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When the Dallas Mavericks lost the 2006 NBA Finals to the Miami Heat after leading the series 2-0, Dirk Nowitzki told those close to him that he would never let another opportunity to win a championship slip out of his grasp. Now, five years later, he has the chance to avenge that loss and add a title to his résumé.

Nowitzki has elevated his game during these playoffs and carried the Mavericks on his back. This postseason, Nowitzki has averaged a remarkable 28.4 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 51.7 percent from the field. He has beaten every defensive scheme that teams have thrown at him and, at times, appeared unstoppable. However, none of that will matter if Nowitzki isn’t hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy in two weeks.

"A championship would obviously mean a lot to me," Nowitzki said on The Dan Patrick Show. "Just overall, that is one thing that I have been fighting for for 13 years. We came so close five years ago against the same team and they came back and beat us. That would have been in the back of my mind for the rest of my life, probably, if I never would’ve gotten [another] chance. It will just mean more to me. I don’t really care what it means to my legacy and all that stuff. It just means so much to me because I want to win, I play to win and I’ve been in this league for a long time to get this chance again. That’s really all I’m worried about."

To this day, Nowitzki still hasn’t watched film of his first NBA Finals appearance.

"Honestly, I’ve never went back to watch those games," Nowitzki admitted. "I think I would just be so sick to my stomach so I decided shortly after to never watch those games, but I still have a lot on my memory. Trust me. Game 5 down the stretch, we go up by one. Then, they get two free throws to win it and I kick the ball. I mean, all sorts of stuff is still on my mind. Five years ago seems like a long time, but some of the stuff is still fresh on my mind."

Only four players – Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Jason Terry and Nowitzki – remain from the 2006 series, but there’s no question that Nowitzki feels he has something to prove against Miami.

"Dirk, obviously, is very driven by that," Wade told reporters after eliminating the Chicago Bulls. "I noticed watching the game [when they eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder], he didn’t even celebrate very long. He was the first one off to the locker room. He’s very focused. He has a goal in mind and he wants to reach it. The Miami Heat are always going to come up. He knows it, and that’s why he says he needs to get back there and try to erase it."

Nowitzki knows that reaching his goal will be difficult with such a talented team standing in his way. He watched Miami’s comeback win in Game 5, and came away extremely impressed.

"I did watch the game and it was an amazing comeback," Nowitzki said. "We pulled off a miraculous comeback in Game 4, when we were down 15 with a couple minutes left, and then they did the exact same thing. It didn’t look pretty and when [Ronnie] Brewer made that three to go up 12, I think everybody thought that the Bulls might have had it, but it was just an unbelievable comeback. LeBron had two threes and Dwyane had a three and-one. It just shows you how explosive they are and how dangerous they are. They’re very good defensively so they can come back at any time."

Dirk expects Miami to eventually deploy a small lineup, just as they did against Chicago at times, moving LeBron James to the power forward position.

"I’m sure they’re going to go small," Nowitzki said. "Oklahoma City did it here in the last game here and really chunked the game up and had some success doing it. I think they’re not going to start that way but sooner or later, we’re going to be ready for a smaller lineup. I think we can be fine with smaller lineups. We’ve got a deep bench and we have shown that we can adjust to a lot of lineups and I think we can match up with basically anything that’s thrown at us."

Nowitzki has already had an illustrious career, but this could be his final opportunity to carve his name alongside the game’s greatest players and silence the critics that use his bare knuckles to discredit his body of work. This time around, he’s hungrier than ever and hopes to deliver a performance he can watch over and over again.

Goudelock’s Stock On the Rise: After the Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago concluded last week, one thing was clear: Andrew Goudelock had helped his draft stock.

The 6-foot-3 guard from the College of Charleston outperformed all of his peers in the combine’s shooting drills by knocking down all 21 of his timed midrange attempts and hitting more spot-up threes from NBA range than well-known shooters like Jimmer Fredette and Jon Diebler. He also recorded a 37-inch maximum vertical and the second fastest lane agility time of the 54 prospects invited.

Goudelock’s impressive display led to plenty of workout requests and now he has a packed schedule.

"I’ve already worked out for the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder," Goudelock told HOOPSWORLD in a phone interview. "I’ve scheduled workouts with the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Charlotte Bobcats, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, New Jersey Nets and some others."

Throughout this process, Goudelock has been enjoying himself. All season long, he had to endure double and triple teams from opposing defenses so the workout setting has been a breath of fresh air for the Georgia native.

"It’s been good. I feel like I’m free – like an uncaged animal or something. Every time I get the opportunity, I try to show why I belong here and why I’m getting these opportunities in the first place. I’m just showing a lot of my skills and it’s going pretty well for me," Goudelock said.

Even though he comes from a small school, he has impressed teams and made a name for himself. Because he was ignored by the nation’s top programs coming out of high school, Goudelock has always played with a chip on his shoulder. He has entered the draft process with the same attitude and he has enjoyed taking it to top prospects with more notable names.

"I think that’s something that helps me be who I am," Goudelock said. "That’s something that helps me going into these workouts because I’m not from Duke, Texas, Kansas, North Carolina or any of these other places. When I’m in these workouts, I know that nothing got me there except for how I’ve been playing. That chip on my shoulder propelled me to get to where I am so I don’t ever want to lose that chip as long as I’m playing basketball. When you’re hungry, I think people see it and that’s what people want."

Not only has Goudelock impressed teams on the court, he has also done a spectacular job in interviews. When asked what feedback he has received from teams, he mentions that most decision makers have liked his character and how he carries himself off the court.

"They like me and they think I’m a really good guy," Goudelock said. "They see that I’m a genuine person and they’ve checked my background to see what kind of person I am. They’ve been impressed when I finally get to play in front of them and show what I can do against some of these other guys. I think they like the angle that I’m taking, my aggressiveness and me as a person. I think it’s going pretty well."

Pretty well is an understatement. When nearly every team wants you in for a work out, it means you’re doing something right. Goudelock is climbing draft boards and he still has plenty of opportunities ahead to help his stock even more.

HOOPSWORLD also caught up with Goudelock in Chicago to discuss his game and the draft process.

Randle Strives for Greatness: It won’t be long until Julius Randle is a household name. The five-star recruit from Dallas, TX, is often regarded as the top prospect in the class of 2013 and every top program in the nation has expressed interest in his talents.

Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Baylor, Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma and plenty of other schools have either offered or heavily recruited the 6-foot-9 forward. That’s because he has the ability to dominate opponents on the perimeter as well as in the paint.

"I watch a lot of Blake Griffin, Amar’e Stoudemire, LeBron James and Kevin Durant," Randle told HOOPSWORLD in a phone interview. "I think my biggest strength is my versatility. I work hard on my skill set and have a versatile inside-outside game that allows me to take smaller guys in the post and then also beat bigger, slower guys out on the perimeter."

Randle describes himself as "a combo forward," but he sees himself playing small forward at the next level. While he knows his college position, he doesn’t have any idea which school he’ll attend. Unlike most top prospects, he doesn’t have a top five and swears that he has yet to put any serious thought into his decision.

{AUTHOR_BOX}"Honestly, I don’t even have a list," Randle said. "To be totally honest with you, I never really think about it. I don’t wake up in the morning and think about which college I should go to. I really don’t because I have so much time. It’s a great though and all of those programs have great traditions. They’re proven and they have great coaches. To be wanted by all of those colleges is a great feeling."

While Randle has accomplished quite a bit, he hasn’t let the recognition go to head or distract him from his long-term goals.

"All I am right now is a player that’s good on the high school level, but I’m trying to be great in college and then, hopefully, in the NBA," Randle said. "If I make it to the league, I want to be great. I have bigger goals than being recognized in high school and stuff like that. It doesn’t really affect me. I’m grateful that people think I’m a great player and everything, but I have bigger goals than this."

His name is already being mentioned in NBA circles and Randle has already started to hear that he could eventually make it to the league.

"Yeah, I’ve heard that a little bit," Randle said with a laugh. "Nobody in my inner circle says that because they don’t fill my head up with anything and they’re always telling me what I need to work on. But fans that I’ve talked to and even some of my friends had said that. I just tell them that I still have a long way to go."

"I’m a kid before everything," he added. "I like to hang out with my friends and stuff like that. With that said, it’s not tough to balance everything because I love the game. You don’t have to inspire me to get in the gym or work out or anything like that. I love it."

Randle doesn’t want to be good, he wants to be great. He doesn’t want to simply beat his opposition, he wants to destroy them. He’s constantly working on every facet of his game because he’s striving for greatness.

"I want to be totally dominant on the court in every game," Randle said. "When I walk off the court, I want to be known as the best player."

HOOPSWORLD Chats: There is one chat on today’s schedule. Susan Bible, who covers the Oklahoma City Thunder and NBA for HOOPSWORLD, will be taking your questions at 11 a.m. EST. As always you can check out our entire upcoming chat schedule here.