|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA PRESEASON: ALBA v MAVERICKSOctober 6, 2012Dirk NowitzkiBERLIN, GERMANY MAVERICKS – 89 Q.  Can you describe the experience playing in front of a German crowd today? DIRK NOWITZKI: It was fun to play here in this atmosphere. It was a very tight game, so that helped in the end. We really had to fight. We won by four points, so that was okay. I think the atmosphere was really great. We made a number of mistakes, in particular at the beginning. We had about 10 turnovers, so it was really difficult. We had some problems with coordination. We made some very easy mistakes, sometimes the balls didn't even reach the center, so there's a lot of work ahead of us. But you have to take into consideration that it was just training for one week, and yeah, I think we're moving in the right direction. Q. Talk about your performance tonight. DIRK NOWITZKI: Yes, that was all right. I had some difficulties later on due to knee problems. I kind of got stuck, which was a pretty awkward situation. A lot of work ahead of me, but my fitness was all right. I felt a bit heavy in the legs at the beginning, but I feel like this is normal after one week of training camp. My last game was in April when we lost against Oklahoma, so that was more than six months ago. I'm pretty sure I'll be getting better from game to game and will be in good condition when the NBA games start in three weeks. Q. Will Thompson find a place on the Mavericks' airplane? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, the plane is already full. They have a team of 15 and they are only allowed to hire 15. He is definitely a good man, very active, a lot of energy. He was very good on offense, and they had problems with rebounds. They also had a good man with No.5 who played well from the outside. They have a number of good players actually. They won their first game, and they will definitely be playing in the Bundesliga League this year. Q. This is your first game with a new teammate, so even though it's only been a week of training camp, when you look at the 27 turnovers, when you look at how other guys stepped up, how would you grade this performance? DIRK NOWITZKI: Yeah, I mean, I didn't even know we had 27 of them. That's a lot. So yeah, that's something we've got to work on. Sometimes it was just easy stuff. We got double teamed, we have got to make crisper passes, we have got to make the easy plays. So yeah, we've just got a lot of work to do and not turn the ball over. At least we've got some shooters, we have got some play makers out there, and we've got to at least get a look at the basket and not turn the ball over. But other than that, I think we looked okay. I think Mayo looked good, I think Collison is going to be great for us speeding the game up. So I think we've definitely got some upside. But yeah, turning the ball over really hurt us today and offensive rebounds. Q. Of course it has been a long break, but what are the objectives for the season? Who will be the top teams? DIRK NOWITZKI: The objective of the season is definitely to be in the playoffs, the Mavericks over the past 12 years have almost always been in the playoffs. I think we missed the first two years but have been in there ever since. So that's the minimum objective for the season. As regards the top teams, on paper, LA is very, very strong, also Oklahoma who played the West, and they have a number of young guys. But the West is deep, and there's a number of very good teams, and we will have to see how the season goes. Q. What will you remember of your three days in Germany? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, the hype has certainly been great. It was a lot of fun, and it was great to see that people were so happy that the Mavericks were in Germany. The atmosphere was great, also all the people waiting in front of the hotel. The hotel even rolled out the red carpet. It definitely has been a great trip. It has been a very tight schedule. I've said that over the past two days. And in the end, the three days has been just too short. Normally we should have arrived here on Saturday, then we would have had a whole week for training and my schedule would have been a lot less tight. But yeah, because of the restrictions in time, the boys hardly had any time to look around the city, to do some sightseeing, which is a shame, but we will move on to Barcelona tomorrow, and we will see the Classico tomorrow and that will be a good game, I suppose, and then we're almost heading home back again. So that's it. Q. It has been a very hard time here because of the tight schedule. One week in Europe, what are the pros, what are the cons? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, it has actually been very stressful. Until you get used to the jet lag you're almost heading back home, but I think it has been worth it. I suppose we will be playing a good game in Barcelona, and then on the 10th of October we are back heading home. Then we have almost three weeks, that is 20 days to prepare for our opening game in LA. That should be enough time to establish better team coherence, etcetera. So on the 30th we will be fully to the point, and yeah, it has been a very good experience in Europe. Q. (Inaudible.) DIRK NOWITZKI: I'm not sure quite what happened. I probably should have taken it off the other leg, not my left leg. I should have just made a lay‑up instead of trying to dunk. I'm a little too old to dunk. Maybe I should have gone with a nice little finger roll and ran back on defense. Q. Personally for you during the three days here, would you prefer the summertime in the United States or the winter in Würzburg? DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, the weather has actually been a shame. It has been stormy, raining. It has really been wet and cold and not particularly pleasant. But that is German fall, after all, and it was to be expected. Yeah, it is certainly sunny back in Texas, yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|