Henry Abbott has the beginnings of something absolutely sweet over at TrueHoop: a multi-post meeting of the minds with Mavs’ stat wizard Wayne Winston. Here’s an interesting excerpt on the 2006 Mavs-Spurs series and former assistant coach Del Harris: “…I have an infinite number of stories about lineups and how it can help you. The best example is about the Spurs/Mavericks series. Del Harris came to me before Game 2 (of the 2006 Spurs vs. Mavericks series). I love him to death, he’s a wonderful person. Boy, he’s a genius. When he was working with the Mavericks, he’d always ask me questions. He always knew the right question to ask. The numbers, by themselves, mean nothing. In the regular season, Adrian Griffin was terrible against the Spurs. They had a terrible offensive rating, which means they couldn’t score when he was in. So Devin Harris had a great rating against the Spurs, and Tony Parker had a lousy rating in those games. The coaches sort of knew that Devin Harris could handle Tony Parker, but this gave them a metric to prove that. So they started Devin Harris in Game 2 and they won by 20. Then we can do head-to-head — when one guy is on the court against another guy. When Marquis Daniels was on the court against Manu Ginobili, the Mavericks lost by a point a minute. So in Game 7, they didn’t play Daniels. Del Harris told me “we don’t know why this happens, but since you tell me Marquis Daniels is getting creamed, we didn’t play him.”
It’s tough to play an entire decade at the same position as Kevin Garnett. Dirk has a ringing in his ears but none on his fingers, and that’s really what’s setting apart two of the more statistically impressive players of the 2000s.
Kevin McHale was at Mavs’ training camp. No, he’s wasn’t looking to resume his coaching career. And no, he wasn’t looking to resume his playing career, either. He was just doing a solid to ol’ pal Rick Carlisle, dispensing some free knowledge on the elusive championship mentality.
I’ve been thinking about this piece of literature for nearly a day, and I’m still befuddled on how exactly to approach it. It’s certainly extraordinary, and I mean that in a way that’s not necessarily flattering (and I mean that in a way that isn’t necessarily unflattering). The Consummation of Dirk is simply beyond ordinary. Far, far beyond. Jonathan Callahan has assembled a mish-mash of memoirs ranging from historical fiction to the avant garde, conquering Dirk’s demons and “interviewing” his past lovers while perusing message board threads and absorbing scholarly rejections of Oedipal complex claims. Yeah, it’s a bit off the beaten path.
But if you’re curious, dive in. Here’s a taste, from one of the more accessible chapters:
On horseback a young Dirk Nowitzki races teammate Steve Nash down a thin strip of floury sand along the lapping shallows of some sub-tropical sea, the duo’s long hair flapping like matched manes in the wind.
Dirk is clumsy on horseback, Nash skillful. Waiting at the finish line, Nash joshes his friend:
“Howdy,” he says, doffing an invisible Stetson as Dirk’s steed lumbers over the snapped tape.
Dirk chuckles, executes an ungainly dismount. A breeze flutters their similar white riding shirts.
“Steve,” Dirk says later, the two of them sipping electric-blue drinks through complexly-looped pink straws, their horses happily gamboling a little ways down the beach. “What could be better than this, Steve? We’ve got the whole world, don’t we?”
Nash stares out at the giant red sun, dipping into the Pacific.
Does anyone else see this picture and think barbershop quartet?
Is there a better way to start the new season than to relive petty, forgettable memories from the previous one? Kenyon Martin doesn’t think so.
Is Devin Harris really the 24th best player in the league? I mean…really? (Just a few that SLAM chose to rank as inferior to Harris: Vince Carter, Rajon Rondo, Caron Butler, Manu Ginobili, Carlos Boozer, Gilbert Arenas, and obviously many, many more.)
Tim MacMahon noted a leaner, more refreshed Dirk at Media Day, which is plenty of reason for optimism. Nowitzki has no reputation for reporting out of shape, but to see Dirk return from a restful summer and still slim down will only help his mobility on both ends: “For the first time in a long time, Dirk looks forward to the grind of training camp. That’s partially because he didn’t play for the German international team this summer, a mutual decision he made with Mark Cuban. He didn’t touch a basketball for nine weeks before getting back in the gym with mentor/personal coach Holger Geschwindner. Don’t take that as a sign that Dirk didn’t work hard this summer. He dropped about a dozen pounds, weighing in at 243 pounds, the lightest he’s been since the early years of his NBA career. He slimmed down in anticipation of the Mavs playing at one of the fastest paces among NBA teams. ‘I feel good,’ Dirk said. ‘I think I’m moving pretty well. It should be fun.’”
If you chug some cough syrup and watch this video, you’d probably think you’re at Media Day.
Dirk’s assessment of the off-season moves, via Marc Stein: “I’m really looking forward to meeting all the new guys because we made some good moves. Obviously I think [Shawn] Marion can help us on both ends of the floor, address some [of Dallas' lack of] athletic ability. I think [Quinton] Ross is going to be able to guard some scoring 2s that have given us trouble. I think [Drew] Gooden is a nice piece. Tim Thomas gives us more shooting, which we need…I’m fired up. I’m ready to get this whole thing started. I’m ready to focus on having a great season.”
Mike Fisher from DallasBasketball.com listed a series of “off-beat” items from Media Day. Among them was a nugget that hopefully represents the camraderie that all great teams seem to have: “In a very short time – maybe a week of pickup games – JJ Barea, Kris Humphries and Matt Carroll have become pals. It’s also clear to me that Erick Dampier and Drew Gooden have a buddy-buddy chemistry that belies the competition they are about to engage in. Oh, and every time Dirk and Shawn Marion were in the same vicinity, they were always giggling about something or other. In fact, The Matrix behaves as if all his new teammates are actually old frat brothers, especially when it comes to poking fun at their advanced ages. The topper: When he insists that Erick Dampier has an endorsement deal with Rogaine.”
Shawne Williams is apparently not with the team, and the Mavs are looking to trade him.
Unless your mind’s eye can pierce flesh, defense mechanisms, and falsehoods, you probably don’t know what Dirk Nowitzki is thinking. Unless of course, you’re Dirk to Nowitzki, to whom I would say: What up?
That’s why every bit of conjecture concerning Dirk’s mental state this summer has irked me a bit. It doesn’t exactly keep me up nights, but it certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth when others conclusively deem how this summer’s off-court events will affect Dirk’s life. Do we have any reason to believe that a rattled Dirk would perform any differently on the floor? A stellar performance against the Nuggets would seemingly speak to the contrary. That’s about as far as the guesswork goes, in my mind, unless you’ve got some tremendous insight into the life of Dirk that goes far beyond his public life.
Of course, there is a bit of a fast track into the mind and life of Dirk: ask him yourself. I wouldn’t expect Dirk to open up on the subject without some serious prodding, but Media Day offered an excellent opportunity to really dive into Nowitzki’s head, even if he had to be tied down to a podium first.
Marc Stein got the ball rolling on Media Day Eve with a survey of relevant Nowitzki matters. Chief among them was the summer goings-on of Dirk world, with special attention paid to the particularly odd personal issues in Nowitzki’s life:
“But I think everybody who’s seen me recently knows I’m doing fine and knows that I had a pretty decent summer,” Nowitzki told ESPN.com. “I did some fun things, did a little traveling. It was not as bad as I thought. And I’m actually excited about camp, which the last 10-11 years I haven’t been because I always played [for Germany] in the summer.
“When it all first happened during the playoffs, I thought I would really be thinking about it all the time, all day, every day. But I came home [in late May] and took a great vacation [to Crete, Greece] with my family. In tough times, I think my family has always been there for me and they were again this year. They took my mind off all this stuff. I got to enjoy [sister Silke's two] kids and I was already doing a lot better after that. It just got better and better and got to the point where I didn’t even think about [the situation] for long periods of time.”
Those are hardly the words of a man tormented by off-court demons. But it does sound like the same in control, focused Dirk we’ve seen return from every off-season. This is the way of the world: the Sun rises every morning, the Earth rotates upon its axis, and Dirk comes back ready to go to work. It’s as simple as intergalactic clockwork.
Jake Voskuhl. No one ever claimed he was the answer, to any question, really, but he could maybe, possibly, potentially be the Mavs’ last line of defense at center.
On that note, a big welcome to the brand spanking new ESPN Dallas. The new locale has some very familiar faces, with Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon on lead for the Mavs’ coverage. The kick-off festivities include a series of live chats, including one with Shawn Marion.
It’s good to see that when the going gets tough, Dirk’s sense of humor gets going. Quote of the dayweek off-season (via Mike Fisher), by Nowitzki: “My sperm is getting slower…(So) eventually, I’ve got to trust somebody.”
Neil Paine of the super Basketball-Reference.com Blog dove headfirst into the web that is the Tim Thomas narrative. It’d be a disservice to Paine and you, dearest of readers, if I snipped the post to shreds for the pleasures of dissection and instant information, so I do recommend that you read the whole thing.
That said, I do want to borrow a bit from Paine’s piece to build something of a frame. Thomas’ basketball story more or less begins with the following assessment from NBA Director of Scouting Marty Blake:
“Let me say this, there are some people who felt [Thomas] was the best high school player in the country. The kid Bryant came out because he had a big-time deal with adidas. [Jermaine] O’Neal came out because he didn’t get the SAT. We had three high school kids come out [in the 1996 Draft]. Thomas was probably better than all of them.”
And the relevant portion of Thomas’ career ends with the following conclusion from Jack McCallum’s Seven Seconds or Less:
“[In Game 1 of the 2006 Suns-Lakers series], Tim Thomas bails out the Suns. At practice the day before, I watched him effortlessly put up three-pointers as [Marc] Iavaroni tried to distract him. Thomas would get a pass, and Iavaroni would wave a hand in his face or fake a shot toward his nether regions, but Thomas would just smile and launch another, insouciance in a six-foot-ten-inch package. During games, Thomas has begun a ritual by which he waves his own hand directly in front of his face after he makes a jump shot, an indication that nothing can bother him. ‘I wish he’d take that hand and shove it up his ass,’ Alvin Gentry said, almost wistfully, after watching it on film a few dozen times. The gesture doesn’t quite rise to the level of taunting. But it smacks of taunting. Of all the Suns, though, Thomas appears to be the most impervious to playoff pressure, which is good and bad. He is what [Phil] Weber calls ‘a low-flame guy,’ coasting along at a certain speed, unable or unwilling to shift into a higher gear, but, on the other hand, maintaining almost an eerie calm.”
Thomas’ calm is decidedly different from Dirk’s quiet leadership or Dampier’s trademark stoicism. Rightfully or wrongfully, it has commonly been diagnosed as apathy and indifference. To a certain extent, that much is undeniable; Thomas clearly hasn’t shown the same interest in basketball as some of his less talented counterparts.
All of that is reservoir water under the ground under the water under the bridge at this point, but the Tim Thomas of today is still very much who he’s been. Little has changed for Thomas aside from shedding the weight of expectations and the loss of a young prospect’s mystery box intrigue. We know what Thomas is, particularly that he’s not Kobe Bryant or even Jermaine O’Neal.
Still, Thomas represents a fun end-of-the-bench type: the wild card. This isn’t Austin Croshere or Jamaal Magloire; Thomas has significant talent that only sporadically manifests itself in significant ways. He’s a home-run hitter capable of offensive barrages, even if it comes with strategic shortcomings or fundamental defensive flaws. Either way, Tim can never be described as a stop-gap.
In theory, Thomas has all the reason in the world to play his heart out a la his short time in Phoenix. The financial motivations are obvious. Beyond that, this is a situation where Thomas is capable of filling in as a long-range shooter, and provided he can be somewhat reliable in that capacity, will be a welcome addition. Underneath all the first one now will later be last subtext lies a player who’s of particular interest because of his periodic ability to circumvent the Mavs’ bench pecking order in a burst of pure, unleashed potential. If you’re looking for balance, or stability, or consistency look elsewhere — the beauty of Tim Thomas is that he is none of those things. Let the chips fall where they may, but Thomas’ role on the Mavs certainly ranks as an item of intrigue.
Interbasket.net sat down with Nathan Jawai for a little Q&A, and Jawai proved to be quite the brown-noser when asked about his favorite players: Ibn: Who are your favorite players? “Well, a range of players for their specific fundamentals they bring to the game. Dwight Howard’s aggressiveness at the post and his D. Now going back to the old-timers in Australian NBL, Andrew Gaze commitment and leadership. Though mostly the biggest influence on me has to be, (Dirk) Nowitzki. His current leadership and hints to me have totally influenced me on how to improve my game in every way. Oh, he’s gonna like that…”
Shawn Marion suggests that the Mavericks may exist on a plane where ‘position’ is merely passing fancy.
Spotted: what we can only assume is a Mavs fan donning the jersey of one of the franchise’s most beloved role players. EDDIE!
SLAM Online’s Joey Whelan names the addition of Marion as the Southwest’s Best Long-Term Move: “This one may come a as a surprise pick for some given that the UNLV grad is coming off a significant down year statistically, but Marion has landed in a perfect situation to get back to being a major force. This addition gives Dallas a slew of offensive weapons to surround aging point guard Jason Kidd with for what should be the final three years of his career. While this may not suddenly thrust the Mavs into the race for Western Conference supremacy, it does put them right on the heels of the Lakers and the Spurs in regards to the pecking order.”
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