DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki is sleeping
a little better these days. At least the best he can.
"I don’t sleep
well after games anyway, win or lose," Nowitzki said. "I always have stuff going through my mind, playing plays over, that’s how I’ve always been. After losses it’s usually worse. I’m not in a great mood when we lose."
No one was particularly upbeat during the Dallas Mavericks’ awful 2-7 start that consumed the first two spiraling weeks of a new season.
"I tried to stay positive and still have fun in the locker room with the guys, but you can sense that the atmosphere wasn’t the same," Nowitzki said. "The coaches were pretty much brand new and they were on edge more trying to find answers. We practiced longer. We watched longer films. That’s all a by-product of losing."
Eight wins in nine games later, coach Rick Carlisle limited two off-day workouts to weightlifting and film sessions after the Mavs began this seven-game homestand 2-0.
Nowitzki, 30, will take the extra rest with the improved Atlanta Hawks in town tonight. Over the past nine games, starting with the tide-turning overtime win at New York on Nov. 16 to Thursday’s wire-to-wire dusting of Phoenix, Nowitzki has averaged 38.1 minutes a game.
He’s averaged 27.8 points to lift his season average to 25.1, tied for fourth in the league with Kobe Bryant entering Friday’s games. He’s posted 11.9 rebounds, moving him to a tie for 13th in the league at 8.9.
Of the 7-footer’s seven double-doubles, six have come in the last nine games.
If the five-game losing streak, the longest in eight seasons, seemed like a two-month slog as Nowitzki says, his calling out his teammates in Los Angeles after losing to the Clippers on Nov. 9 almost seems like a different season.
"There’s no question that period was difficult for all of us, but I think particularly him," Carlisle said of his 11th-year power forward.
During the nine-game span that has dulled the thud of the 2-7 start, Nowitzki has displayed numerous double fist pumps and primal roars, his big-shot exclamations typically reserved for postseason pressure cookers.
"He hates to lose," point guard Jason Kidd said. "For him, he felt that maybe he wasn’t giving us enough points. I think it wasn’t so much the points. We just needed him to rebound maybe a little more. He felt as the leader of this team he had to do more, bring up every stat category a little bit more, and he did that."
During the rocky start, Nowitzki met several times with Carlisle behind closed doors to discuss the team’s direction, why players were uncomfortable with the offense and how to go about finding a more complementary mix.
"The last two weeks I like what we’re running," Nowitzki said. "We’re mixing it up with moving plays, pick-and-roll plays, simple stuff, and I just think we found a good mix with coach together."
The Mavs have increased their scoring to 100.2 a game, one of eight teams to average at least 100. Improvement has come at the other end, too. Dallas ranks third in field-goal percentage defense (42.6).
While this run of success has hardly been flawless, Nowitzki said it became possible through teamwork at a critical juncture when fracturing seemed not only possible, but also plausible.
"That was the major thing," Nowitzki said. "The players, one through 15, coaches, free-throw doc, whomever, I mean, if you’re losing, it’s all of us in it together."
a little better these days. At least the best he can.
"I don’t sleep
well after games anyway, win or lose," Nowitzki said. "I always have stuff going through my mind, playing plays over, that’s how I’ve always been. After losses it’s usually worse. I’m not in a great mood when we lose."
No one was particularly upbeat during the Dallas Mavericks’ awful 2-7 start that consumed the first two spiraling weeks of a new season.
"I tried to stay positive and still have fun in the locker room with the guys, but you can sense that the atmosphere wasn’t the same," Nowitzki said. "The coaches were pretty much brand new and they were on edge more trying to find answers. We practiced longer. We watched longer films. That’s all a by-product of losing."
Eight wins in nine games later, coach Rick Carlisle limited two off-day workouts to weightlifting and film sessions after the Mavs began this seven-game homestand 2-0.
Nowitzki, 30, will take the extra rest with the improved Atlanta Hawks in town tonight. Over the past nine games, starting with the tide-turning overtime win at New York on Nov. 16 to Thursday’s wire-to-wire dusting of Phoenix, Nowitzki has averaged 38.1 minutes a game.
He’s averaged 27.8 points to lift his season average to 25.1, tied for fourth in the league with Kobe Bryant entering Friday’s games. He’s posted 11.9 rebounds, moving him to a tie for 13th in the league at 8.9.
Of the 7-footer’s seven double-doubles, six have come in the last nine games.
If the five-game losing streak, the longest in eight seasons, seemed like a two-month slog as Nowitzki says, his calling out his teammates in Los Angeles after losing to the Clippers on Nov. 9 almost seems like a different season.
"There’s no question that period was difficult for all of us, but I think particularly him," Carlisle said of his 11th-year power forward.
During the nine-game span that has dulled the thud of the 2-7 start, Nowitzki has displayed numerous double fist pumps and primal roars, his big-shot exclamations typically reserved for postseason pressure cookers.
"He hates to lose," point guard Jason Kidd said. "For him, he felt that maybe he wasn’t giving us enough points. I think it wasn’t so much the points. We just needed him to rebound maybe a little more. He felt as the leader of this team he had to do more, bring up every stat category a little bit more, and he did that."
During the rocky start, Nowitzki met several times with Carlisle behind closed doors to discuss the team’s direction, why players were uncomfortable with the offense and how to go about finding a more complementary mix.
"The last two weeks I like what we’re running," Nowitzki said. "We’re mixing it up with moving plays, pick-and-roll plays, simple stuff, and I just think we found a good mix with coach together."
The Mavs have increased their scoring to 100.2 a game, one of eight teams to average at least 100. Improvement has come at the other end, too. Dallas ranks third in field-goal percentage defense (42.6).
While this run of success has hardly been flawless, Nowitzki said it became possible through teamwork at a critical juncture when fracturing seemed not only possible, but also plausible.
"That was the major thing," Nowitzki said. "The players, one through 15, coaches, free-throw doc, whomever, I mean, if you’re losing, it’s all of us in it together."
No comments:
Post a Comment