LeBron James takes on Dirk Nowitzki for the NBA World Championship – Part 2
Link for part-1: http://www.senore.com/LeBron-James-takes-on-Dirk-Nowitzki-for-the-NBA-World-Championship-Part-1-a72689
LeBron James can shoot, he can go to the rim, he can defend on the perimeter and he can block shots. There is simply not another player in the league as complete as LeBron James at the moment. His teammate and co captain of the
Heat, Dwyane Wade had this to say about the King James,
"Closing out a game is not just about hitting the game-winning shot. It's making plays down the stretch, whether it's assists, rebounds, defensive effort. That's the kind of impact he makes on a game that I didn't even know until
now being a teammate of his. He's as complete of a player as it gets."
Not to be outdone, Nowitzki has just taken his game to another level. The man who’s drawn comparisons with the legend Larry Bird for quite a while now, has started to come up with the goods on an alarming basis. Nowitzki is a scoring
machine and he hits you from all over the court. After earlier criticism of him as a glorified jump shooter, Nowitzki has shut everyone up by simply doing it all.
In the playoffs, he has been immense and pretty much unstoppable. Nowitzki shots from impossible angles, off balance and with a hand in his face. Yet, he hits nothing but the net. He drills them in the lane and from beyond the
arc with considerable ease. Teams have tried all sorts of defenders against him but Nowitzki has still done all sorts of things. His repertoire now includes blazing past defenders for dunks and working the baseline to end up with a reverse layup. One on one,
Nowitzki cannot be stopped.
That’s a depressing thought for the opposition because the Dallas Mavericks have, very shrewdly, surrounded Dirk with players who take the maximum advantage of this fact. In a team that is as deep as the Mavs and with so many good
shooters on the court all the time, double teaming Nowitzki becomes really hard. Dirk’s overall sense of the game and his experience playing in the league for 13 years now means that he is more than ready for when the double team comes.
A double team on Nowitzki, him pushing the ball out to Jason Kidd who in turn whips it into a corner for an open three pointer - this is a routine that has become a feature of Dallas’ game. We need look no further to see the devastating
effects of the Mavs shooters and ball movement then their series against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round. The two time reigning NBA World Champs looked pretty helpless as the Mavericks rained down shot after shot upon them throughout a 4 – 0 whopping.
On the other hand, the young Oklahoma City Thunder team, wary of the threat Dallas Mavericks represent from the perimeter, tried to take on Nowitzki one on one. He replied with an NBA record 24 straight free-throws in a playoffs
game that also left half the team in foul trouble. Nowitzki also shot an unbelievable 12 –of – 15 from the field in his 48 point effort.
Come Tuesday, the two giants of basketball, both with a point to prove, take to the court in the American Airlines Arena for game 1 of the NBA Finals 2011. I, for one, cannot wait for the series to begin.
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