NBA: Nowitzki to take time off for knee rehab
NEW ORLEANS - NBA champions Dallas Mavericks made do without Dirk Nowitzki in an 83-81 victory over New Orleans on Saturday, and will miss the German star for three more games as he works on fitness issues.
"I wasn't thrilled at the beginning," Nowitzki said of his time off, which coach Rick Carlisle said would be devoted to conditioning and getting his troublesome right knee in shape.
"We talked about it and thought it was a good decision for everybody. I'm not helping right now anyway, so we're better off if I'm not out there."
With injuries and fitness issues rife in the lockout-shortened season, 33-year-old Nowitzki said his troubles stretch back to his participation in the European Championships in August.
Without his usual amount of off-season rest, he was feeling the pain as the busy NBA schedule unfolded after a truncated preseason.
"Playing in the Euros, looking back now, was obviously not the right decision, but it was a decision I made for my country," Nowitzki said.
"But it definitely didn't help me get ready for the season. That little training camp wasn't cutting it for me. So I consider this week another week of training camp."
Carlisle said Nowitzki will be working hard, even if he's not playing games.
"At this point, we feel he needs an uninterrupted eight days of work to resolve some physical issues and some conditioning issues," Carlisle said.
"If it were up to Dirk, he would play. But right now, we feel the right thing is to take this time, get some things resolved and hopefully by next Sunday, he'll be feeling a lot better and ready to go." - AFP
"I wasn't thrilled at the beginning," Nowitzki said of his time off, which coach Rick Carlisle said would be devoted to conditioning and getting his troublesome right knee in shape.
"We talked about it and thought it was a good decision for everybody. I'm not helping right now anyway, so we're better off if I'm not out there."
With injuries and fitness issues rife in the lockout-shortened season, 33-year-old Nowitzki said his troubles stretch back to his participation in the European Championships in August.
Without his usual amount of off-season rest, he was feeling the pain as the busy NBA schedule unfolded after a truncated preseason.
"Playing in the Euros, looking back now, was obviously not the right decision, but it was a decision I made for my country," Nowitzki said.
"But it definitely didn't help me get ready for the season. That little training camp wasn't cutting it for me. So I consider this week another week of training camp."
Carlisle said Nowitzki will be working hard, even if he's not playing games.
"At this point, we feel he needs an uninterrupted eight days of work to resolve some physical issues and some conditioning issues," Carlisle said.
"If it were up to Dirk, he would play. But right now, we feel the right thing is to take this time, get some things resolved and hopefully by next Sunday, he'll be feeling a lot better and ready to go." - AFP
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