http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/11568202/dirk-nowitzki-dallas-mavericks-experiments-faster-shot-release

When he wasn't on the promotional trail for his new documentary, Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki spent most of his time in Germany in recent weeks as he usually does, locked in an old gym working on his game with lifelong shot doctor Holger Geschwindner.

Nowitzki's latest summer project: speeding up his shot release.

"I don't think, to the naked eye, you would see it," Nowitzki told ESPN.com. "I don't know if the [average] fan will see the difference. But I'm always trying to get better, and this is just a little tool for me to shoot a little quicker. We'll see how it works during the season."

Geschwindner has often referred to what he calls Nowitzki's "toolbox" and the idea of adding one new specialty every offseason.

"We worked on a quicker release," Geschwindner said, citing Golden State's Steph Curry as the standard-setter for getting shots off rapid-fire and insisting that Nowitzki also can become adept at getting the ball to the release point faster "if he sticks with it."

Said Nowitzki: "Even now, I'm 36, but I don't see myself as a complete basketball player. It's always about getting better and adding stuff in the summer. That's something I wanted to look at and see how it goes, so I'll try it.

"What else can I do at 36 when the feet slow down a little bit? Try to be even quicker with the shot, because once you get older, you don't jump as high and the first step is slower. Shooting quicker should help my game for the back end of my career. And if it doesn't work [out well], I'll just go back to the old way."

After knee woes plagued him in 2012-13, Nowitzki averaged 21.7 points and 6.2 rebounds last season in leading Dallas back to the playoffs, shooting .497 from the field, .398 from 3-point range and .899 from the line to narrowly miss out on his second career 50/40/90 season.

The Mavericks will open training camp in a week with media day on Sept. 29 and a slew of new players for the fourth consecutive season, including reacquired center Tyson Chandler and free-agent signees Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson.

I think the Mavs are going to have a great year

He's still trying to get better at 36, while making $8mil/yr

Dirk IMO undeniably one of the greatest I've seen play

I think he's Top 20 All-Time, that's just me

F500ONE wrote:Does Dirk Rank Amongst the All Time Greats?

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/11568202/dirk-nowitzki-dallas-mavericks-experiments-faster-shot-release

When he wasn't on the promotional trail for his new documentary, Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki spent most of his time in Germany in recent weeks as he usually does, locked in an old gym working on his game with lifelong shot doctor Holger Geschwindner.

Nowitzki's latest summer project: speeding up his shot release.

"I don't think, to the naked eye, you would see it," Nowitzki told ESPN.com. "I don't know if the [average] fan will see the difference. But I'm always trying to get better, and this is just a little tool for me to shoot a little quicker. We'll see how it works during the season."

Geschwindner has often referred to what he calls Nowitzki's "toolbox" and the idea of adding one new specialty every offseason.

"We worked on a quicker release," Geschwindner said, citing Golden State's Steph Curry as the standard-setter for getting shots off rapid-fire and insisting that Nowitzki also can become adept at getting the ball to the release point faster "if he sticks with it."

Said Nowitzki: "Even now, I'm 36, but I don't see myself as a complete basketball player. It's always about getting better and adding stuff in the summer. That's something I wanted to look at and see how it goes, so I'll try it.

"What else can I do at 36 when the feet slow down a little bit? Try to be even quicker with the shot, because once you get older, you don't jump as high and the first step is slower. Shooting quicker should help my game for the back end of my career. And if it doesn't work [out well], I'll just go back to the old way."

After knee woes plagued him in 2012-13, Nowitzki averaged 21.7 points and 6.2 rebounds last season in leading Dallas back to the playoffs, shooting .497 from the field, .398 from 3-point range and .899 from the line to narrowly miss out on his second career 50/40/90 season.

The Mavericks will open training camp in a week with media day on Sept. 29 and a slew of new players for the fourth consecutive season, including reacquired center Tyson Chandler and free-agent signees Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson.

I think the Mavs are going to have a great year

He's still trying to get better at 36, while making $8mil/yr

Dirk IMO undeniably one of the greatest I've seen play

I think he's Top 20 All-Time, that's just me

He's certainly close to Top 20 and a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. Off the top of my head my Top 20, in no particular order, looks like:

Jordan

Lebron

Magic

Bird

Russell

Kareem

Chamberlain

Olajuwon

Shaq

West

Robertson

Kobe

Duncan

Barkley

Baylor

Moses Malone

Dr J

Garnett

That's 18 definite players and I'm probably forgetting some guys. As is, there are a bunch of guys I could put in those last two spots: Ewing, Admiral, Stockton, Karl Malone, Isiah Thomas, Kidd, Pippen, Iverson, Clyde, Reed, The Pearl, Nash, Iverson, and Dirk; Durant and Chris Paul aren't quite there yet and Anthony Davis has a chance based off his first 2 seasons. But, I know I would put several of those players over Dirk. He's probably Top 30 for and might be Top 25 but I couldn't put him any higher.

holfresh wrote:Patrick Ewing
Rick Barry
Scotty Pippen
Pistol Pete
Nate Archibal
Isaiah Thomas
Kevin McHale
Karl Malone
John Stockton
AI
Walt Frazier
George Gervin
James Worthy
David Robinson
Clyde Drexler

are all ahead of Dirk on my list...off the top of my head

Going from Coug's list and yours

That's tough when it comes to GOATS

He's clearly the 2nd greatest foreign

Prospect outside of Duncan[he qualifies]

Dirk has the stats obviously

But he also has on his resume

League MVP, NBA Champion, NBA MVP and he beat Lebron

Not many of those considered greats, have this on their resume

holfresh wrote:Patrick Ewing
Rick Barry
Scotty Pippen
Pistol Pete
Nate Archibal
Isaiah Thomas
Kevin McHale
Karl Malone
John Stockton
AI
Walt Frazier
George Gervin
James Worthy
David Robinson
Clyde Drexler

are all ahead of Dirk on my list...off the top of my head

I knew I was forgetting guys, especially Barry and Gervin. Another one I just thought of is 'Nique; he should at least be in the discussion with Dirk.

F500ONE wrote:

holfresh wrote:Patrick Ewing
Rick Barry
Scotty Pippen
Pistol Pete
Nate Archibal
Isaiah Thomas
Kevin McHale
Karl Malone
John Stockton
AI
Walt Frazier
George Gervin
James Worthy
David Robinson
Clyde Drexler

are all ahead of Dirk on my list...off the top of my head

Going from Coug's list and yours

That's tough when it comes to GOATS

He's clearly the 2nd greatest foreign

Prospect outside of Duncan[he qualifies]

Dirk has the stats obviously

But he also has on his resume

League MVP, NBA Champion, NBA MVP and he beat Lebron

Not many of those considered greats, have this on their resume

I guess that sort of depends on how you define foreign player. Olajuwon is originally from Nigeria, Ewing from Jamaica, and Kobe from Italy.

League MVP is huge for me. If you look at the list of NBA MVPs you're pretty much looking at the history of the NBA and its greatest players with a couple of exceptions coughDerrick Rosecough.

VCoug wrote:

holfresh wrote:Patrick Ewing
Rick Barry
Scotty Pippen
Pistol Pete
Nate Archibal
Isaiah Thomas
Kevin McHale
Karl Malone
John Stockton
AI
Walt Frazier
George Gervin
James Worthy
David Robinson
Clyde Drexler

are all ahead of Dirk on my list...off the top of my head

I knew I was forgetting guys, especially Barry and Gervin. Another one I just thought of is 'Nique; he should at least be in the discussion with Dirk.

Nique didn't make the original top fifty all time but he was one in my book...I would of put him there ahead of Bill Walton..Waton won a ring and was clearly the best all around player that year..But his body of work wasn't enough for all time greatness..He had two great years in his career..Walton scored 6 or 7k in his career, where Nique I know is over 20k and about 10 great years..

Dominque Wilkens don't have either. Dirk clearly ahead.

knickknack wrote:

VCoug wrote:

F500ONE wrote:Does Dirk Rank Amongst the All Time Greats?

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/11568202/dirk-nowitzki-dallas-mavericks-experiments-faster-shot-release

When he wasn't on the promotional trail for his new documentary, Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki spent most of his time in Germany in recent weeks as he usually does, locked in an old gym working on his game with lifelong shot doctor Holger Geschwindner.

Nowitzki's latest summer project: speeding up his shot release.

"I don't think, to the naked eye, you would see it," Nowitzki told ESPN.com. "I don't know if the [average] fan will see the difference. But I'm always trying to get better, and this is just a little tool for me to shoot a little quicker. We'll see how it works during the season."

Geschwindner has often referred to what he calls Nowitzki's "toolbox" and the idea of adding one new specialty every offseason.

"We worked on a quicker release," Geschwindner said, citing Golden State's Steph Curry as the standard-setter for getting shots off rapid-fire and insisting that Nowitzki also can become adept at getting the ball to the release point faster "if he sticks with it."

Said Nowitzki: "Even now, I'm 36, but I don't see myself as a complete basketball player. It's always about getting better and adding stuff in the summer. That's something I wanted to look at and see how it goes, so I'll try it.

"What else can I do at 36 when the feet slow down a little bit? Try to be even quicker with the shot, because once you get older, you don't jump as high and the first step is slower. Shooting quicker should help my game for the back end of my career. And if it doesn't work [out well], I'll just go back to the old way."

After knee woes plagued him in 2012-13, Nowitzki averaged 21.7 points and 6.2 rebounds last season in leading Dallas back to the playoffs, shooting .497 from the field, .398 from 3-point range and .899 from the line to narrowly miss out on his second career 50/40/90 season.

The Mavericks will open training camp in a week with media day on Sept. 29 and a slew of new players for the fourth consecutive season, including reacquired center Tyson Chandler and free-agent signees Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson.

I think the Mavs are going to have a great year

He's still trying to get better at 36, while making $8mil/yr

Dirk IMO undeniably one of the greatest I've seen play

I think he's Top 20 All-Time, that's just me

He's certainly close to Top 20 and a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. Off the top of my head my Top 20, in no particular order, looks like:

Jordan

Lebron

Magic

Bird

Russell

Kareem

Chamberlain

Olajuwon

Shaq

West

Robertson

Kobe

Duncan

Barkley

Baylor

Moses Malone

Dr J

Garnett

That's 18 definite players and I'm probably forgetting some guys. As is, there are a bunch of guys I could put in those last two spots: Ewing, Admiral, Stockton, Karl Malone, Isiah Thomas, Kidd, Pippen, Iverson, Clyde, Reed, The Pearl, Nash, Iverson, and Dirk; Durant and Chris Paul aren't quite there yet and Anthony Davis has a chance based off his first 2 seasons. But, I know I would put several of those players over Dirk. He's probably Top 30 for and might be Top 25 but I couldn't put him any higher.

How can you put lebron ahead of magic, bird, and kobe? not to mention shaq and the rest.

A. Lebron is ahead of Kobe and a bunch of other guys as well. He's definitely Top 10, which Shaq isn't, and possibly Top 5 of all time.

B. Off the top of my head my Top 20, in no particular order, looks like: