Nowitzki's durability a blessing for Dallas Mavericks
04:23 PM CDT on Saturday, October 24, 2009
HOUSTON – Dirk Nowitzki has played 236 out of a possible 246 games the last three seasons. Yao Ming has played 180 out of 246.
That's an average of nearly 19 more games per season that Nowitzki has been on the floor to help his team, a number that will grow substantially this year with Yao probably out for the season.
Rest assured, the Mavericks know exactly how lucky they are to have a durable superstar rather than one who has had bad luck with injuries. And they know what a difference it makes.
Mavs 98, Rockets 94
Box score (from nba.com)
"Look, I've been there many times, with everything from multiple suspensions to multiple long-term serious injuries to All-Star players," coach Rick Carlisle said Friday. "It's a terrible situation to be in."
Carlisle said the only thing you can do is try to make the best of the situation and find depth players who become starters and deep-bench players who prove they can be rotation guys.
But it's something no coach wants to go through.
Consider that with Yao on the shelf and Tracy McGrady out (again) for an undetermined amount of time, the Rockets go from playoff-dangerous to lottery-bound.
It would be very similar if the Mavericks didn't have Dirk. It's the same with any team that is lucky enough to have an A-list star.