<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MUNICH (EuroBasket 2007) - Dirk Nowitzki sounds like a haunted man when asked about the Dallas Mavericks? early exit from the NBA play-offs against the Golden State Warriors. Nowitzki travelled to Australia for a long backpacking trip after that setback, hoping to clear his head. But he couldn?t forget. ?Of course you try to block it out,? he said, ?but you can't get something like that completely out of your mind.? No NBA player could. Entering the post-season with an NBA-best and franchise-record 67 wins with Nowitzki in the midst of his finest-ever year, the Mavs became the first number one seed ever to lose to an eighth seed in a best-of-seven game series. Their fate, he believes, was sealed when they lost Game Four in California. ?Everyone knew we had to win that game,? Nowitzki said. ?Then we would have returned to Dallas at 2-2, and I am sure that we would have reached the next round.? The Mavs did lead late in that game, but failed to put the result beyond doubt. ?I can remember one scene exactly as I got an offensive rebound late in the (fourth) game and couldn't find anywhere to pass and rushed up a shot,? he said. ?Golden State then came down and hit a three-pointer. The whole game changed at that point. ?If I had passed or made the shot, then we would have regained control. But we fell apart in the final minutes. ?Looking back, of course it was a stupid shot ... I've had to deal with it all summer.?</div> Source: FIBA
Poor guy. Had to deal with 2 summers ago with nightmares of Wade flashing in his head and now this. I know it wasnt all his fault but being the mvp, man average fans blamed him. And as a fan this worries me. I mean the guy is getting depressed and if he keeps acting like this, his game is going to change. He may second guess every little aspect before taking a shot for example. Even though going to Australia didn't work...it was a good idea. I really hope Dirk can somehow clear his mind and not effect his game.
Well, his performance against the Warriors was almost without a doubt the most soul crushing domination I've ever seen a superstar, or an MVP, suffer. While I'm sure Cuban would never consider it, I think a change of scenery might be in his best interests.
<div class="quote_poster">Char Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk's going to come back this season with a pretty big chip on his shoulder.</div> Let's see if he can carry the chip into the post-season.
WHat! Dirk is an amazing player I'm sure they'll make an excellent run at the title this year. Trade him, no way he's too valuable.
He's a great player, but out of all the elite teams, dallas lacks an identity the most. I think they need some stiff-nosed veterans to help out dirk. He's more of a quiet leader and not one with the personality to take over a situation. Avery's a solid coach and brings some fire though so we'll see what happens next year.
I can imagine for Dirk. Have an outstanding regular season then kicked out in the first round. Dirk really does have a chip on his shoulder this season.
what happened to the other chip the one he got from losing in the finals did it fall off his shoulder?
It's going to be hell for him until he gets some kind of retaliation in their first meeting on November 8th, but I can understand where he's getting at. For a team that played perfectly through the regular season, winning the MVP award, and being the top runner to win the NBA championship could be devastating when you get kicked out of the first round like that. If there's any consolation, it's that it'll just give Dirk more motivation in himself knowing that he has to pick up his game especially against the Warriors. Expect him to be hungry throughout the season to pick up where they left off last season.
He needs to just forget about the Golden State series and focus on this upcoming season. He needs to prove that he doesn't choke in the playoffs this year. He should bounce back.
<div class="quote_poster">CLos Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He needs to prove that he doesn't choke in the playoffs this year. He should bounce back.</div>No, he doesn't, he's already proved that his first x amounts of postseasons. Funny how a guy can step it up in the postseason 5 years straight, then have his first bad postseason and now he has to prove he doesn't choke? How do you win playoff game 7's and get your team to the finals as primary player and be a playoff choker? People just don't get his value cause they think he has to carry himself like Jordan or Kobe or have that narcissitic demeanor. If Dirk had a ring, people would look at him like a Tim Duncan. Dirk doesn't have jack to prove.
