Nowitzki better against better defendersAvery lauds Dirk's increased desire to exploit mismatches 01:39 AM CDT on Thursday, April 6, 2006By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News When Dirk Nowitzki rose above Sacramento's Ron Artest and swished an 18-foot jumper during the third quarter Tuesday night, it was like throwing a little holy water on a defensive demon. One nuisance down. One to go. Actually, more than one remains for Nowitzki to conquer. But when he got the best of Artest during the Mavericks' 127-101 victory, it served as the latest in a line of arguments that he's learning how to beat the conventional defense that teams throw at him, particularly in the playoffs. Next up Friday in San Antonio is Bruce Bowen, another defender who's nearly half a foot shorter than Nowitzki. Whereas Artest never got close enough to get under Nowitzki's skin, Bowen no doubt will. And Bowen also has better help defenders behind him. But Nowitzki has gained confidence in handling the smurfs that opponents regularly send at him. And that's part of why he's better at exploiting those mismatches. "It's going to happen in the playoffs," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "As we move forward, and especially in the playoffs, he's going to get their best defender. It'll be good to see if we've made some progress there. Last year, he was probably a 2 or 3 doing it. Now he's probably a 6 1/2. We need him to at least move to an 8 in terms of being comfortable down there, making stronger moves. He's a little more comfortable this year when he is double-teamed." Nowitzki said the last two seasons have conditioned him to better deal with pesky defenders: "It's nothing we haven't seen before." However, despite the improvement, Johnson is never satisfied. Although Nowitzki is producing better as a post-up player, Johnson said he can always be better. And looking the part is important, too. "We're trying to get people to realize that even though he doesn't play exactly like Elton Brand or Tim Duncan or Karl Malone, that's OK," Johnson said. "His body's not built like those guys', but he still makes strong moves. And I don't know how much people are convinced of that yet. We hope he continues to get the respect." No connection: Devin Harris has missed 13 consecutive games with a slow-to-heal strained left thigh, but the problem ? which is in the quadriceps muscle ? has not been complicated by the fact that Harris doesn't have a spleen. "As it's been explained to me, the spleen produces red blood cells and makes a difference in fighting sickness and viruses," Harris said. "It takes me longer to get over the flu than most people. "But as far as physical injuries, I don't think it makes a difference, from what they've told me." Harris had his spleen removed after it ruptured in a fall on the basketball court in high school. He still hopes to be ready for the final five games of the season. Don't act your age: Assuming the Mavericks don't pick up a veteran power forward, Josh Powell may become an important cog in the playoffs. Nowitzki said there is one key for Powell to remember. "He's got to come in and not play like a rookie for us," he said. LINK
Artest is definitely stronger but not as quick as Bowen and also the help defense of Sacramento is usually pretty poor.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Artest is definitely stronger but not as quick as Bowen and also the help defense of Sacramento is usually pretty poor.</div>Like I said in another thread, Artest does not bother Dirk as much as people think he does. It's quicker defenders who are long like Bowen, Marion and Tmac that do.
Marion doesn't bother Dirk anymore. The same might be true of T-Mac but the only player this year that has bothered Dirk is Bowen. I think part of the reason is Bowen gets away with pushing and fouling Dirk and also Bowen has Duncan and Mohammad to help out on defense. In particular Duncan that can double Dirk and make it hard to pass over him.
Also if Dirk is still getting 20 and 10, and passing the ball well agaisnt all those guys.I mean everyone says those guys bother him, and they do, because their pesky, they don't exactly shut him down, noone does...I mean his even when his shot is off he still gets 20+.Now those pesky defenders may keep him from getting 30 points, but, Dirk has shown that he's improved his passing this season as well.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I mean everyone says those guys bother him, and they do, because their pesky, they don't exactly shut him down, noone does...I mean his even when his shot is off he still gets 20+.</div>Agree, great point. I don't think anyone shuts Dirk down, but those guys I mention do make Dirk work for his points. Dirk has yet to score under 17 all year this year.
Yeah, and the only time he didn't, when he scored 14 against Philly, was when he left the game with six minutes left in the half. He might've been able to score 40 the way the Sixers played defense that night.Also, I think Dirk needs to get to the free throw line. He is almost a 93% free throw shooter in his career against San Antonio, and went 10-10 in that other game.
Well the problem with him getting to the line, is that he doesn't get the respect or calls the other Stars get in the league.But when his shot isn't falling, he does get to the line, cause he dives and posts up more.
You sure that's true? He still averages about 8 FT attempts per game, I think, but yeah, I've seen some bad calls.
Is what part true? That he doesn't get the respect, or that he gets to the line when his shot isn't falling?All I know is that even anouncers and talking heads have said he doesn't get the calls other superstars get. The guy gets mugged sometimes, and if he makes his shot, he gets even less calls, like the refs wait to see if the shot falls or not before blowing the wistle.I mean I don't know what most players avg for FT attempts, but the start probably get more than him.
I mean, maybe it's because Dirk isn't trying to get to the line as much?But if what you're saying is really true, which I hope is, that means Nowitzki's 48.2% FG shooting should be way higher.I mean, the guy is still like 10th in FT's made.
WEll when you a 89% FT shooter and your the offensive focus of a team, you going to be high in FT made.Look at the FT attempted, that's a more telling stat...I do think there are games when his shot is falling, and he stays outside, cause he can, but on those games when he's off, and he drives, or establishes a position down low, he doens't get the calls other big name bigs get, or other superstars
Yeah like what Amare got last year against Dallas. Unbelieveable how Amare got the calls that Nowitzki wouldn't get.
Yeah, and then a guy like LeBron will almost always get calls. He either gets a jumper to fall or he gets to the free throw line, and he averages 10.5 per game.Anyhow, if Dirk is actually not getting calls like you guys said, I'll watch these last five games more carefully.
Just depends on how he plays...if he is playing well, and his outside shot is falling, he'll get about 8-10 FT's a game.If he's not having a good game, you'll see him driving into the lane, and posting up, and getting mauled, and getting the same 8-10 FT attempts that he would get from the outside...That's the difference. If he's getting those same calls everynight, even though he's outside most of the time, than when he gets in the lane and throws up a shot, he should theoretically get more calls.Maybe it's not true, but you'll see games when the other team is getting tons of calls, and Dirk isn't.
Especially in the playoffs. In the regular season they usually give Dirk those calls but in the playoffs they swallow the whistle and let Dirk get hit a lot. Against Houston and Phoenix that happened while Amare actually averaged more free throws in the playoffs.
