Dirk Nowitzki said today he’s learned to live with Jason Terry’s frequent bold statements, such as when he said before Game 4 that he wasn’t sure that LeBron James could handle him defensively for seven full games.
“You know Jet,’’ Nowitzki said Wednesday. “It was earlier in the playoffs he said something and I told him I was going to put him on a no-interview policy. But he didn’t follow that, either.
“He’s a very confident young man. He believes in himself. That’s what I like about him. When he has an off-night or is going through a little slump, he’s going to keep attacking.’’
Terry, of course, never backs off a statement and coach Rick Carlisle said it’s a sign of Terry’s confidence that he makes comments that might sometimes fire up an opponent.
“Everybody is different,’’ Carlisle said. “Jet says what he says and he has his reasons. I don’t necessarily need to know what they are. But I think the one thing that he knew was that once he says some things, he’s going to have to back it up. So I give him a lot of credit. It’s a lot easier to stay low-key and sort of go with the flow and then think, ‘I’m going to go out there and be more aggressive.’
“It’s another thing to say I’m putting it on myself and let’s see if he can … hey, I give him a lot of credit
for that.
“At this time of year, if you’re going to win and win big, you better have guys that want the responsibility and ain’t afraid to talk about it.’’
Eddie Sefko
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