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NBA FINALS: HEAT v MAVERICKSJune 10, 2006Dirk NowitzkiDALLAS, TEXAS: Practice Day Q. When you first get a guy coming in drafted late in the first round like Josh, you don't expect a whole lot, what did you notice about him at first that said, hey, this guy is better than the last pick of the first round? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, I thought right away when he came in training camp, you know, you could see that he was very, very skilled. But he had that kind of attitude about him, you know, he was Player of the Year in college in the ACC and he just had that attitude about him that he wants to prove everybody wrong. I could see that from day one. He was aggressive in training camp. He didn't care if there was a veteran in front of him. He was in attack mode. From day one, he's been great. He's trying to learn, but also, he has that attitude of a great player already when he first got here, so I knew he was going to be something special. Q. When a team has to devote so much of its defensive game plan to stopping guys like Shaquille and Dwyane, how do you ensure that all of their other guys, guys like Antoine and J-Will don't go off on big nights? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, that's tough, that's why they are here. They have a great all-around team. Like I said before, Shaq and Dwyane, they are playing awesome in the playoffs, but it's their role players that got them here, the Walkers that made shots in the playoffs, the Paytons, Jason Williams has been great in the playoffs so far and Mourning coming off the bench; Posey making big shots off the bench in the playoffs. I think obviously, you know, you don't come here with one or two guys. Obviously your stars are great, but you've got to play at a high, high level to get The Finals. Everybody has got to contribute on both ends of the floor. On defense, guys have to scramble and make stuff happen and create turnovers. And offensively, you've got to move the ball. If your stars are being double-teamed, guys have to step up and make plays and drive and make shots. And I think that's what both teams did. They came here with great team efforts, and, you know, it's going to take great team effort to win The Finals again. Q. You talked about Avery yesterday, could you elaborate a little further on the difference he has made in your game in the year-plus that he's been head coach? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, I think personally for me, he's tried to push me to new limits. He's trying to get me off, just shooting jumpshots. He's expecting more out of myself. He's expecting an all-around game offensively. You know, get to the basket more, get to the foul line. If the shot is there, great, take it. If not, you know, just be aggressive. If you're double-teamed, make good passes. And defensively, contribute some, be active on the defensive end, get some offensive rebounds and get some rebounds on the defensive end. He just expects an all-around game out of me and I think in that category I got better over the year. And actually, Avery has pushed me to new limits in that category I think. Q. Dwyane Wade said yesterday that he kind of lost his legs from the virus in the fourth quarter. Did you notice any difference, and do you expect him to be different in Game 2? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, you know, he's so explosive, I didn't see any legs go. He went in there and dunked a couple of times. He tried to dunk a couple times. He knows his body best. He knows how he felt. I know he's a great player and he'll keep attacking and he'll keep coming, that's what the good players do. I thought he still had a great game in Game 1. And we've got to be ready, you know, if he's in attack mode, he's got you on the heels all game long. He was great I thought and we've got to make sure we'll be ready for his attacks tomorrow. Q. After the 11-point game against Phoenix you came back with a 50-point game. Can you talk about what adjustments you made this time after Game 1? DIRK NOWITZKI: You know, not a lot. We watched the film obviously to see what they do. But I think they were pushing up on me pretty good. Once I put it down, they would send in somebody from the back. I don't think that there was much that I could do, just take my shots if they are there, if not, make my teammates better and find the open guy. Like I said, they really box up the strong side very, very well. So I've just got to see what's there for me, make strong, aggressive moves, and if it's not there, just swing it, but still be aggressive and play my game. Q. How different is what they are doing from what you saw in San Antonio and Phoenix? DIRK NOWITZKI: I think the defender on me is a little stronger, a little taller, the help comes a little quicker. Like I said, the strong side, they stay right there and box it up. You know, it's one game, and I'll be back. Like I said, I've got to be efficient with my scoring. When I take shots, take them; if they are not, swing it and make my teammates better. Q. Getting back to Avery, most of this team was here under Nellie (Don Nelson). How did he change the mindset for everybody to play a different way and to become tougher and more defensive? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, I think it was kind of hard last year when he took over right before the playoffs and he tried to put his style on. And it worked pretty good for the last couple of games before the playoffs. In the regular season, we finished like 17-3 or something like that and we all thought we felt good. But once the playoffs came around, we just were not quite ready for the challenges ahead. We were not quite on the same page on a lot of stuff yet because it was just too quick, the whole turnaround was too quick I thought. But this year, it was great. We had a whole training camp in October with the whole team together where we really could work on a lot of things and he could really put his system in place. I thought everybody bought into it great. Obviously we had some injury problems all through the year. But the great thing about the system that we have is anybody can come off the bench and step in and make the plays, on offense and defense. If everybody buys into it, it's a fun system to play. Q. Was it difficult at any time for everybody to buy in, was there any resistance, or did you guys realize, this is what we needed to do? DIRK NOWITZKI: I think after the playoff run last year, we were all very, very disappointed. We feel as a team last year, we didn't play our best. We barely snuck by Houston in Game 7. In the Phoenix series, we thought we were right there as a better team but we didn't come through and that was very frustrating for all of us to sit on the whole summer. We realized if we want to do something, we have to be tougher defensively, we have to be tougher-minded. We have to get some tough rebounds, get some offensive rebounds. And that's what the good teams do, they keep it alive on the offensive end, and they are a tough defensive team. I think we bought into that pretty quick after the playoff series last year that we were all disappointed with.
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