Dirk Nowitzki Speaking Candidly

¹²³ · Feb 25, 2009

In the first installment of a lengthy interview with Germany's new Five Magazine (5ivemag.com), Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki muses about eventually playing for another team, how some of his teammates have not prepared like he has, and how the team mis-used Jason Kidd under Avery Johnson.
It's refreshingly honest.

Here Nowitzki is asked about his own preparation, in an environment where some teammates are less committed:
I know I'm not in an individual sport. If I were in track and field maybe I would have won something big by now. ... Sure it's bitter sometimes when a teammate doesn't invest the necessary time. The best example was Shawn Bradley. He would some times come to training camp and not had a ball in his hands for four months. But what can you do? There is no rule. Everyone needs to figure out for themselves how to stay fit.

On Jason Kidd and Avery Johnson:
Well, we wanted a playmaker who had been around and already seen everything. I also hoped that Coach (Avery Johnson) would let him play his way, that we would play quicker and have more fun. But just the opposite happened. Avery pushed his style on Jason.
It was tough throwing a guy like him into a system which he didn't really like.

On winning a title as a Maverick:
The best thing would be me carrying the team to the title. But the other teams have gotten so strong, also through some unfair trades -- Pau Gasol to Los Angeles and Kevin Garnett to Boston.
Maybe I will see if it helps changing teams in like three years. Maybe it won't be fun any more or I can't keep up with the athleticism anymore. Maybe I will play in Europe again. I can imagine all of that.
What Karl Malone did back then -- heading to L.A. after all those years in Utah -- yeah it was a little questionable. But when you want the championship so bad, then you can't rule out a move like that.

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matt6715 · Feb 26, 2009

Dirk isnt leaving, and Dallas won't be rebuilding until he leaves. And if he does leave, itll be on his terms, the FO wont be pushing him out the door. I don't make much of an issue out of these comments.

insider · Feb 26, 2009

The guy is frustrated and has every right to be. Dallas, right now, is still headed for a first round exit in the playoffs. It's tough being in a situation were not everyone is on the same page. It's a team game, everybody has to be on the page. I want them to go deep in the playoffs, heck, I want them to win it all. I've been a Kidd fan for a long time and I had high hopes when he finally got a teammate of Dirk's caliber. But watching them lose game after game against winning teams and being caught at times by lottery teams just makes me believe less.

¹²³ · Feb 26, 2009

Here is part 2 of the interview. More Germany NT oriented.

Dirk Nowitzki talked to us (Part II)

5iveMagazine.com sat down for a long chat with Dallas Mavericks and Germany star Dirk Nowitzki. Here is part two of a three-part interview where the former NBA MVP talks about his dream of making the Olympics, the Opening Ceremonies, Team U.S.A. and Ricky Rubio.

Looking at the German national team, a dream of yours came true last summer by reaching the 2008 Olympics. From a sports standpoint, things didn’t go as you had dreamt …

You’re right. From a sports standpoint, things were unfortunate and a little disappointing. We had an absolute high at the qualification tournament in Athens in June. We played our best basketball there. Then everybody had a week off and celebrated a little. And it’s very tough to reach that same level again right away. We didn’t have our top form in the Olympics, we just couldn’t keep it up. That was aggravating. Of course, the main thing was being at the Olympics. That’s why we celebrated so much in Athens. But when you are there and have a victory in your grasp … it hurts when you lose. And we lost our steam against the U.S.A. Of course, losing by 50 points did not have to happen.

Were the Olympics off the court how you had anticipated?

The things I thought beforehand would be awesome ended up being awesome. I will never forget the Opening Ceremonies and walking in carrying the flag, and life in the Olympic Village. When you got back from the late game at 2 a.m. there were still 2,000 sitting around the cafeteria when you arrive. Those were the things I wanted to experience the most. And I will never forget them. I had already played basketball in China. And I play against the guys from the Dream Team in the NBA.

When you look back on the basketball tournament in Beijing and compare it to past successes for Germany, could you tell that the team had gotten older and couldn’t afford to do certain things?

Honestly, I would say all of the other teams have gotten better. I also said that at the 2007 EuroBasket in Spain, where we were a bit lucky to finish fifth. Even then, I had the feeling that all the other teams had taken a step forward. Younger players had been integrated and even the 12th players had earned minutes and were scoring off pick-and-rolls. Everyone can do everything. A year ago I thought: “We didn’t get any worse, but we also didn’t really get any better. We kind of stood still.”

And in 2008?

Chris Kaman of course brought us some fresh air. It was important that he was in Athens. Despite an injured foot and him being slightly overweight, he really cleaned up under the basket. I can clearly remember some important rebounds against Brazil and Puerto Rico. That was certainly important. He may not have played a great tournament, mainly because of his injury. But even with him, it was clear to see that we as a team are no longer near the top in the world. We wouldn’t have deserved being in the top eight in the world at the Olympics. The way that Greece and Spain took us a part showed that there are two class levels.

What did you think of the performance by the United States? Were you surprised with their showing, especially the team’s defense?

I knew they would really go all out this time, especially on defense. They dominated already at their qualifications in Las Vegas in 2007. And now Kobe was there and they got used to the physical style of play.

They also got used to the European system by putting LeBron James at the four and playing with a small lineup. In the NBA, it’s very rare that teams willingly play with two small guys. For me, the only surprise was that Spain was so close in the final. It was clear that they were not going to whip them by 30 points like in the group stage. But I thought it would be about 20 points. Still, it was an exciting final.

And that despite the fact that the Spaniards started the 17-year-old Ricky Rubio at point guard.

I really don’t know how the Spaniards keep bringing out those kinds of players. Or Italy. One of their players was picked No. 8 in the NBA Draft (Danilo Gallinari), who I didn’t even know. He wasn’t even at the 2007 EuroBasket in Spain. I had to ask Sven Schultze who he was and what he can do. That is really crazy how other countries can come up with young players who can really ball. For us (Germany), not too much has come out in the past few years even though we did have a couple of new guys last year which was really fun.

Like Tim Ohlbrecht for example. Being just 19 years old, he worked his way into the roster during the preparations. So that gives us some hope. But over the past few years, young talents have never really challenged the veterans for their spots in the national team.
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Dirk Nowitzki Speaking Candidly

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