[kingmalaki]

Originally Posted by jthig32

*sigh*

Garnett is a better penetrator? So you're saying he sets up on the wing and penetrates regularly? Really?

Garnett is a better finisher. Garnett does not have a reliable post up game, even at the high post. He's mainly a jump shooter or a finisher of lobs.

So are you really claiming that Dirk penetrates and finishes better than KG? KG has these strenghts mainly due to his build and athleticism, but let't not act like he doesn't have them.

Originally Posted by jthig32

Hell, with Garnett on this team, they would need an offensive playmaker even more. If Garnett was asked to create as much offense as Dirk was during the regular season, the offensive efficiency of this team would drop a lot.

KG is a very dependable offensive player. He still gives you 22 a game on 48%, compared to Dirk's 25 a game on 50%. That's a 3 ppg difference, not very much. I admit Dirk is a better offensive player than KG, but not as much as you are trying to make it out to be. Additionally, I don't see how the offensive efficiency would drop considering KG is a better passer than Dirk is.

Originally Posted by jthig32

Garnett on the Mav would require quite a few personnel changes. Garnett playing next to Damp and Diop would be worthless. Garnett's best skills mirror those guys, rebounding and defense. These past couple season has proved that Garnett plays best when he's next to a center that can move out and hit a 15 footer, ala Mark Blount.

Again, you are discounting KG's 22 a game on a very good shooting percentage. And he is one of the leagues best defenders and rebounders.

Originally Posted by jthig32

Trading Dirk for KG would make this team worse, not better.

Edit to add:

The one thing Garnett would bring to this team would be a better mindset, that's for sure. He's the most intense guy in the NBA. But Garnett is no where near a dominant scorer. So if you brought him onto this team as it stands, your most reliable crunch time scorer would be JET.

It seems like that mindset makes all the difference in the world, IMO. I can never recall KG just vanishing from a series.

Originally Posted by jthig32

Do you really want to be choosing from Josh, Jet and Garnett for who to go to when you HAVE to have a bucket? Dirk may have failed miserably in that area this postseason, but at least he's done it numerous times in the past. He's shown he can.

KG has shown the same thing. he had a very solid supporting cast only one season, and they went to the WCF. He had as many big games in that playoff run as Dirk had in last years. And IMO, Josh, Stack and Harris were the ones stepping up this series...or at least I will say they seemed to be a lot more aggressive than Dirk. From watching it seems like those guys were leaving it all on the floor........

Originally Posted by jthig32

Hell even Simmons, who's been very hard on Dirk, wrote an article yesterday stating that Dirk is still a great player, and can recover from this. Let's not act like Dirk can't come back next year and put this team on his back just like he did in the '06 playoffs. I just think he needs a tweak to his supporting cast.

Dirk is a great player. I just think KG is one too. Sure, you would lose some scoring with Dirk but the rest of KG's game is better.

Originally Posted by GP

I'll admit that I have only read the last couple of posts in this thread. I think I'll add this conjecture to the argument.

If the Mavs and T-pups had somehow made a trade straight up Garnett for Dirk all the pundits would be lobbying for Garnett to be the league MVP on the basis of winning 48-55 games with such a lousy supporting cast. The Mavs certainly would have been bounced out of the first round and everyone would feel sorry for Garnett for having to play without a point guard, without a 2 guard, and without a center. On second thought I am going to say that I doubt this team even wins 45 games with Garnett as the key figure. I mean look at the scrubs and rejects on this team. Terry couldn't win at all in Atlanta. Dampier played on awful teams that couldn't defend in Golden State. George, Buckner, and Croshere are way below average journeyman players. Harris is too raw, still. Diop was a complete washout in Cleveland. He is still 1 dimensional though. Are Diop and Dampier really better than the centers in Minny? Stack once was great, now he is just old. Really, other than Howard do the Mavs really have a better supporting cast than Minnesota's?

Again, maybe my view is just different because I'm an outsider and don't watch all Mavs regular season games. However, from the games I do catch, looking at numbers and playoff games, it seems like y'all really devalue Dirk's supporting cast. Dirk has a "lousy" supporting cast? Are you serious? Josh Howard (all-star) is lousy? Two solid centers is lousy? Two guards that can put the ball in the hole (Jet & Harris), and Jet hits tons of big shots? Stackhouse off the bench? Dirk's supporting cast is very good. Kobe's cast is lousy (Smush Parker is their starting PG). T-Mac's cast in Orlando is lousy (D.Armstrong was the 2nd best player). Every Rocket player not named Yao, T-Mac or Battier is lousy (Chuck Hayes starts for us for God's sake, a 6'6 PF). KG's cast is lousy. Pierce's cast is lousy. Etc....

I have seen Dirk's lousy cast carry the Mavs to a series win against my Rockets when Dirk played like garbage (2005). I can't recall too many times a team has advanced when their best player sucked in a round. When I watched this series (every game) there were many instances where the supporting cast was stepping up to keep the Mavs in the game (Howard 20 in a half, Stack hitting all the 3's, Harris taking over in the 4th and Stack balling to keep them in Game 5, etc). I even believe Howard & Harris bumped their regular season numbers. I just don't see how y'all can say the cast sucks. Granted some other stars have great casts too (Nash, Duncan), but let's not act like Dirk's is mediocore.