The game among the teenagers was running late, forcing the senior-leaguers to wait for their turn on the court. So Holger Geschwindner sat and watched.
As the captain of Germany's 1972 Olympic team, Geschwindner knew talent when he saw it. And he was captivated by the tall, skinny kid who had an ugly shot but a keen understanding of the game.
``You could see that he was doing the things that good basketball players do,'' Geschwindner said.
Geschwindner asked the 16-year-old who his coach was. Stunned that he had none, Geschwindner volunteered to do it himself, for free, even though it meant driving more than an hour each way to the boy's hometown of Wurzburg.
Dirk Nowitzki proved to be a fast learner.
Following a unique regimen that's included fencing, rowing, Rollerblading and music lessons, Nowitzki has developed into the MVP of last summer's world
championships, a two-time NBA All-Star and the reason the Dallas Mavericks have won at least 50 games the past three seasons.
A 2.1m as comfortable behind the 3-point line as in the paint, he's been the team's top scorer and rebounder each of those three seasons. He opened this postseason with 46 points, a career high and a team playoff record.
Yet Nowitzki and Geschwindner aren't satisfied.
Both consider him a work in progress, saying he's only at the start of the sixth level of a seven-tiered plan they laid out many years ago. Geschwindner estimates it will take two more years to finish the climb.
``I feel I have a long way to go to become a complete player,'' said Nowitzki, who in two months will be 25. ``It starts with rebounding. Defensively, I don't move my feet laterally great. My ball-handling has to be better. My post moves have gotten better along the years, but there's still a long way to go."
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set