Is anyone else getting tired of hearing how great he is? Yes, he's clearly skilled.

But his team has NEVER won an NBA title.
His country has never done squat internationally.

Don't rings/gold mean anything?

I don't know...but even as a Spurs fan the way he responded in the second half, despite the loss, was nothing short of amazing.

[This message has been edited by tamuag11 (edited 4/29/2010 10:21p).]

As a spurs fan, I gained a huge amount of respect for Dirk in this series. I don't know if he can ever be the solo leader of a championship team, but he is so skilled and plays with such emotion.

Just the way he's handling himself in the press conference is depressing enough.

[This message has been edited by tamuag11 (edited 4/29/2010 10:27p).]

you will miss him if he opts out and the Mavs turn into dog sheet

Dirk was great for the first 16 minutes of the second half. He was 1-3 shooting in the last 8:30 of the 4th quarter.

No way he opts out.

33 pts? what else do you want?

what makes Dirk special is why the Mavs will never will a championship ... he is the best 7ft (or big man) jump shooter in the history of the NBA.

Dirk is a 4 that relies on his jump shot. He doesn't make alot of easy shots for himself or create alot easy shots for others. Dirk needs someone like Nash, Devin Harris, Roddy B to break down the defense and create easy shots for the rest of the team. He doesn't need it for him to score but to share the scoring load and responsibility. Kidd can do that to some extent, but his offensive has always been supper inconsistent. Mavs have 3 issues that prevent them from winning a championship: 1) Rely too much on jumpshots 2) Don't play defense that great. 3) Have no real vocal leader. When Avery was with the Mavs, they at least played defense and he got Dirk to get on the box more. This philosopy got them to Finals, but now, they are just a bunch of jumpshooters minus Roddy B of course.

..... just my 2 cents.

Dirk had a helluva series.

Why not bark up J Kidd's tree? Talk about a disappointment.

[This message has been edited by Adam87inSA (edited 4/29/2010 11:12p).]

I disagree on Dirk doesn't create easy shots for himself. He gets a ton of 10-15 jumpers over guys 3-4 inches shorter on average. For him, those are close to layups.

Dirk is a great, great player. I used to think he was soft. I don't think that anymore. But, he is not good enough yo carry a team all the way. He is a great scorer but, as mentioned, doesn't do the little things that don't show up in the box score that make huge impacts in the game (defense, creating for teammates, etc).

For example, in the third quarter Duncan made at least four huge defensive plays that resulted in a block or steal. Duncan might not get credit in the box score but those are game changing plays. Outside of scoring, Dirk does not generally significantly impact a game

Dirk gets those shots on the shorter players because the 7 footers don't really guard him well. He is a match up nightmare because he plays so far from the basket. The Mavs really need another player that can score consistently below the basket. Roddy seems to be the type of player that can get to the basket and break down the defense. Carlisle should have played him much more in the season to get him more experience.

Germany? Gimme a break, that's idiotic. Who can you name that's German basketball player besides Dirk? Shrempf and Blab. They're both ancient. All three were Mavs. Probably others, but I can't think of them. Germany doesn't even qualify for Olympics.

Dirk averaged 25 pts in this series. He plays forward, just like Duncan does alot. If he was 6-8 instead of 7fter, nobody would complain about his game.

If people are still bellyaching about Dirk, then they don't understand the game of basketball. Dirk might be reason #18 why the Mavs didn't win.

I hope the dude gets a ring one day.

Dirk has no court presence, like most other foreign players (the exceptions: Parker, Manu, Gasol).

Dirk is not a leader.

That has nothing to do with Euro player. Very few players can put their teams on their back in the playoffs and consistently will them to victory. That's a rare trait. The Spurs are lucky in that they have had 2 over most of this decade.

quote:

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If he was 6-8 instead of 7fter, nobody would complain about his game.

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If he was 6'8, he would be Kevin Martin. He loses what makes him unique and he is just another floppy, lanky sharp shooter.

this is a dumb troll.

so karl malone, john stockton, charles barkley, elgin baylor are all losers also?

dirk is the only one who shows up to every series. he averaged 35 and 11 last year against denver. averaged 28 and 8 this series. wtf do you want from him?

its not his fault jkidd smarion suck. its not his fault carlisle is worth nothing.

the problem with the mavs is dirk is the only one who has heart. anyone who says otherwise is just plain ignorant. please watch the guy play his heart out before u question it. there are all kinds of leaders. true, mavs need a guy who gets into people's faces, thats not dirk. he leads by example.

ooh, parker and gasol have court presnece? wtf are you smoking. gason was swept by dirk multiple times. gasol couldnt carry memphis to the playoffs.

quote:

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His country has never done squat internationally.

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This made me laugh. That being said, you're an idiot.

Gosh it's embarrassing that a longhorn has to come in hear and talk some sense. I was going to say the same thing. I guess Barkley was overrated and so was Dan Marino.

Dirk has led the Mavs to 10 straight 50 win seasons and showed so much heart last night, I don't know how anyone doesn't respect that.

People forget what kind of shape this franchise was in before Dirk arrived.

My problem with ranking players by their rings and hardware is that basketball is a team game. There are dozens of NBA superstars who, had they played for the right team with the right teammates, could have won NBA titles, but didn't.

My impression is that Dirk is one of the games best players, and he hit some unbelieveable shots and come through with some clutch plays. Witness "the layup" in '06. I think you could pick any bona fide superstar not named Michael Jordan (and probably even him) and point to bad playoff games that they played.

The irony is that this all comes down to two stupid games. If Dirk's team wins 2 more games on top of the 96 they DID win in '06, Dirk is one of the greatest (albeit, most unconventional) big men ever. And lets not forget that in the elimination game 6, it isn't like Dirk didn't show up to play. 29-15-2 while battling foul trouble is pretty clutch.

hell, look at the series he put up when all the drama was going down with that chick who was trying to fleece him.

Over his playoff career, he averages 25.5 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 FTAs per game.

Other notable PFs (better than Nowitzki in bold)
Malone - 24.7/10.7
Wilkins - 25.4/6.7
English - 24.4/5.5
Barkley - 23.0/12.9
Dantley - 21.3/5.4
Hayes - 22.9/13
Bird - 23.8/10.3
Duncan - 23.3/12.6
Pippen - 17.5/7.6
McHale - 18.8/7.4

I could probably keep going. Regardless, this assertion that Nowitzki doesn't show up in the playoffs is patently false. He's a HOF talent, without question.

***Disclaimer*** I realize that I am only comparing points and rebounds. Clearly, some of these guys excelled in other areas (Bird with APG, Nowitzki with 3P%, etc). I think we can all agree that points and rebounds are the primary role of a PF, though. Maybe the problem then is that we compare Dirk as a PF to incomparable basketball positions.


[This message has been edited by MW03 (edited 4/30/2010 1:27p).]

Dirk = Tracy


Great skill players at their position, fantastic scorers, never will get a ring.

Albeit, Tracy had the injury bug-- but the mentality is slowy setting in for Dirk. Hopefully he can get a refresher before he gets too down on himself like Tracy did.