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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No stopping Nowitzki


The departure of best friend Steve Nash forced Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, above, to learn some different ways to score. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review

DALLAS – Check out the NBA’s top 10 scorers and rebounders, and only one name is found on both lists: Dirk Nowitzki. Scan the winners of the Western Conference’s player of the month award, and he’s the only person honored twice. Then look at the standings and see that his Dallas Mavericks have racked up another 50-win season and home court in the first round of the playoffs.

Now factor in some of the other status symbols that have come Nowitzki’s way lately – getting Punk’d by MTV, playing advice columnist on NBA. com and doing such a good job on humorous league TV commercials that he’ll soon be appearing in his third one.

It all adds up to one conclusion: At 26, and in his seventh season since arriving from Germany with a new-wave haircut and unlimited potential, Nowitzki is taking the final step from star to superstar, and inching closer to the stratosphere of the league’s best power forwards, two-time MVP Tim Duncan and last year’s MVP, Kevin Garnett.

But to truly appreciate Nowitzki’s rise, you must understand the circumstances. What’s turned out to be his best season could have been his worst, considering he’s without two of the most instrumental figures in his development, point guard and close pal Steve Nash and Don Nelson, who until last month was Nowitzki’s only NBA coach.

“He just keeps working to get better,” Nash said. “He’s more confident, more experienced and has a better feel for the game. Maybe some of it is because the team changed and he had to take on more responsibility, but I think overall it’s just a natural progression.”

Nash and Nowitzki were acquired in separate deals on draft day in 1998. They met in Dallas a few days later and quickly became close friends. Their bond on the court made Nash-to-Nowitzki almost as automatic as Utah’s John Stockton-to-Karl Malone connection.

Then, last summer, Nash signed as a free agent with Phoenix, leaving his buddy behind to create his own shots for the first time in the NBA.

When Nash called with the news, Nowitzki was back home in Germany, working as he does every off-season with his personal coach-mentor, Holger Geschwindner. Coincidentally, they already had been focusing on his one-on-one game.

“I knew once Steve left that I’d have to work harder on everything,” Nowitzki said. “Steve was so good at getting me open at all times. I knew it wasn’t going to be that way any more, that I was going to have to make stuff happen off the dribble.”

He proved he could from the start, putting up 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the opener and leading the Mavs to seven wins in the first eight games. Then he opened December by scoring 53 points – a career high, franchise record and the most by a foreign player – and finished the month as the conference’s top player. He was picked again in February.

A 7-footer with endless range, Nowitzki’s big change has been relying less on his jumper. He’s posting up more and looking to drive whenever possible, plus using a great fake move that defenders fall for even when they’re expecting it. As a result, he’s replaced the easy shots Nash used to get him with another gimme – free throws.

An 86 percent career foul shooter, Nowitzki went into this weekend second in the league in made free throws and fifth in attempts. Better yet, as of April 1 he’d already made more free throws than he’d attempted in a season.

His new mindset stretches beyond the 3-point line. He’s taking just three per game, down from 4.3 the last five seasons, but making a career-best 40 percent.

“Am I surprised? Probably not,” Nowitzki said. “I really worked hard in the off-season.”

Nowitzki was considered one of the toughest players to guard before his transformation. Now he’s made it even more difficult.

“Used to be you’d rather him do this or that. Now, I don’t know what it is,” Rudy Tomjanovich said in January, when he was still coaching the Los Angeles Lakers and they were about to face Nowitzki.

After seeing Nowitzki get 41 points and 10 rebounds against his team in November, Miami coach Stan Van Gundy was left with a defeatist’s strategy for their February rematch.

“Hope he misses,” Van Gundy said.

Nelson knew Nowitzki was a walking mismatch from the first time he saw him, which is why he gambled on someone who’d only played in German club leagues and some international juniors tournaments.

By his third season, Nowitzki had blossomed into the team’s leading scorer and Dallas was in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The Mavs have been playoff regulars since, reaching the conference finals in 2003.

They tried a new formula last season, adding Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison to try outscoring everyone. It didn’t work, partly because Nowitzki got the ball less. So Dallas reverted to a conventional alignment this season, with Nowitzki featured on offense and Avery Johnson brought in as an assistant coach preaching defense.

Johnson succeeded Nelson last month. His impact on Nowitzki is profound.

With Johnson urging him to use his hands and feet more, Nowitzki has become a respectable one-on-one defender and a reliable second line of defense inside when teammates are beaten on the perimeter. Not only has he shed the mocking label of “Irk” – as in Dirk with no D – but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban calls him one of the team’s top stoppers.

Something else Johnson has done that Nelson struggled with is reducing Nowitzki’s minutes. Nowitzki grudgingly admits that playing less has made him fresher in the fourth quarter.

Once the playoffs start, Nowitzki won’t be sitting much.

In his four postseasons, Nowitzki’s scoring average always has exceeded his regular-season total. His rebounding numbers have spiked the last three years.

“It’s always fascinating to watch Dirk in the playoffs because he always goes to a whole other level,” Cuban said. “I can’t wait to see him in the playoffs this year. The upside is unbelievable.”