Quote:
Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky
I can see your point, but Dirk has a negative +/-, a negative net +/-, a negative OPBM, and a negative DBPM. Obviously we suck both when he's on the floor and when he's off, but we've sucked a little less without him out there.
Dirk is the best Maverick to ever play for us and a top 6-9 player ever to play the game, but right now at this point in his career, he's a negative. Even if he was shooting 70/60/90, he'd still be a negative because we need to tank and develop young guys, but he's also a net negative too so far in this season. His numbers have come up, but the team is still better without him playing.
I like to see him make a few shots, because I'm not ready for the NBA to be Dirk-less, but Dirk really hasn't been good for us. He's finally starting to score after starting the season shooting 17%, but no matter what happens, he'll always be a defensive liability. The number of times he's been flat-footed while players come into the paint for a layup has been astounding and frankly makes the team hard to watch on that end.
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Not true. Dirk has a -14.4 OnCourt...because this team is garbage with or without him. But his On/Off is only -4.4. So they're 10 points better (or less sucky), with him on the court. For comparison, Noel is worse. He's -15.5 and -5.3. Though it's probably too early in the season to divulge a lot on +/-.
If Dirk were holding back a talented young player, that's one thing. But he isn't. Our other frontcourt guys are Noel (nowhere near a Max guy, and he'll be gone in the offseason), Powell (no comment), Kleber (like him, but he's a role player who should be playing over Powell), Salah (bench guy...should get a little more burn though), and Whithey (same).
Sure, Dirk is a defensive liability...but so is Powell. Dirk also is still a positive defensive rebounder. The season is a lottery pick either way, so I find it odd to focus on 39 year-old Dirk playing decent ball.