Nowitzki: 'I take losses harder probably than anyone else in this league'
By Marc Stein
Unlike the Olympic qualifying tournament Team USA just won, in which the starry hosts saw few familiar faces and even less compe ion, Eurobasket 2007 is teeming with tough teams and famous names.
Pau Gasol leads a four-man NBA contingent for the heavily favored hosts from Spain. Finals MVP Tony Parker and Boris Diaw headline the French roster. Russia (Andrei Kirilenko) and Turkey (Mehmet Okur) also have NBA All-Stars in their lineups.
Yet it seems safe to pinpoint Germany's Dirk Nowitzki as the prime recipient of scrutiny in a field featuring 16 countries, since the Spaniards have already qualified for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing by winning the 2006 World Championship … and since the reigning NBA MVP is returning to the floor for the first time since his 67-win Dallas Mavericks were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by Golden State.
The following is our phone conversation with Nowitzki from Mallorca on the eve of the tournament, which runs Monday through Sept. 16:
Q: We've been reading German press reports over here about your recent trip Down Under to search for "the meaning of life." Is that what you were actually doing?
A: It wasn't really about that. First of all, I always wanted to see Australia. But I really just wanted to get away [after the Golden State series]. Hopefully, our season is never going to be that short again, so this was my chance to get away for a good four or five weeks. It seemed like Australia was the best spot to go. Nobody cares about the MVP down there. It wasn't hard at all [traveling] around. It was great, actually.
Q: Give us some highlights from the trip.
A: First we flew from Frankfurt to Dubai, which is nuts. They have everything there. We stayed in a seven-star hotel, craziest hotel I've even seen. It's 120 degrees outside and you can ski in a skiing arena. But I can't ski because of my contract, so we only stayed there for two nights. I wanted to get to Australia anyway.
We did a lot of camping and went everywhere: Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne, Adelaide. Obviously, it's winter in the Southern Hemisphere, so we didn't see the sun for three weeks. We went old school and rented like a four-wheel drive and slept some nights in the car.
Q: You slept where?
A: You could set it up where the whole roof of the car turns into a [tent and] bed. So I slept upstairs and [longtime mentor] Holger [Geschwindner] slept downstairs. It's pretty smart.
Q: Sounds like you really did get away from the game.
A: You never see any basketball where we were. I think I saw one half of one game of the Finals. It was at like 10 in the morning. But [the series] was so brutal that I couldn't watch it.
Q: All that time traveling with your personal shot doctor and basketball never came up?
A: Obviously, we talked about the playoffs and my career and how far I've come and what I have to do [after the disappointment of the playoffs]. But some days we wouldn't say two words to each other. Some days you talk for eight hours. It just depends.
Q: Any other highlights from the trip?
A: I grew a full beard. I shaved the night before we left and then I said that I'm not even going to take a razor. After about three weeks, I had a full beard and I couldn't even look at myself. But I had to keep it until I got back to Germany. I wanted everybody [in the family] to see it.
Q: Since you've been back in the gym, what have you been working on?
A: I've worked hard these last two months. I don't think I can get in better shape than I am right now. But I want to keep trying to be more athletic. I know I'm never going to jump higher. But I can work on my first step, trying to make it quicker.
Q: Are you ready to go back under the microscope of playing games, albeit with Germany instead of the Mavs?
A: I've been under the microscope already for the last couple years. I don't think it's going to change too much.
Q: You said from the start of your NBA career that getting to the Olympics with Germany is your dream. Does that finally happen this summer?
A: I hope so, but it's going to be pretty tough. We have to finish in the top two or three [at Eurobasket] to qualify [for the Olympics]. I've been saying that Spain and Greece are the heavy favorites, but after that, I think the field is wide open. Since we finished second [in Eurobasket 2005], I think we've got a shot.
Q: How many more summers will you play for your country?
A: I'm committed until the 2008 Olympics, then I'll probably take a break. I didn't say I will retire forever, but it will be time for a break. How long that break will be, nobody knows. I never know what the future is going to bring.
Q: Have you gone back yet and watched any of the Golden State series?
A: I can't see myself doing that any time soon. Maybe I should. Once I get back [to the States], maybe I'll ask our video guys to put together [clips from] some of my offensive [possessions]. But I don't really need to watch it again. I already know what they did to me. They played me with a smaller guy, they fronted me, they crowded me.
Q: Losing to Miami in the Finals after taking the 2-0 lead or losing to Don Nelson and the Warriors in the first round -- which hurts worse?
A: I still put them on the same level frustrationwise. That one year when we went to the Finals, we weren't the heavy favorites [in the playoffs] even though we should have won the Finals. This time, we were the heavy favorites and we said from the beginning that anything but a championship would be a huge disappointment. I rank them both on a high level of frustration. But you gotta keep going.
Q: Your buddy Steve Nash keeps saying that winning the MVP trophy will actually help you get over the playoff disappointment as opposed to putting more pressure on you. Is he right?
A: It's an unbelievable honor that I'll never forget. But I consider this a team game, not an individual game. If you don't win it all … the toughest thing is that it's always going to combine with our [first-round exit].
When I think back on the season, I don't think of the MVP. I think of the playoffs. I've always taken losses hard. I think I take losses harder probably than anyone else in this league.
Q: So how hard on yourself are you four months later?
A: Actually, I feel pretty good right now. I think I got over the worst of it. The two months I took off were the longest I haven't touched a ball in 10 years or more.
Q: But is it fair to say that you might have squandered two of your best chances to win a championship?
A: I know I'm almost 30, but I feel like I still have a lot of good years left in me. I don't think [last season] was the last chance.
Q: After the last two playoff endings, some of us find it surprising that the Mavs will go into next season with no major roster changes. Do you?
A: We had trouble with one team, not 29. We still have a good team. I don't think it's time to panic because we had trouble with one team over three years. To win 67 games was very, very special. We just met a hot team. I don't want to think that everything we're doing in Dallas is wrong because we lost to one hot team. I still believe we have some great pieces, with a great coach and a great owner and a great organization that will hopefully win it all one day.
Q: So you disagree with armchair psychologists like me who say that the roster needed more of a shake-up because the Miami and Golden State endings inflicted long-lasting scars that won't just go away?
A: You're asking some hypothetical questions. Nobody knows. You [media] guys are the experts. You guys all talk, but nobody really knows if we can [bounce back] or we can't. We're just going to have to go out and get over it. None of us are saying, 'No, we can't.' I think The General [coach Avery Johnson] is going to get everybody ready.
Q: OK, then. Here's a nonhypothetical question: Where are you going to keep your MVP trophy?
A: It's in Germany, mate. I gave it to my mom.
Cue all the choke/soft jokes.
i can't even get past this line
Dirk will never be able to lead a team again. His resume smells of estrogen and his balls ran and hid right when they were needed most. The quicker he realizes this, the better, because it means he will then be able to get back to doing what he does best: playing a great second fiddle, because he doesn't have the desire to assume ultimate responsibility for a team's failures (though he is quick to assume praise for their successes).
He will not win an NBA le as the only "leader" of a team. He might do it as a co-star, but never as the leader. Simply, he can't be trusted to perform when the pressure is on -- his teammates know that, other players know that, coaches know that, fans know that, and deep down inside I think he knows that as well.
But, he'll never admit to it. Because he still wants to lie about having balls everyone knows aren't there.
i completely agree with that assessment
What's with the obsession with balls?
Well it's basketballl...I guess...a lot of balls around....
I would LOVE for you to find one single quote where Dirk does that. He without fail includes all his teammates and his coach any time praise is heaped upon him.
Maybe Dirk is all of the things that have been thrown at him, as far as soft and not good at handling pressure, maybe he isn't, but without question he is the consummate professional that always takes the blame when things go wrong and always credits his teammates and coaches when things go right. He's the anti-Kobe as far as being team-oriented and doing what his coaches ask of him. There's very few guys that are better character-wise.
Certain posters reveal themselves with their choice of words. I assume the avatar is compensation.
Fixed.
Dirk has had his flaws but people who claim he lacks class or lacks being a team player needs to stop being blinded by their hate for the guy. He has even given his share of props to the Spurs (He has praised that organization and Duncan numerous times). You would think with the way certain posters are (spursreport,spursdynasty) that Dirk is a murderer or a horrible person.
I remember the interview he did earlier this summer.
The one where he said his mom was doing all his laundry! No wonder he's "refreshed!"
Edit: Here's that interview:
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75756
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiXdo...elated&search=Dirk has had his flaws but people who claim he lacks class or lacks being a team player needs to stop being blinded by their hate for the guy. He has even given his share of props to the Spurs (He has praised that organization and Duncan numerous times). You would think with the way certain posters are (spursreport,spursdynasty) that Dirk is a murderer or a horrible person.
I guess the 2005 playoffs dont count? That's when Dirkie acted like a little on the sidelines and on the court screaming at Jason Terry for allowing Nash to tie the game. Even though he was closer to Nash at the time. Even though he was being torched by Marion for 37pts, 18 rebounds. Also Dirkies blaming Dampier for not playing up to par in the press, i guess that doesnt count either. Unbelievable!
Last edited by LakeShow; 09-05-2007 at 02:06 PM.
2005 playoffs count just fine.
1) Dirk blamed himself just as much as anyone, or did you conveniently forget that?
2) Terry was fully to blame for that Nash 3 pointer. I was there at the game and 2 seconds before the shot I started to scream "MOVE UP ON HIM TERRY!" and he didn't. It may have not been right of Dirk to yell at him like that, but the Mavs had the game WON and Terry being a lazy ass wound up knocking them out of the playoffs.
3) Dampier sucks so much ass I don't care what anybody says about him. But Dirk NEVER said Dampier was the only guy playing like ...he said many times that he was playing like as well.
In addition, that was Dirk's FIRST year being the #1 leader of the team, he'd always shared that with Nash and Finley before, so for him to make a few mistakes in his first go-round is understandable.
4) I'd still love to see a time when praise is being heaped on Dirk and he took it all in without deferring to his teammates and coach. That was the original point of this anyways. Dirk has never been the egomaniac looking for personal glory (like a certain #24 in LA), if he gets praise, he gives that same praise to his teammates (complimented Terry and Dampier countless times).
The funniest thing here is, is that Lakeshow isn't even truly a Laker fan. He's a Rockets fan posing as a Laker fan, just so he can talk to Spurs fans about having more les. He posted on our old FWST board as Tex, or TxSucks, and all those other names he had cuz he got banned like 10 times.
Seriously Tex, I like you and all dude, and you are fun to debate b-ball with, and your opinion of Dirk is yours, but sometimes you really just talk out of your ass a little too much.
Considering his sig has nothing but bandwagon Lakers fans, i don't doubt this one bit.
Here's to your team... the ROCKETS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zctI6_N6CPg
He is a Rockets fan? Your sure it is the same guy?
BTW what is FWST?
FWST stands for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. They used to have sports forums on their website but they got shut down a couple years ago.
Is Lakeshow that that used to say "partner" all the time and act like some Southern re ?
Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It was an old message board that a bunch of us mavs fans used to post on, and he was there too. One day, several of us decided to come and trash talk on this forum, and he posed as a Laker fan (Lakeshow) in order to talk about having 14 rings or whatever they have. Then one day, they shut the board down, and several of us started posting here more often, including him.He is a Rockets fan? Your sure it is the same guy?
BTW what is FWST?
He's a cool guy, and has a solid knowledge of the game, but talks out of his ass too much when it is either Dirk or Kobe related.
There's a big difference between yelling at a guy on the court when he s up and throwing him under the bus to the press. Jordan chewed his teammates out on the court, so did Bird, Magic, among others. Your argument is disengenious. The only thing he's ever said about Damp to the press is that the Mavs are a better team when Damp plays up to his potential, which is absolutely true. That's a far cry from throwing him under the bus. Part of being a leader is sending a subtle message without completely trashing a guy.
Was that a good Mavs message board? Most of the ones I have been too kinda blew. It has been over 2 years since I even visted any other message boards for the Mavs
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