Dirk Nowitzki Rips the Mavs
After the Mavs lost to the winless Clippers last night, Dirk Nowitzki had some choice words about his teammates for the Dallas Morning news:
“If you don’t compete hard, it’s not about Xs and Os,” Nowitzki said. “You can run whatever play you want. You can have all the schemes you want defensively. We’ve just got to push ourselves to play harder.
“I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what’s going on. We don’t leave it all out there, and that’s what you’ve got to do.”
Then later he said:
“We’ve got to compete,” Nowitzki said. “That’s on the players, on every single one of us.
“We’ve got to cut harder. We’ve got to defend harder. We’ve got to rebound hard. I just think we’re coasting too much right now.“We’re not good enough to coast, as you saw tonight.”
While the Mavs have definitely look less-than-inspired this season, for what you’ve seen, are they not playing hard enough or are they just not very good? Their roster doesn’t exactly scare the hell out of teams…
Source: Dallas Morning News
November 10th, 2008 at 9:57 am
rodnets says:
I’ll tell you what is it Dirk:
you are SOFT, you supposed to be the go to guy and DISAPPEAR in crunch time and your team is filled with LOOSERS!!! (J KIDD excepted)
Peace
November 10th, 2008 at 9:58 am
rangerjohn says:
what is funny, their roster (which really has not changed with the exception of kidd for harris) used to “scare the hell out of people” how long ago was it that they went for 67 wins?
i also find it funny that “mr soft” is talking about “we need to defend harder” lmao where is that kettle? i am sure there is a pot around here o make fun of its color
November 10th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Kudabeen says:
Dirk has been balling without support this season. Everyone is up and down. It doesn’t seem like they can get more than two players at a time to play well. They also play a lot slower than the old Mav teams…If Howard isn’t playing, Terry isn’t hitting shots, if Antoine Wright and Devin George gets more time on the floor than Gerald Green, then Mavs will not get in the playoffs…
November 10th, 2008 at 10:50 am
MSkittle says:
Just not very good
November 10th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Michorizo says:
they should have never got rid of steve nash…
November 10th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Kermit the Washington says:
Next stop: Trade Demand!
November 10th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Dennis Castro says:
Devean George is still on an NBA roster?!?! Dirk talked the talk, now let’s see if he walks the walk.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am
P_Dizzle says:
“We don’t leave it all out there…”
No kidding. You guys haven’t left it all out there since Game 2 of the 2006 NBA Finals!
November 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am
CitizenB says:
…weak bench, slow backcourt, and no wings.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Damon says:
what should dirk do? score 50?
it wasn’t his fault last night.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Flip says:
Exactly @ Damon
How is he soft if he comes back from injuries faster than any comparable player in the league and carries the burden for his team all night? The trade for JKidd didn’t help them either
November 10th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Smitty313 says:
Dirk is a side kick allstar (not a superstar to me) who needs to be with someone to take the pressure off of him.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
I say it once again Mark Cuban are you listening…”YOU CAN NOT WIN an NBA CHAMPIONSHIP with DIRK as your number one.” Nope not ever, Not in a million years. I guarantee if you were to pick someone else up that was a number one caliber player and put him on Dallas next to Dirk they would win. That’s the one thing he’s never had.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
ash says:
i would guess that 95% of the posters who rip on dirk are black. this has to be one of the biggest racist boards in the net. the dude came back from a high ankle sprain in 2 weeks and put the team on his back last season to get them into the playoffs.
dude averages 25 and 11 in the playoffs for his career.
yes, he disappeared for the golden state series, but he is also an mvp.
find another mvp, 8 time all star, 8 time all nba, who is 7 ft and shoots like him.
memo to you “tough guys” from the hood. you dont have to dunk to play ball. you dont have to back people down with 300 pds(shaq) to play ball.
November 10th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
karizmatic says:
From what I’ve seen they are just not that good. they’ve got too many guys under sized or possessing the wrong skills for their position. That team needs to be rebuilt. For insatnce they have Dirk who is an oversized Small Forward, playing power forward and they have Terry who is an undersized shooting guard. They just have a bunch of pieces that don’t fit together at this point and they don’t have a coherent coaching philosophy or direction for the team
November 10th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
NB says:
WTF? People say Dirk’s not a leader. Finally, he does something a leader would do and he gets ripped for being soft? He has been the only one contributing consisitently since the first game. When Cleveland took him out the game defensively, NOBODY stepped up to help. Dirk’s been going to the basket. NOBODY else does. The only two on the team giving a bit of effort are Kidd and Green. And Green barely get plaing time. I love Stackhouse, but his goose is cooked. I think he’s shooting like 16%. But for whatever reason Carlisle is playing him more than Green. The team is not playing with any kind of intensity at all, and you can’t blame Dirk for that cause he’s been carrying this sorry team so far.
November 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Tone says:
Dirk got handled by Posey who in the 06 finals, he shouldn’t be talking…He turned around and won the MVP a year later, what a joke. Must have been a down year for Nash. LOL!
November 10th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
rangerjohn says:
@ ash
i am almost as white as dirk and i am also one of the biggest dirk haters. sure he came back from an ankle sprain so that makes him a tough or “not soft” player. ebing able to handle pain doesnt make you a good player. dirk can score and rebound but he cant finish a game/series. he doesnt know how to defend, hell avery tried to teach him, and what happened, he threw avery under the bus. dirk is WEAK he is SOFT, sure he can handle some pain, and recovers from injury quick but that doesnt mean shit when it comes to his play and his crunch time abilities.
November 10th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
rangerjohn says:
one last thing, ANY PLAYER who admitedly sings hasselhoff songs in his head while shooting freethrows is SOFT! inside and out!
but hey the funniest thing ever, saw a pic of the hoff jogging with a shirt that said “dont hassel the hoff” that was good shit
November 10th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
dagwaller says:
The problem isn’t with Dirk, Kidd, Josh Howard, Brandon Bass, or Gerald Green. It’s with their “center” and their “shooting guard” (I use the quotes because they have two guys that play center TERRIBLY and have Jason Terry playing SG when he’s actually one of the worst shooters on the team right now).
While Dirk does have loads of heart, even if he DIDN’T, it’s still better to be a heartless 24 and 7 player than a 7 footer that averages 2 and 5, as both of his centers do. Seriously, why doesn’t anyone question Erick Dampier’s heart? Hm? I wonder if there could be some factor that explains why some people just don’t like Dirk…
Oh yea, and if we’re talking about guys’ interests off the court translating to how soft they are ON court, why doesn’t anyone call Etan Thomas a p*ssy for being a poet? Or how about if I hear about one more famous athlete getting a manicure or a pedicure I’m going to revoke their manhood?
November 10th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Lady Luck says:
Race, nor heart, is not the problem when it comes to Dirk’s “softness”, he and Yao have the same kind of problem. They need to be able, at 7 feet tall, to intimidate their opponent, especially on the defensive end. The smallest guys on the court constantly challenge these two. THAT’S WHY HE’S LABELED AS SOFT. Also, he needs some consistent shooters, and a legit center. Dampier isn’t it.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Lady Luck says:
However, calling out your team in the media is usually looked at as the clear indicator that you are the leader of your team. So, as the leader of the team, Dirk must step up defensively.
He makes valid points and hopefully his teammates will get the picture.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
DeGuy says:
he’s soft. so fucking what? you have to be a tough guy? name one other 7 footer with his skills and shooting abilities…. thought so
and the whole not clutch thing is so fucking ridiculous.
i think a lot of people think he’s soft or don’t like him coz they’re racists. either coz he’s a white dude or coz he’s from germany and we all know all germans are nazis, right? that’s sad.
i’m for pictures next to the comments, so we can see which little pimple faced boy comes up with shit.
like rodnets. can’t even spell loser. now that’s a loser!
November 10th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
rangerjohn says:
@DeGuy
lmao relax man is sissy as dirk. its not the end of the world. and while i agree there are several people how show “racist tendencies” i would say it has nothing to do with dirk being white.
hmm okur comes to mind, they are both 7′ers, they play very similar games, and their % is almost the same exactly (dirk has 1% more fg, and 1.5% 3pt) but dirk also plays 7 minutes more per game then okur.
the difference, okur plays SOME defense.
he also isnt “the man” on his team and he surely isnt making dirks money.
dirk is not a one of a kind.
someone made a point he is better in the playoffs so he has to be “clutch” or “tough”, this is not true, over his career, the only thing going up is his rebounds, everything else stays almost exactly the same or goes down. his FG% goes down, his 3 point goes down, his minutes have gone up from 36 to 42 and yet his points stay the same, assists same, blocks same, steals same. hell fouls goes up too.
dirk is soft, he is a second tier “star” and is a second fiddle player. this is why they brought kidd in, didnt work, this is why they tried to hand the team over to howard, didnt work. he needs a boozer/williams to be any good.
November 10th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
dagwaller says:
Rangerjohn’s points are laughable.
Did you think that no one on this site would check facts? In the playoffs, his ppg go up (contrary to what you made up…errrr, said), as do his rebounding numbers, blocks, steals, mpg, 3fg%, fouls stay the exact same (despite him playing more minutes)…I mean, if you’re going to just out and out lie about things like that, you kind of invalidate your entire post.
You’re right about one thing, though, and that’s that he’s not one of a kind. Rasheed Wallace has had a similar offense to Dirk for years, but no one calls HIM soft. Must be the technical fouls. If only Dirk would cost his team points and possessions every 3rd game, people wouldn’t call him soft.
Dirk isn’t soft, he isn’t a second tier star, and he isn’t a second fiddle. His problem is that he’s been the ONLY fiddle for a little while now, and no one in the front office really noticed.
November 10th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
rodnets says:
@DeGuy,
try to write a sentence in spanish without typos or spelling mistakes and then we talk about it dude…I was being enphatic with the double O in loser
Now I can tell you one thing:
You are full of crap with those racist and nazist shit(hope I spelled that correctly).
DIRK IS SOFT, SKILLED, AND LOSER, the only ring he ever get would be his mommy calling him to congratulate him on being such a wooz.
Peace
November 10th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
dagwaller says:
rod, how is Dirk soft or a loser? Please, if you have any good points outside of wild assertions with no backup to make, I’d like to hear them.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Spot says:
I’ll give Dirk the benefit here, if nothing else, he has always been a model competitor; otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten to where he is. If he recognizes this, then I say good job to him for speaking out about it and trying to right the ship.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
rodnets says:
@dagwaller #27
Dirk is soft because:
He doesn`t play D.
He disappears in crunch time.
A 7 footer with his size and skills should be a beast.
Dirk is a loser because:
He hasn`t won anything.
He didn’t carry any team to success.
Of course he is a millionaire, and plays in the NBA, and Im just a person commenting here (with spelling mistakes). But If I had Dirk skills, I would probably have won a couple of rings so far.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
dagwaller says:
Ok, here we go.
Dirk hasn’t missed the playoffs in almost a decade. He’s been to the Finals, Conference Finals, and out of the first round of the playoffs repeatedly. Furthermore, he’s been the only All-NBA player on his team for as long as he’s been on the Mavericks, so yea, he was the guy carrying the team.
Any other way you want to define “loser”? Again, please try to dispute any of the facts I just put down.
He doesn’t play D? This is a much harder category to quantify/qualify, but I would point to his 8 (and counting) consecutive All-NBA appearances, not to mention the fact that he’s led one of the best defenses in the League for the past three years.
You’re right, though – someone his size with his skills SHOULD be a beast. He IS a beast. It’s just funny that it takes so long for that fact to get through some people’s skulls.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
rangerjohn says:
dagwaller
1st, you better go check numbers again, if you consider dirk didnt make the playoffs his 1st 2 season (where he averaged 8.2 and 17.5 respectively) this would be apples to apples. that said, his points would average almost exactly the same (but i would not expect you to do the math so here it is, he averaged 24.5 points) his rebounds did go up, his steals went up by .4, his blocks went up by .2, and now for the big one, his FG % WENT DOWN BY 2, AND HIS 3 POINT WENT DOWN BY 1%. and his fouls went UP from 2.6 to 3.1 per game.
better go do some math before you call out my numbers buddy.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
rangerjohn says:
daggy, i am sorry, your right dirk is the man, wait what? NEVERMIND your crazy. what exactly has dirk won again? hmmm up nothing, oh wait he was the 2006 three point shot out champ. cant take that away can we?
when does he/has he ever played defense?
dirk has no cock and balls man, case in point, what happened when david west put his hand ON DIRKS FACE? dirk “turned the other cheek” so to speak and left. pussy! no way a nba player who is “not soft” lets that get by. i mean damn stand up for yourself man dont puss out.
nuff said!
November 10th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
rodnets says:
Not missing the playoffs for over a decade means you are a winner? I thought the chip was what it counted.
And yes I agree he is carrying his team…to constan failure.
He may be an All-NBA or even MVP of the regular season, but when it comes to prove your value, during those seconds where the great players appear…he is out like one of Dime Smack last sentences
No hard feelings. Dirk is a great player, but not a superstar, neither a winner.
Peace
November 10th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
dagwaller says:
ranger, “buddy”, I’ll do you a favor and link you to Dirk’s career numbers page, where you can see that Dirk, in the playoffs, is a quality player. You’re probably getting your numbers from Wikipedia or something.
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/dirk_nowitzki/career_stats.html
There ya go. It’s a real simple matter of subtraction. Go ahead and subtract the REGULAR SEASON numbers from the PLAYOFF numbers. Some of them are pretty big (such as the ppg one), but you can do it. When the vast majority of your results are positive, try not to be surprised.
And you’re right, he hasn’t won a championship. So, to reiterate, you’re suggesting that Malone, Barkley, Wilkins, Ewing, etc were all losers. If you’re ok with that, I guess I have no choice but to call Dirk a loser in great company. You probably only have 3 favorite players – Russell, Jordan, and Milicic. Cause don’t forget, Darko won a championship! He’s a winner!
Again, in the playoffs, you would rather your star get into a fight and get himself suspended? You must have loved it when the Suns got bounced from the playoffs because their players came onto the court against the Spurs.
Both of you are ignoring facts. But I’m sure that you’re hits at Robert Horry’s parties (since he’s the ultimate champion, right fellas?).
November 10th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
rangerjohn says:
dagwaller, apparently you cant read your own numbers OR you dont know math. i got my numbes from teh same source.
sorry man but you are LOST!!! get your head out of dirks ass and lets look at numbers here (since you cant figure that part out) then we will go to the rest.
dirks regular season numbers (taking out the 2 seasons he has not made the playoffs)
regular season vs playoffs
pts 24.5 and 25
rebounds (the one i give him credit for) 8.6 and 11
assists 2.7 and 2.5
steals .9 and 1.3
blocks 1 and 1.1
fouls 2.6 and 3.1
and now the %%%
reg, fg 47% playoff 45%
3 pt, reg 38%, playoff 37%
so lets recap here, points went up a minute amount (more minutes???) rebounds went up significantly (which i have repeatedly credited) assists went down, steals up not even 1/2 per game (more minutes) blocks went up .1 per game (more minutes?) fouls went up 1/2 a block per game (more minutes?) and yet his shooting % has actually GONE DOWN! and i got those numbers from the same play you link yet not look at!
now to the winners, see the thing about comparing the names you named and dirk, he cant even come close to them. icant believe you have even tried to include dirk with malone, barkley, wilkins, ewing. he is not (and most everyone here will agree) even close to thier levels.
as for people who win titles, sure htose are some great names, and sure darko won a title, so yes he was a winner at one point, just liek scalabrini was a winner this past season this does not make them winners above and beyond. so again what has dirk won? he has NEVER even met those guys level if you look at it that way.
try again, go back and repeat yourself another 3 maybe 4 times with your BS and we might believe you. NAHHH NEVER MIND we are not going to agree that dirk is a winner, that he is tough.
and i would like to see my “star” stand up for himself. you put your hand in my face, i AT LEAST knock it away. nobody said get in a fight, but dirk got PUNKED. he is a pussy. SOFTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and that said, GOOD NIGHT NOW!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
rodnets says:
Darko is a winner, so is Cliff Livingston, Sean Marks and every corpse who rallied for the chip with the truly stars of the game.
Sorry dude, Barkley was a beast, I want him in my team. But he is a loser. So is Iverson, for example. Ask them if they feel winners and they will ever regret not winning the chip.
As regards the tough department, you have to be smart enough to show some balls and avoid being out of the game. Remember Rodman? He is the purest sample of toughness.
Horry is a winner. One thing is to be skilled and great player and other is to be a winner. When you have both, you have the greatest of all times.
Just to mention a few: Magic, Jordan, Kareem, Olajuwon, Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Billups, Sheed, Shaq, Kobe (I cant stand him, so that proves im not bearing a grudge against no one) and the list goes on an on.
Dirk will never be there. He will always be a skilled player with a soft attitude, just like Gasol, Yao and all those players destined to loose.
Peace
November 10th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
rkraicek says:
dag dont worry john just upset cuz readin the word maverick reminds him of his dumbass president…oh wait no i meant to say his dumbass almost president hahaha. and he pissed the spurs suck that dick now
November 10th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
rangerjohn says:
rkraicek
oh damn!!! you got me on that one didnt you?
come on man you can do better then that right? RIGHT?
try again!!!
yep the better man does not always win, yep the spurs are playing like shit right now but then their leading scorer has missed the every game so far, now their second leading scorer is out. hmmm will they return, sure they will, have they won titles? UM YEAH!
so i ask again, you CAN do better then that weak as shit right? RIGHT?
November 12th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Kante says:
Dirk is a leader and an Superstar. Tell me one 7-footer that can shoot like this? Why all are saying he is the best shooting 7-footer and best European in the NBA of all time?
Most of you are black and don´t like Dirk because he is a “whitie” who can play Basketball. Be serious, accept that he is good and a Superstar. He is a Leader but what should he do? Score every Night 60-70 Points if he takes every Shot? He needs help from Terry, Kidd and more…
He is great, Period!