Re: No Mas Mavs/Nowitski

[Theresa Lee <tjoyce@mit.edu>]

A few weeks back there was documentary on about a bunch of CBA types
(sponsored by Upper Deck) who were touring Europe showcasing their talents
and hoping to catch on with a European team. It was quite interesting on
many levels. One of the games was against Nowitski's German team. The Upper
Deck players, some of whom had had a cup of coffee on a couple of NBA
teams, were hooting about Dirk wearing a gold hoop earing during the game.
Nowitski also had a pretty pageboy haircut that got some notice. Anyway,
when the game starts this kid is draining threes with absolutely no effort
UNTIL, the UD guys start playing defense. Any defense in that game was
whistled as a foul and the UD guys barely won (the refs were CHEATING in
that game).

My impression from watching was that DN is a wimpy player who can shoot,
but only when he's open. He plays no defense and is used to being the
pretty, untouched star of his team. He seemed shocked the anyone would even
TRY to defend him. He was smirking and preening during the game. His talent
hasn't been challenged - until now.

The other VERY interesting and VERY applicable (to our C's) part of that
documentary was the advice these players were getting from the coach and
the veterans on the team between games. They were told that the European
teams were looking for TEAM players, guys who could pass and play team
ball. Some of the better players on the team were doing the one-on-one
thing and were getting no notice from the Euro scouts. As soon as they
started passing, they began to get noticed. The coach reinforced this, BUT,
these players WERE all PHDs (poor, hungry and driven) so they listened.
They were playing on the road EVERY night and were desparate to play
basketball PROFESSIONALLY.

Three of four of the guys who had benchwarmed for an NBA team talked about
the fact that they would rather PLAY on a European team than SIT on an NBA
team. And these comments came from players while riding a bus 10-12 hours
to the next game or from a cheap hotel room somewhere in Europe. Being the
star of one team, regardless of the lack of trappings was better for them
than being a benchwarmer in the NBA. They enjoyed the attention they got in
Europe. When asked why they would continue to pursue this dream even after
being rejected by the NBA, most said they simply loved the game and would
rather try to play basketball somewhere than give up completely.

Sorry to babble, but I thought it was a refreshing departure from the NBA
and striking given our team's current troubles.

Theresa

 P.S. Never boo your own team. That is not right. That's the equivalent of
kicking a friend when he or she is down. Live and die with the ups and
downs...that's what separates a fan from a fair-weather fan.
_________________________________________________________________
>I think in time, Nowitzki will be a good player,
>and Nash is more of a distributor than Anderson.
>But neither one fits into Pitino's parameters
>of acquiring veterans...
>MG
>
>peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com> wrote:
>>
>> That is just what we need. Taken a look at Steve Nash's shooting
>percentage
>> lately?? If you think our current crop of big men can't defend the
>post, wait
>> til Nowitzski comes into town.
>>
>> Josh Ozersky wrote: I also know that Dallas had
>> > fleeting interest in
>> > Mercer before the deadline, and may look to move for
>> > him in a sign and
>> > trade, so the possiblity of landing Nowitski or
>> Steve
>> > Nash could come up
>> > again,
>>
>>
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