's finals and probably the phoenix game as oppose to what he did against san antonio in round 2 last year, or the many many occasions he's gotten his team a basket in clutch situations. I may not be a fan of Cuban, Stackhouse, or Terry but when it comes to Dirk I really admire his will to win.
And that's really all you can ask out of a player, is to show some heart.
So while I might cringe seeing Cuban's smug face hoisting the Larry O'brien trophy I will sure as know that Dirk earned it when it comes to his ring.
People, in general, gets affected greatly by the media. Jordan and Lebron are great with the media, Dirk isn't. So the media looks for something subjective and twist it in a way that makes Dirk looks bad.
They did it with Russell, they did it with Jabbar, and they did it with Barkley and Bird for a while.
A few years later, when Dirk has earned that untouchable status, the media will be off his back.
Yea, all he needs to do is hit a couple more big shots at the end of big games (like last year against the Spurs), and the media will have to shut up
For the most part, it comes down to people disliking Cuban so they take it out on Mav players (in this case Dirk). Many fans just don't like the Mavs because of Cuban so their failures will be pointed out more than the failures of other players/teams. That's just the way it is and will be as long as Cuban is the owner. Not much I can do about it so I don't worry about it.
At least you have the intelligence to be able to separate Dirk from Cuban. Most fans aren't capable or, more likely, don't want to.
There's a blog on ESPN about Cuban's influence over the refs (for the worst)
You've probably read it but here it is anyway....
Stack: Cuban doesn't speak for Mavs
New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy couldn't decide whether he wanted to kiss Dirk's butt or take shots at Mark Cuban, so Bondy did some of both in his column.
Here's the juicy stuff on "the rich, loud-mouthed Mark Cuban":
... mostly people know the Mavericks for somebody else, for Cuban and his quotes. From long distance here in New York, Cuban looks like a great owner. He is not Jim Dolan and his team is winning a great number of games.
But if you talk to the players, they don't sound so thrilled with the man. Cuban has hijacked the national headlines. Sometimes it seems he is doing so at the expense of Nowitzki and his teammates. He is like George Steinbrenner, when The Boss was younger and at his Bossiest. A couple of the Mavericks worry that Cuban is coloring the perception of this team. Whenever Cuban screams about a call, the players somehow end up sounding like the chronic complainers.
"We don't want to give people the impression we're a whining team," Jerry Stackhouse says. "[Cuban] can be a distraction if you look at it that way. He's always going to be like that. He's not speaking for us. He's just like the fan in the 10th row. Some things are out of our control. Sometimes it does carry over.
We made a conscious decision as a team to lay off the refs."
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