How to play against Dirk, and with him (longer than you can imagine!)

[SeriousSummer]

This what we’ve all been talking about—Dirk and how to play against him and with him—so it’s time to tackle the topic head on. This is my attempt to do just that. I’m hoping to have a real, technical basketball discussion here.

So if you just want to say: “Dirk sucks” or “Dirk’s the greatest” or “Trade Dirk for Kobe”, please take that to another of the dozens of threads where it will fit.

The only weapon I have against those kinds of statements is to give negative reputation. I have never, yet, given any one negative rep on this board. But for this one thread I will be pitiless. Be warned.
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Now to the meat of the discussion. First, my description of Dirk as a player.

The good:

Dirk is a unique player. A seven footer with a deadly jump shot and great range. He can put the ball floor and handle with either hand. He’s made himself into a good defensive rebounder and a decent team defender. He’s a willing passer. Dirk is a great free throw shooter. Dirk can finish at the basket with either hand. Dirk can beat smaller defenders with his turn around jump shot at 15 feet and either drive around taller defenders or shoot over them if they sag off of him.

The bad:

Dirk has only average strength for his size. His lateral movement and jumping ability are mediocre. He doesn’t have much in the way of a post up game. His left hand is only useful at the basket. Dirk is not a strong defender and only a fair shot blocker for his size. He rarely goes to the offensive boards.

How to play against Dirk:

We start here because we need to think about the state of the art in defending Dirk and how teams have come to play Dirk as they do.

The early years

In his early years, opponents played Dirk with conventional power forwards—mostly because Dirk was not yet dominate enough to demand special coverage and because Nash and Finley demanded respect. Dirk beat conventional forwards from the outside with his long-range shooting, and with his ball handling. Everything was made easier by Nash’s uncanny passing. In 2005 after Nash left, Nellie started giving the ball to Dirk 18’ from the basket and letting him drive the ball. This was brutally effective against most power forwards.


The middle years

By the end of 2005, many teams started playing Dirk with small forwards like Bruce Bowen, Shawn Marion and Tracy McGrady. This approach was relatively effective for a year until the 2006 playoffs when Dirk tore up Shawn Marion and Bruce Bowen to lead the Mavs to the NBA finals. Dirk did this mainly with an unconventional game from the high post. He simply backed the defender into his comfort range and scored with the turn around jumper over them. Miami stopped Dirk by double-teaming him, a lesson teams apparently forgot during Dirk’s MVP season last year when he was unstoppable from the elbow when faced with single coverage.

The last year

In last year’s playoff debacle (and in all the Golden State-Dallas match ups), Nellie showed he had learned Pat Riley’s lesson and double-teamed Dirk wherever he caught the ball. Dirk was slow to move the ball out of the double team and Dallas’s weak ball movement and lack of a true point guard meant the Mavs as a team couldn’t take advantage of the double team. This year most teams (except, ironically, probably some of the best defensive teams in the league that refuse to double team as a matter of principle) have finally learned the lesson from Riley and Nellie. Play Dirk with a smaller, quicker defender and then double team Dirk before he can work his way into a decent shot. I expect that most of the teams in the league will play special defenses against Dirk (67 wins and an MVP merit that) and that the word is out on how to play against Dirk and the Mavs.

How to play with Dirk

The problem for the Mavs to solve, then, is how to play effectively on offense when Dirk is double teamed. Dirk can’t be Shaq and go to the low post to power over it and he can’t be Jordan and bust the double team on the dribble. He doesn’t have those skills. I see two main possibilities for Dirk to play against the double team, which I’ll call “the German National Team Dirk” and “Dirk as facilitator”.

1.The German National Team Dirk

If you watch Dirk play with the German National Team very often, then it becomes clear that Dirk is almost always double-teamed, yet often leads his team in scoring and to a win. Dirk does this by shooting the ball up over the defenders from long range. This is the kind of guiltless, almost selfish play that we seldom see from Dirk when playing with the Mavs. It’s hard to stop a seven footer from shooting the ball from long range, and when Dirk feels confident that he should be shooting such shots, then he hits a lot of them. With the weak German National Team, Dirk knows he must score and so he takes, and makes, a lot of “bad” shots.


Could this strategy work in the NBA? After all, in the Euroleague the defenders are weaker and the three-point line is closer. Look, however, at games 4 and 5 of the Golden State series and you have to say maybe it can. At the end of both games Dirk chose to break off the offensive plan and take it upon himself to shoot his team back from three-point range. He almost brought the Mavs back for a win in game 4 (the Mavs were only 3 back with the ball, but no time outs, at the end) and he did win game 5 for the Mavs with his three-point shooting. Nevertheless, this smacks of a desperation strategy, more suited for a bad team than a team that believes it should contend for a championship.

2. Dirk as facilitator

This is what I believe the Mavs are trying to do this year, and I think the jury is still out on whether it will be successful. In theory, at least, when you force the other team to double team then you’ve created a defensive weakness. Many teams could exploit this advantage ruthlessly. It requires good spacing, crisp ball movement and no hesitation in taking the open shot or driving into the spaces. All space advantages are ephemeral and disappear unless immediately exploited.

But the Mavs have been an iso oriented team the last two years, playing without a true point guard and often trying to hide one or two weak offensive players (a center and a “shooting” guard that can’t shoot). Dirk has gotten better, but still is a little hesitant in his passes. Terry does not move the ball well when he’s at point guard. Hassell, at least, is afraid to take the open outside shot, Jones has been missing and the centers, while playing better, are not established scoring threats.

But I don’t think the Mavs have had enough time yet to see if they can make this work. They’ve only had the last 4 games against Miami, the 9 last year against Golden State and 3 or 4 games this year. The Mavs have made changes that, at least in theory, should discourage teams from double teaming Dirk. Devin Harris has taken over as point guard. Bass was brought in to provide a scoring option on the post and Diop is looking somewhat more effective on offense. The key, though, IMHO is at the shooting guard. The normal swing of the ball after the double team on Dirk goes to Harris at the point, then over to the shooting guard at the free throw line extended, then down to the corner (assuming the post is covered). In the past the Mavs have broken down on the second swing of the ball. Terry moved it to slow and the player getting the ball (Griffin, Buckner, Devin Harris, etc.) wasn’t aggressive enough in trying to score.

I think, as the year goes on, Dirk will be quick enough in moving the ball, the centers will be a better threat in the post, and Josh Howard and Stackhouse will continue to be effective in the corner. So far Harris looks good when he’s at point and JET has been excellent when he’s at shooting guard. What remains to be seen is how Eddie Jones and Trenton Hassell will perform (so far, not well) and what happens when Harris takes a rest and either Terry or Barrea takes over at the point.

Still, I am encouraged. I think the new system is right, and all that remains to see is if the team can pull it off. We’ll get a real sign that it’s working when a team is getting beat badly enough to have to stop double teaming Dirk. But the final answer, as always, will come in the play offs.