German Interview with Dennis

[GoldenPatch17]

Dennis answered user questions via Facebook Chat at the Gamescom in Germany where Nba2k 17 was released. I tried to translate the interesting anwers but i apologize for my English in advance :D 

Q: How do you differ from Jeff Teague?

DS: I´m more active in defense than Jeff.  I always try to speed the game and to involve my teammates. It has always been a good balance between Jeff and me. When he went out i took over.

Q:Who is your best friend in the NBA? 

DS: John Jenkins. He always helped me in my first two years and did everything for me. Unfortunately he plays in Phoenix now but he´s still my best friend.

Q: Are you content with the offseason  of the Hawks?

DS: Absolutely. Last week i trained with them. They also came to Braunschweig twice.  They look after their players and that´s sth everyone likes.

Q: How was the contact with LBJ in the playoffs?

DS: During the games you are opponents but when the series was over and they advanced to the CF he told me that i´m a great player. He told me to keep working hard and that I will be a starting  PG soon. Fortunately, it happened now and i´m blessed to be here.

Q: Would you rather be an All-Star or a role player in a championship team?

DS: Both wouldn´t be bad but i´m rather a champion than allstar. Trying to help as a role player and having a big impact for the title is what distinguishes a team.

Q: Do you miss your teammates of the german national team?

DS: Of course i do. I´d have loved to play the qualification for the european championship but Atlanta told me that it´s gonna be difficult because i will see play more minutes next season as a starter. I have to be ready for it and healthy. I think everybody understood the decision and i´m thankful for the understanding by my german fans.

Q: What has been your favourite trade  this offseason?

DS: It hasn´t been a trade but KD going to the Warriors was heavy.  They already had three Allstars and now they have a fourth. I don´t know whether it is good for the NBA but it was his decision. 

Q: How hard was the series agains Boston, especially the games where you have been booed by the crowd?

DS: Actually i like it when i get booed because it gives me extra motivation. I couldn´t understand why they did it because Isaiah Thomas has started it when he punched me in my face.  But i understand that they stand behind their players.  As long as it is tolerable it´s ok.

Q: Which team do you love playing against?

DS: Currently i love playing the Mavs because of Dirk Nowitzki. I deliberately involve him into the PnR to play against him. It is always  a great duel.

Q: Do you think that you can step into his footsteps one day?

DS: I´m not Dirk Nowitzki. I´m Dennis. We are two different characters. You can´t compare apples and oranges. I´m a different type of player and we grew up differently. Of course i´m also german but you can´t compare everything. We all know him and his amazing career and i respect him but i´m not Dirk Nowitzki and i won´t try to be him. I will make my own way.

Q: Are you looking forward to playing together with Dwight Howard?

DS: Of course. It´s gonna be great. He´ll help us a lot in blocking shots, rebounding and helping our team´s development.

Q: Who is more difficult to defend? - Curry or Westbrook?

DS: Westbrook is hard to defend because he has no fear just like me. When he enters the court he doesn´t care who stands in front of him.  His mindset is extremely good. 

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

DS: Hopefully i will stay healthy. I´d like to make it to the ASG. It has to be my next goal as a starter now. Of course you wanna reach the NBA finals some day but that´s something you can´t promise. These are the most important goals for me. 

Q: Who is the best PG in the NBA?

DS: Kyrie Irving. He has deservedly won the championship with the Cavs and he is a great player.

Q: Who has been your strongest opponent?

DS: Westbrook, John Wall, Damian Lillard. Every night you play against one of the best PGs in the world. It is always a challenge to be present every night and show your presence. It takes a lot of strength and because of that we decided that i won´t play in the national team this summer. 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2016 by GoldenPatch17

[LamarHampton]

The thing that stood out to me most was the John Jenkins being his best friend thing. I would have expected somebody like Demarre or Baze. Just had no idea he clicked with Jenkins like that. Good read. Hope the kid can step up next season. Viel Gluck, Herr Schröder! Thanks for posting @GoldenPatch17 !

[GoldenPatch17]

vor 9 Stunden, LamarHampton sagte:

The thing that stood out to me most was the John Jenkins being his best friend thing. I would have expected somebody like Demarre or Baze. Just had no idea he clicked with Jenkins like that. Good read. Hope the kid can step up next season. Viel Gluck, Herr Schröder! Thanks for posting @GoldenPatch17 !

No problem! :)  I also wouldn´t have expected John Jenkins being his best friend. I´m really looking forward to the upcoming season. Will be interesting to see how he works as a starter.

[Bankingitbig]

What PG doesn't deliberately force Dirk to defend the PnR?

[macdaddy]

He's dead on about Kyrie.   That guy is going to be the best player in the NBA very soon.   

[Guest]

I love the getting Dirk in the PNR and I love the fact that he quietly dissed that lil b!tch Curry. He dissed him twice, once saying Westbrook is harder to cover then naming Westbrook, Wall and Lillard and leaving that lil whiny baby Ayesha out of the conversation all together.

[Guest]

Why does Dennis' arms look so skinny? Like twigs for all you NBA2Kers, while his face looks a lil chubby.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Why does Dennis' arms look so skinny? Like twigs for all you NBA2Kers, while his face looks a lil chubby.

Haha I didn't even notice that...wtf...this is bad for my image in dynasty :-( GM Spud is gonna flip over this news lol

[ATLien_]

11 hours ago, macdaddy said:

He's dead on about Kyrie.   That guy is going to be the best player in the NBA very soon.   

Kyrie is an elite scorer and not much else. He's Carmelo in a PG's body, but at least  Carmelo can get you 10 boards. I honestly believe the Cavs would miss the playoffs without Lebron just like they did consistently before he got there. Kyrie would average 32 and the Cavs would be terrible. Love and Kyrie the ultimate empty calorie players.

[BigDog90]

On 8/18/2016 at 5:31 PM, GoldenPatch17 said:

Dennis answered user questions via Facebook Chat at the Gamescom in Germany where Nba2k 17 was released. I tried to translate the interesting anwers but i apologize for my English in advance :D 

Q: How do you differ from Jeff Teague?

DS: I´m more active in defense than Jeff.  I always try to speed the game and to involve my teammates. It has always been a good balance between Jeff and me. When he went out i took over.

Q:Who is your best friend in the NBA? 

DS: John Jenkins. He always helped me in my first two years and did everything for me. Unfortunately he plays in Phoenix now but he´s still my best friend.

Q: Are you content with the offseason  of the Hawks?

DS: Absolutely. Last week i trained with them. They also came to Braunschweig twice.  They look after their players and that´s sth everyone likes.

Q: How was the contact with LBJ in the playoffs?

DS: During the games you are opponents but when the series was over and they advanced to the CF he told me that i´m a great player. He told me to keep working hard and that I will be a starting  PG soon. Fortunately, it happened now and i´m blessed to be here.

Q: Would you rather be an All-Star or a role player in a championship team?

DS: Both wouldn´t be bad but i´m rather a champion than allstar. Trying to help as a role player and having a big impact for the title is what distinguishes a team.

Q: Do you miss your teammates of the german national team?

DS: Of course i do. I´d have loved to play the qualification for the european championship but Atlanta told me that it´s gonna be difficult because i will see play more minutes next season as a starter. I have to be ready for it and healthy. I think everybody understood the decision and i´m thankful for the understanding by my german fans.

Q: What has been your favourite trade  this offseason?

DS: It hasn´t been a trade but KD going to the Warriors was heavy.  They already had three Allstars and now they have a fourth. I don´t know whether it is good for the NBA but it was his decision. 

Q: How hard was the series agains Boston, especially the games where you have been booed by the crowd?

DS: Actually i like it when i get booed because it gives me extra motivation. I couldn´t understand why they did it because Isaiah Thomas has started it when he punched me in my face.  But i understand that they stand behind their players.  As long as it is tolerable it´s ok.

Q: Which team do you love playing against?

DS: Currently i love playing the Mavs because of Dirk Nowitzki. I deliberately involve him into the PnR to play against him. It is always  a great duel.

Q: Do you think that you can step into his footsteps one day?

DS: I´m not Dirk Nowitzki. I´m Dennis. We are two different characters. You can´t compare apples and oranges. I´m a different type of player and we grew up differently. Of course i´m also german but you can´t compare everything. We all know him and his amazing career and i respect him but i´m not Dirk Nowitzki and i won´t try to be him. I will make my own way.

Q: Are you looking forward to playing together with Dwight Howard?

DS: Of course. It´s gonna be great. He´ll help us a lot in blocking shots, rebounding and helping our team´s development.

Q: Who is more difficult to defend? - Curry or Westbrook?

DS: Westbrook is hard to defend because he has no fear just like me. When he enters the court he doesn´t care who stands in front of him.  His mindset is extremely good. 

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

DS: Hopefully i will stay healthy. I´d like to make it to the ASG. It has to be my next goal as a starter now. Of course you wanna reach the NBA finals some day but that´s something you can´t promise. These are the most important goals for me. 

Q: Who is the best PG in the NBA?

DS: Kyrie Irving. He has deservedly won the championship with the Cavs and he is a great player.

Q: Who has been your strongest opponent?

DS: Westbrook, John Wall, Damian Lillard. Every night you play against one of the best PGs in the world. It is always a challenge to be present every night and show your presence. It takes a lot of strength and because of that we decided that i won´t play in the national team this summer. 

 

 

 

I hope he brings it next season. He's been saying and doing the right things, just don't need to shy away from saying winning  a championship.

[macdaddy]

On 8/19/2016 at 9:48 PM, ATLien_ said:

Kyrie is an elite scorer and not much else. He's Carmelo in a PG's body, but at least  Carmelo can get you 10 boards. I honestly believe the Cavs would miss the playoffs without Lebron just like they did consistently before he got there. Kyrie would average 32 and the Cavs would be terrible. Love and Kyrie the ultimate empty calorie players.

I thought this way too once.   But seriously, there is no way the Cavs win the championship without Kyrie.    Lebron's impact now is huge obviously but I've been impressed with what Kyrie brings.   I mean there was a time when we discussed if he was better than Teague.   Now it's not even close.  

[ATLien_]

On 8/22/2016 at 11:33 AM, macdaddy said:

I thought this way too once.   But seriously, there is no way the Cavs win the championship without Kyrie.    Lebron's impact now is huge obviously but I've been impressed with what Kyrie brings.   I mean there was a time when we discussed if he was better than Teague.   Now it's not even close.  

I'm not hating on Kyrie. He's a top 10 scorer no doubt. I just don't see him as the center of a championship team. He benefits greatly from all the attention Lebron gets, so he rarely sees double teams. If Lebron wasn't  there he would get much more attention and hasn't shown the ability  to make the right play  with the ball when not scoring. People would double and trap him and his inability to consistently assist would be very impactful. 

He did play better defensively in the finals, so maybe he can become  better there. He's been a very poor defender to this point in his career. Anybody that thought Teague was better than Kyrie is delusional. More  healthy yes, but Teague is a poor man's dogs version of Kyrie. He played well head  to head but it never translated to the rest of the season because  Kyrie  wasn't  guarding him everynight.  

If Carmelo or Glen Robinson  had Lebron covering their flaws people's opinion of them would be vastly  different too. Carmelo in the Olympics is a great example. 

[macdaddy]

1 hour ago, ATLien_ said:

I'm not hating on Kyrie. He's a top 10 scorer no doubt. I just don't see him as the center of a championship team. He benefits greatly from all the attention Lebron gets, so he rarely sees double teams. If Lebron wasn't  there he would get much more attention and hasn't shown the ability  to make the right play  with the ball when not scoring. People would double and trap him and his inability to consistently assist would be very impactful. 

He did play better defensively in the finals, so maybe he can become  better there. He's been a very poor defender to this point in his career. Anybody that thought Teague was better than Kyrie is delusional. More  healthy yes, but Teague is a poor man's dogs version of Kyrie. He played well head  to head but it never translated to the rest of the season because  Kyrie  wasn't  guarding him everynight.  

If Carmelo or Glen Robinson  had Lebron covering their flaws people's opinion of them would be vastly  different too. Carmelo in the Olympics is a great example. 

I agree in that PGs in this league are almost never the center of championship teams.   It'll be interesting to see how the Thunder fair w/o Durant.   If I'm playing fantasy ball I'm picking Westbrook #1 because he'll probably score 30 a game.   

[rd79]

5 hours ago, macdaddy said:

I agree in that PGs in this league are almost never the center of championship teams.   It'll be interesting to see how the Thunder fair w/o Durant.   If I'm playing fantasy ball I'm picking Westbrook #1 because he'll probably score 30 a game.   

I'd like to see Dennis being the center of a Hawks championship Team ;-)

[macdaddy]

55 minutes ago, rd79 said:

I'd like to see Dennis being the center of a Hawks championship Team ;-)

[ATLien_]

9 hours ago, macdaddy said:

I agree in that PGs in this league are almost never the center of championship teams.   It'll be interesting to see how the Thunder fair w/o Durant.   If I'm playing fantasy ball I'm picking Westbrook #1 because he'll probably score 30 a game.   

I too am intrigued by the Westbrook experiment. I think he's on the edge of what I call a superstar. Yes, I throw around the Superstar tag like manhole covers. It will be interesting to see how impactful his play is with the poor  spacing that Roberson and Olidipo  will provide. That's slightly different than having KD and  the driving lanes won't be what they were.

Can he shoot  well enough to keep defenses honest, and if not can he get others involved? Maybe he'll go into full AI volume shooter  mode. Whatever happens it will be interesting.