Dirk Likely Out Till 2013

Dirk Nowitzki told the Dallas Morning news that the projected mid December return isn't looking good at all right now.

"It (the knee) is better," Nowitzki said. "But now, obviously, not doing anything for six weeks, there's a lot of strength that you lose. Your quad muscle gets weak. And so the last week or so we increased the work load and tried to get the quad strength back.

"We said from the beginning the only way I could get back on the court was when the swelling is gone and the quad strength is back. And so we got a long way to go.

"Now, it's already December 5th. I don't think middle of December is happening now to be honest. That was my goal a couple weeks ago. But the swelling was in there too long and it held me back too long and I couldn't start working soon enough."

This is obviously terrible news. Dirk goes on to talk about how he's feeling fine and that he's still doing well in the rehab, but that he doesn't think coming back on around the time he expected would be wise.

Dallas is 8-10 right now with 13 more games in December. The schedule is tough, and looking at some of the opponents, its entirely possible Dallas goes 3-10 over that stretch. Keeping around .500 has been the goal since Dirk's injury was announced but the rough road is about to get a lot rougher.