The Truth About Dirk In Big Games

[Dr.Zoidberg]

From DallasBasketball.com: http://www.dallasbasketball.com/home_display.asp

The Truth About Dirk In Big Games


Phoenix is still celebrating that HUGE regular-season victory over Dallas (so HUGE it should propel Phoenix to finish within six-or-so games of the Mavs in the standings) by "smoking them like rabbits.''While I ponder exactly what God-forsaken part of the planet must a human eminate from to be so comfortable with the "smoking of rabbits'' that those three words become part of his every-day vernacular), I also ponder how MavsWorld cannot even muster up any enthusiasm over an all-too-rare Southwest Division title.


Previous to this week, how all-too-rare have they been? We've won one outright. One. In 1987, so long ago, kids, that basketball players used to actually show their legs.


So. ... Yippee! We did it!


We didn't need Tuesday's late-late-late-night 97-93 victory at Sacto to clinch the division; that was actually accomplished on April Fools Day, when Dallas' loss at the Suns was followed up by San Antonio's sleep-walk against the Pacers. And maybe DB.com hasn't made a big enough deal of the accomplishment. Maybe we're so caught up in "streaks'' and "championship hopes'' and "big games'' that we aren't appreciative enough about what's been accomplished over the course of 74 games.


So. ... Yippee! We did it!


Speaking of "big games,'' I decided to spend Tuesday night listening to Mark and Coach O and Coop and Brad in the background while putting none other than Dirk Nowitzki in the foreground. Dirk sat out the game (just the 23rd time in his pro life he's done that) with food poisoning -- said Avery Johnson, "I told him he needs to eat more with me at night and he won't have those problems. I know all the good places'' -- which pushed me into a night of research.


Research about "big games.'' And the odd rep Dirk has in some circles for not playing well in them.
The horribly dunderheaded Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune is the latest to spew this drivel, writing, "One or two games should not determine the award, but great players, the MVPs, understand when it's a big game and rise to the occasion. You never saw Jordan or Magic or Larry Bird slough off a loss in the regular season.''


Before I get to Smith's assessment of Dirk (a shockingly common one from people who obviously have either selective memory or no DirecTV), a quick dismissal of his historical take on Jordan, Magic and Bird: They NEVER "sloughed off'' or had a subpar game in the regular season? NEVER? What happened when they played each other, ya dope ya? Or when they guarded each other? Did BOTH teams win? Did BOTH players succeed?


(Jesus, this is frustrating.)


OK. Is there any validity at all to the notion that Dirk suffers shrinkage in this season's "big games''? After all, didn't his Mavs lose two "big games'' to Phoenix in the span of a month?
Before I get to the research, let's set the ground rules.
It's subjective, but I'll generously use the Sam Smith-type definition of "big game'' here. "Big games'' involving the Mavs are on Sundays on ABC. They're against the marquee teams, they're against their rivals, they're against hot "trendy'' teams, they're against superstar individuals. The LeBron games and the Kobe games and the games in which the network trots out those whorish Pussycat Doll girls in cleavage-cut NBA jersey-dresses.


Good enough?


Trust me, I did no cherrypicking here. I didn't search out any certain high- or low-performance games on purpose, nor did I eliminate even "big games'' that were so dominated by Dallas that Dirk played limited minutes. I simply chose, again, games that Dirk's critics would choose, at the time they were played, when trying to define "big games.'' The ones TNT and ESPN wanted. The ones that led the sportscasts. The ones that Barkley and Peter V. and Sam Smith bother flipping on. The ones that would in theory give fuel to the critics of The UberMan's "big-game'' hunting.


Here goes:


* Nov. 2 h Spurs L 91-97 9-20 FGs, 1-2 FTs, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 21 points.


* Nov. 9 @ Phx W 119-112 11-19 FGs, 12-12 FTS, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 35 points.


* Nov. 24 @ Spurs W 95-92 12-23 FGs, 6-6 FTs, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 31 points.


* Dec. 7 h Pistons L 82-92 9-15 FGs, 10-10 FTs, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 29 points.


* Dec 13 h Lakers W 110-101 8-14 FGs, 7-10 FTs, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 23 points.


* Dec 28 h Phx W 101-99 8-20 FGs, 10-11 FTs, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 27 points.


* Jan 5 @ Spurs W 90-85 14-23 FGs, 6-6 FTs, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 36 points.


* Jan 7 Lakers L 98-101 10-24 FGs, 8-8 FTs, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 29 points.


* Jan 14 @ Tor W 97-96 14-30 FGs, 7-9 FTs, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 38 points.


* Jan 18 h Lakers W 114-95 11-18 FGs, 3-3 FTs, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 27 points.


* Jan 21 @ Miami W 99-93 10-23 FGs, 2-3 FTs, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal,1 block, 22 points.


* Feb 22 h Miami W 112-100 11-17 FGs, 9-9 FTs, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 31 points.


* Mar 1 h Cleve W 95-92 9-19 FGs, 6-6 FTs, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 24 points.


* Mar 11 @ Lakers W 108-72 6-13 FGs, 7-7 FTs, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 19 points.


* Mar 14 h Suns L 127-129 11-28 FGs, 8-12 FTs, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 30 points.


* Mar 18 @ Pistons W 92-88 11-20 FGs, 4-5 FTs, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 28 points.


* Mar 21 @ Cleve W 98-90 9-24 FGs, 3-3 FGs, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 23 points.


* Apr 1 @ Phx L 104-126 6-18 FGs, 9-9 FTs, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 21 points.


That's 18 games. Again, you and I know that there have been other "big games.'' (Or maybe, because of our rare and freshly-minted division title, we should agree that they've all been "big''!) But for the sake of the casual observer, the Dirk disliker, and I guess even dunderheaded national media people who actually have MVP votes but are nevertheless in need of a Common Sense Injection, I'm making it awfully simple.
Crummy ol' no-show Dirk, in those 18 "big games,'' has produced:


* 11 games in which he's scored 27 points or more;
* 48.6-percent shooting from the field;
* 90-percent shooting from the line;
* 14 games in which he's totaled 9 rebounds or more;
* 6 games in which he's totaled 5 assists or more;
* 12 double-doubles;
* Leadership of a team that, in those "toughest'' and "spot-lit'' games, has a 13-5 record.
* An average linescore of 10.2 rebounds, 4 assists and 27.4 points.


Dirk "doesn't show up in big games''? Those numbers are all the essentially the same or better than Nowitzki's stats over the course of all 74 games -- all of which, to the starved-for-success Mavs fan, should be considered "big.''