JohnMax
04-13-2014, 09:18 AM
ESPN - Kevin Durant's secret weapon: Dirk Nowitzki (http://espn.go.com/blog/marc-stein/post/_/id/2041/kevin-durants-secret-weapon-dirk-nowitzki)
It hasn't been discussed much, because Durant doesn't often reveal much beyond what we can all see out on the floor, but he recently confessed that he's been swiping liberally all season from the Dirk Nowitzki playbook.
Turns out that, since November, Durant has been working with Adam Harrington as his personal trainer beyond his daily duties with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Which is the same Adam Harrington who briefly played alongside Nowitzki with the Dallas Mavericks more than a decade ago and has been studying the unorthodox coaching techniques hatched by Nowitzki's longtime mentor and shot doctor from back home, Holger Geschwindner, ever since.
"It's a lot more than just trying to copy the one-legger," Durant said, explaining that he's not merely focused on trying to mimic Nowitzki's signature shot.
"Dirk's got a lot of moves I'm trying to steal."
Practice shots with both hands, off both feet and launched from a variety of stances and spins to improve footwork. Planting the heels and shifting smoothly onto the toes for better balance. Breathing techniques as the ball is released. Keeping the fingers wide, too.
Durant has been dabbling in all those Holger-endorsed areas of emphasis in his hourly sessions with Harrington, which typically take place in the evenings -- home or road -- whether it's a practice day or after the Thunder fly into a new city on the night before a game.
That's how Nowitzki and Steve Nash did it almost from the moment they became teammates in Dallas more than 15 years ago, whether or not Geschwindner was in town to run them through the unorthodox drills he exclusively conceived as a former captain of the West German Olympic team who also happened to be obsessed with physics.
In the early days of the Nowitzki/Nash partnership, then-Mavericks coach Don Nelson hired former NBA All-Star Kiki Vandeweghe to be the daily (and nightly) skills companion for Dallas' pick-and-pop duo, since Geschwindner could make only a handful of in-season trips to oversee the sessions himself. Vandeweghe had moved on to a front-office position with the Denver Nuggets by the time Harrington arrived in Dallas for the 2002-03 season, but the routine, by then, was well-established.
That 2002-03 campaign, furthermore, was the extent of Harrington's NBA career, but a summer camp and subsequent stint in the German Bundesliga four years later in Geschwindner's hometown of Bamberg gave him the chance to learn the curriculum further. And when Harrington was introduced to the three-time MVP runner-up early in the season by a mutual friend, Durant perked up once he learned about the ties to Nowitzki.
Dirk, you see, is Durant's favorite player.
"It's probably a tie between him and Kobe," Durant said after giving it some extra thought.
It hasn't been discussed much, because Durant doesn't often reveal much beyond what we can all see out on the floor, but he recently confessed that he's been swiping liberally all season from the Dirk Nowitzki playbook.
Turns out that, since November, Durant has been working with Adam Harrington as his personal trainer beyond his daily duties with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Which is the same Adam Harrington who briefly played alongside Nowitzki with the Dallas Mavericks more than a decade ago and has been studying the unorthodox coaching techniques hatched by Nowitzki's longtime mentor and shot doctor from back home, Holger Geschwindner, ever since.
"It's a lot more than just trying to copy the one-legger," Durant said, explaining that he's not merely focused on trying to mimic Nowitzki's signature shot.
"Dirk's got a lot of moves I'm trying to steal."
Practice shots with both hands, off both feet and launched from a variety of stances and spins to improve footwork. Planting the heels and shifting smoothly onto the toes for better balance. Breathing techniques as the ball is released. Keeping the fingers wide, too.
Durant has been dabbling in all those Holger-endorsed areas of emphasis in his hourly sessions with Harrington, which typically take place in the evenings -- home or road -- whether it's a practice day or after the Thunder fly into a new city on the night before a game.
That's how Nowitzki and Steve Nash did it almost from the moment they became teammates in Dallas more than 15 years ago, whether or not Geschwindner was in town to run them through the unorthodox drills he exclusively conceived as a former captain of the West German Olympic team who also happened to be obsessed with physics.
In the early days of the Nowitzki/Nash partnership, then-Mavericks coach Don Nelson hired former NBA All-Star Kiki Vandeweghe to be the daily (and nightly) skills companion for Dallas' pick-and-pop duo, since Geschwindner could make only a handful of in-season trips to oversee the sessions himself. Vandeweghe had moved on to a front-office position with the Denver Nuggets by the time Harrington arrived in Dallas for the 2002-03 season, but the routine, by then, was well-established.
That 2002-03 campaign, furthermore, was the extent of Harrington's NBA career, but a summer camp and subsequent stint in the German Bundesliga four years later in Geschwindner's hometown of Bamberg gave him the chance to learn the curriculum further. And when Harrington was introduced to the three-time MVP runner-up early in the season by a mutual friend, Durant perked up once he learned about the ties to Nowitzki.
Dirk, you see, is Durant's favorite player.
"It's probably a tie between him and Kobe," Durant said after giving it some extra thought.