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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 18, 2006

Dirk Nowitzki

HOUSTON, TEXAS

Q. First question, I don't know, you might be one of the first seven-footers to win this event, do you feel like what you're doing out there, not only in this competition, but your game overall is revolutionizing the game? You're one of the big guys hitting the threes now.
DIRK NOWITZKI: You know, that's kind of my game. I'm a shooter first and then everything else comes second. I'm just glad to be here.
But I think when you look at the game now, a lot of big guys can step out and make that little 16-, 17-, 18-footer, you know, the game goes away from all of the big guys posting up and dribbling ten times. It's more moving now. All of the centers in the league can shoot a little bit, too, outside the paint. I think the game goes more into a face-up kind of game, and obviously that's my game, too.
Q. Can you talk about the last shot in the first round, the one that barely got you into the second round.
DIRK NOWITZKI: Yeah, I looked at the clock and I only saw a couple of seconds and I still had three balls there. So all I did, I tried to hoist them up there as quick as I can, and I don't really know if I got the last one up in time or not. All I did was just try to get rid of it as quick as I can. It got me to the second round.
You know, in the first round I never really got comfortable out there, I missed a lot of shots and never really got my rhythm. Second round, started out better. One rack kind of killed me, didn't make a second shot.
It was weird sitting there on 18, I missed the last money ball to go to 20. You have to sit there and watch Ray Allen, one of the best shooters in our game, and just sit there and can't do anything about it. It was kind of weird but I'm glad I won.
Q. You didn't think the 18 was going to hold up?
DIRK NOWITZKI: I didn't think so. Especially Ray has been doing it, he won the contest before, so I knew he was going to have a good second round. You know, I wasn't 100 percent sure, but I'm glad it lasted.
Q. It seemed like Ray lost his legs at the end of the second round, how did your legs feel at the end of the second round?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Not bad. Like I said, I had one rack, that second-to-the-last was kind of awful, in both rounds, I don't know really know. I don't really get into analyzing too much. I couldn't really get anything going from that rack.
Other than that, I felt great. I felt a lot better in the second round than I did in the first round. I was kind of stiff in the first round and couldn't really get anything going. I'm just glad I won.
Q. Does it mean anything to you to win this, or is it just kind of fun?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, obviously, once you go to the All-Star Game, it's really about fun and showing, you know, the fans a great time and enjoying your time here. But we're all competitors and once you start in the competition, obviously we all want to win.
So obviously this is great, to win it, and it's a great feeling and bring the trophy home to Dallas.
Q. Are you going to split the money with Jason (Terry) since that last shot in the first round was disputed?
DIRK NOWITZKI: You know, before we started, we said we would love to bring the trophy to Dallas, either one of us. He was rooting for me all the way and he was actually, when the guys were shooting in the final round and he was out, he was heckling them from behind. He was my fan out there and I'm glad I won.
Great to be here.

End of FastScripts...

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