Off The Court With Dirk Nowitzki

(Photo Courtesy of Darryl Briggs).

After Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Dirk Nowitzki was kind enough to entertain a few questions from the media. The Mavericks won 105-99 and coach Rick Carlisle joined the “500 Win” club in which there are only 27 other NBA coaches. Here’s how it went down:

How did you guys go from giving up 61 points in the first half to 38 points in the second half?

We tried to keep the pressure up. Their starting five play a lot of minutes all season and we talked about it at halftime. Their starting five had played over 20 minutes or at least four of them. We tried to keep the pressure up. I think we stepped it up defensively, rebounded well and pushed the pace. I think we had almost 20 fast break points. That’s the way you want to play. Get some stops. Get some rebounds. Get the ball in Vince Carter’s hands and Rodrigue Beaubois’ hands, their both fast. We really turned it around, got after them and got some stops.

Does head coach Rick Carlisle’s 500th win mean anything to you?
Obviously it’s a fun accomplishment for a coach. That means he’s been around for a minute. He’s got some experience. He’s won a lot and I’m happy to be a part of it. The ultimate win was the championship. That was everybody’s dream. I’m glad that I got to reach it with him.

Was this a good start to a “make it or break it’ home stand for you all?
Definitely. They were on fire early. We were down eight or nine for a little bit. At one point we were down by 12 in the second quarter but we did a decent job closing out the half. So we had good momentum going into halftime. It carried over into the third and fourth quarters. It was a big win. Now we’ve got three more until the break and obviously we’d like to get them all. Golden State has already beat us twice this year. One time in overtime here when I was out and another close one there when I was out. It should be a fun test. We’ll get a day off Thursday and I’ll come in to prepare for what they do. Then come back Friday and get some more work in. Hopefully we’ll have a great outing with our great fans on Saturday.

How important is it of what Vince Carter brings to this team?
Well if you look at our bench he’s one of the few playmakers out there especially with Kaman being out. Looking back at the OKC game, Kaman not being able to make some shots or plays for himself since he was out and Vince wasn’t there; the team struggled off the bench to make some plays. So he’s big for us. His ability to put the ball on the floor off of some pick and roll plays, his ability to make big shots for us. Tonight he made a big three for us in the third quarter. The game sealer there with a three point difference towards the end of the game with a fade away from the corner. That’s what he does. He makes tough shots and plays for others.

Over and out in Big D.

Mr. Will