In Dirk Nowitzki’s heyday, he revolutionized the Power Forward responsibilities by turning his “4” position into the “stretch 4” position, in which he took his game from the post to the perimeter, forcing bigs to keep up with his outside shooting. With the game of basketball, change and growth come naturally and Nowitzki has seen a lot of rapid changes that define the NBA today. As of today, Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors have currently taken the basketball world by storm with their pereimter attack. Eventually, Nowitzki thinks Curry and the Warriors three-point revolution will force the NBA’s hand to move the three-point line back.
via ESPN
MacMahon: You changed the way people think about the power forward position. Before you, power forwards didn’t shoot 3s. Now, if they can’t, it’s considered a flaw. Do you see him changing the way the point guard position is played?
Nowitzki: Yeah, I just don’t know if we’ll see that again. Obviously, a lot of kids now are going to try to imitate that and shoot 3s from deep. Maybe in a few years, that’s normal. I don’t know. If kids start shooting at an early age, start hoisting runners from 40 feet, maybe 10 years down the road you do have to move the 3-point line back. But as of now, he’s really the only guy that can make those over and over and over. If you watch his pregame, he does that all the time. He’s a freak.
MacMahon: How much has he changed the dimensions of the way you have to play defense?
Nowitzki: They’re just so smart with it. Draymond Green running up there and setting those step-ups at half court, and [Curry] comes full court at the big guy full speed. It’s just tough to guard when he can stop on a dime and pull up from wherever. They’re a smart team, a veteran team. That’s why they’re the champs. They’re tough to match up [against]. They’re also really good on their defense with their small lineup. Klay [Thompson] has been great. They’re a really good team.
