NBA: Rödl takes Nowitzki under his protection:”It’s great that he’s still playing”

The new national coach Henrik Rödl does not see the current crisis of Dallas Mavericks around basketball superstar Dirk Nowitzki as a threat to the sporting heritage of the German icon.

“I think it’s great that he’s still playing. As long as he can play and has fun, that’s great. He definitely doesn’t need this anymore for another reason,”Rödl told the SID.

In the North American professional league NBA, Dallas has suffered 13 defeats in 15 games of the season to date.

The 39-year-old Nowitzki, 2011 champion with the Texans, rarely excelled with good performances.

For Dirk, this is probably strenuous because in the later years of his career, he would like to be in a team that wins,”said Rödl.

Like Nowitzki and the Mavericks, Dennis Schröder and the Atlanta Hawks are just as miserable at the moment with twelve defeats from 14 seasonal games. Rödl has a clear explanation for this.

“These are two teams that are about to renew themselves. This is a transitional period where both are not so strong.”

Especially for Schröder, the bottom of the valley is another opportunity to mature,”Dennis believes, having played in successful teams until now, that it is certainly not an easy task. But he’s the leader, and you can grow on that too.”

This is what Schröder will now concentrate on. In the upcoming two World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and in Austria, where Rödl will make his debut, all five NBA legions are missing.

Rödl from Daniel Theis, who is currently appearing with record champion Boston Celtics in his premiere season, showed himself to be very enthusiastic.

“I’m thrilled with the way he’s done it so far. I’m not that surprised. He has now also played at a very high level in the summer and in recent years,”said Rödl.

Theis had moved to Boston from German champion Brose Bamberg before the season and won 13 of 15 games with the team.