Except that it is generally regarded in the basketball-stats community that point guard is far and away the hardest position to quantify. You can throw out 4-for-11 shooting stats all day long, and that isn't going to convince me that the guy wasn't doing a whole hell of a lot to help the team win--which, of course, they were doing a whole hell of a lot of.
You say he "was not great here," in bold and all. I say you are horribly mistaken. Horribly. He was, as some high-placed scouts put it, the straw that stirs the drink, the topping on the enchilada. He was the engine that drove those (very good) Mavs teams. He was the reason we were a serious threat, because--among other things--he was the guy who could get Dirk Nowitzki off. Now, then, Dirk is getting off by himself...in the regular season, anyway. You saw what I saw last postseason, which was Dirk being more or less emasculated in the postseason.
You like to point to Nash's postseasons struggles against Mike Bibby and/or Tony Parker, but you don't seem to want to include in your analysis Dirk's struggles against Tracy McGrady and/or Shawn Marion.
Point is, I will always believe that the Mavs needed to keep that two-headed monster together. If they can get there without Nash, it will be a huge testament to Dirk. But I'm not holding my breath just yet. I think the Mavs have a great chance to get through the playoffs this year, or in the next few. But I also know that they might not. And if they don't, I surely won't make such a fool of myself as to blame Dirk for all that.
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