Quote:
Originally Posted by CadBane
Can someone with Insider post this?
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He is a 10-time All-Star and an MVP award recipient. He is regarded as the toughest matchup in the league. He is the best-shooting 7-footer to ever play the game.
His name is Dirk Nowitzki, and he is the most underrated star in basketball. Up 3-0 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Nowitzki is putting together a playoff campaign that rivals anything he's done in his career. Against the Lakers, the 32-year-old is averaging 28 points and 10 rebounds per game, along with 53 percent shooting. Nowitzki remains one of four players in NBA history to average 25 points and 10 rebounds in his playoff career (Hakeem Olajuwon, Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit make up the other three). Put it all together, and his 26.3 PER ranks among the NBA's best here in the playoffs.
Perhaps Nowitzki's metronome-like consistency has numbed our senses, but each prolific performance in the playoffs reminds us that he is essentially unguardable. He may not be as quick as he used to be, but he can still get his shot off anytime he pleases. He does it with patience and craft, playing the angles like a pool player. While watching Nowitzki's performance in Game 2, Tracy McGrady said it best on his Twitter account: "how do u defend a lonnnng seven footer that shoots the ball behind his head AND fades away #dirk."
No one knows.
Despite the longest frontline in the game, the Lakers are still scratching their heads. Ron Artest tries shielding Nowitzki's eyes the moment he reared back for his shot. Nowitzki still drains it. Pau Gasol tries to get his hand on the ball. Nowitzki still releases it untouched.
In Friday's fourth quarter, Gasol tried to guard Nowitzki tightly, so what did Nowitzki do? He put the ball on the deck, drove to the rim and flashed a lefty hook shot on the baseline. Not a problem.
In the first round of the playoffs, it was said that the Portland Trail Blazers had a great chance to upset the Dallas Mavericks because they had elite defenders to throw at Nowitzki and slow him down. He promptly torched them for 27.3 points a night. And he's doing it again against the Lakers.
He has meant everything to this Mavericks team. When the German 7-footer missed nine games during the regular season, the Mavericks went 2-7 with defeats that came at the hands of the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers -- all teams under .500. But as we're learning now, the Mavericks are about as good as any team in the NBA when their All-Star is on the floor.
And when it comes to describing Nowitzki's value to the Mavericks, the 2-7 record just scratches the surface. Dig deeper and we see a player who is as vital to his team's success as any player in the league. In the regular season, the Mavericks were outscored by 5.8 points every 100 possessions when Nowitzki rode the pine. With him on the court, the Mavericks trounced opponents by 10.4 points every 100 possessions. That 16.2-point swing is the third-largest in the NBA, behind Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Here in the playoffs, Nowitzki's impact on the court, in the box score and on the scoreboard continues. He nailed big shots down the stretch, he set up that critical 3-pointer from Peja Stojakovic and finished plus-nine in a six-point game. He was at the center of it all.
After Saturday's Game 3, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked to describe Nowitzki's play. Jackson offered a one-word response:
"Great."
Indeed: one of the all-time greats.