Get him the DAMN BALL!!!

[dude1394]

From BleacherReport. This should make Murphy smile. Wait a sec...maybe it IS Murph!

In any sport, a team can be as good as its best player. However, they must get the chance to be that team's focal point in order to carry that team to its mountain top.

In the case of the Dallas Mavericks, their biggest downfall over the past two and a half years has been their inability to get Dirk Nowitzki the ball, and let him carry them on a consistent basis.

Nowitzki has been an NBA MVP in a season in which his stats were slightly down because this process had already begun. People are quick to point to Nowitzki when the Mavs have underachieved in the playoffs the last 3 years, despite the fact is that he was the sole reason they were there in the first place.

People forget that Dirk was the one who led the Mavs in a 4 game sweep over Memphis, a 7 game series classic against the Spurs in which he single handily saved their season, and a 6 game series victory over the Suns in which he scored 50 points in one game, in rout to the NBA Finals.

Once in the Finals, the Heat implemented a zone defense to make it more difficult for Dirk to get open shots. So, instead of finding ways to get him good shots, the Mavs let them take Dirk out of the game.

This trend continued over the next two seasons that saw the Mavericks turn into an equal opportunity isolation offense, instead of the motion-fast paced offense that had made them one of the most dangerous teams in the league.

Fast forward to the last two regular season games for the Mavs, a blowout loss to Cleveland and a road victory at San Antonio.

In the Cleveland game, Dirk only took 11 shots and had less than 30 touches. There were many times he would go 4 or 5 consecutive trips down the court without even receiving a single pass. The result of that statistic was a blowout on the Mavs home floor.

The next night against San Antonio, Dirk was 13 of 24 from the field and had 61 touches. That statistic resulted in the Mavs blowing out the Spurs in a very impressive offensive showing. Coincidence? Not possible.

The truth is that your best player must be the focal point of your offense, he needs to at least touch the ball almost every time you take a trip down the court. Think about it, how many times do you think Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, or Tim Duncan come down the court without at least receiving a pass? It doesn't happen very often.

BAD COMPLIMENTARY PLAYERS

One of the reasons this has been a trend for the Mavericks is the fact that their number 2 and 3 players are not very good complementary players. Josh Howard and Jason Terry, and even Jerry Stackhouse before he became too old to be relevant, are not players that can create scoring opportunities for other people on the court.

They are shoot-first guys who do not like to share the ball. They are always looking for an excuse to jack up a shot. So, when teams actually make an effort to try to take Dirk out of the game, their shoot first mentality allows it to happen.

This wouldn't be quite as bad if they were guys who liked to drive the ball to the hoop, which by default would create openings for everybody else. Unfortunately, these guys are in love with the jump shot. That is especially sad considering Josh Howard is one of the best in the league when he drives the rock to the rim.

So, then you say to yourself, "Well, why doesn't the coach do something about it"? Which leads me to my next point...

BAD COACHING

A lot of people think that Avery Johnson was a great coach with the Dallas Mavericks. Unfortunately, he was more a result of perfect timing, rather than a great coach. When Avery took over, the Mavs were a run 'n gun team who played little, to no defense whatsoever.

Johnson was entrenched in coaching defense and toughness. For 2 years, the result was a happy medium in which the Mavs improved drastically on defense, while keeping their run 'n gun offense alive. However, the last two and a half years he was coach, Johnson got the Mavs away from the offensive philosophy that made them successful.

Instead, he implemented what he called "an equal opportunity offense". This was basically walk the ball up the court, make one or two passes then see if whoever has the ball can score on their own.

There was no focal point in getting Nowitzki the ball above Howard, Terry, or even Brandon Bass. Nowitzki could go through 3 quarters of a game and only have 7 or 8 shots, but Howard and 2 or 3 other players could have twice as many.

Then, when they needed a basket at the end of a game, they would turn to Dirk and ask him to pull off a miracle. This especially hurt the Mavs when teams would go zone, or really buckle down in the 4th quarter of games.

The result was a bunch of bad jump shots that simply looked out of rhythm. Even when Johnson received Jason Kidd in a trade, one of the best passers ever to play the game, he refused to change his offensive philosophy. An equal opportunity isolation offense does not take advantage of Kidd's special talents at all.

This made the Jason Kidd trade look terrible. It also made Dirk look like a player who couldn't get it done when it counted.

The truth is, Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best players in the NBA. He is a former MVP, and a guy who carried his team to the Finals. Dirk can lead these Dallas Mavericks to special places...if he gets the ball.

[jthig32]

That is good stuff.

[Underdog]

It's so obvious, you gotta wonder why it's even an issue...

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Underdog

It's so obvious, you gotta wonder why it's even an issue...

Yeah, but Dirk has to WANT the ball as well. I could not imagine MJ, Bird, Magic, Lebron or Kobe type players having problems with touches. This is the problem I see that makes the whole situation about touches even bigger. You have players that do not mind shooting first, and you have a Superstar who does not mind not getting touches. End results are losses in the 4th quarter and big playoff failures.

How can a coach change this? I think this is a question that nobody can answer. Those players who shoot first are the same ones you have to keep on the team, and Dirk is the franchise that you cant give up.

[dude1394]

Duncan, shaq any big guy has a problem with touches.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Silk Smoov

Yeah, but Dirk has to WANT the ball as well. I could not imagine MJ, Bird, Magic, Lebron or Kobe type players having problems with touches. This is the problem I see that makes the whole situation about touches even bigger. You have players that do not mind shooting first, and you have a Superstar who does not mind not getting touches. End results are losses in the 4th quarter and big playoff failures.

How can a coach change this? I think this is a question that nobody can answer. Those players who shoot first are the same ones you have to keep on the team, and Dirk is the franchise that you cant give up.

Every player you mentioned are players that bring the ball up the floor.

A coach can easily change this by setting up an offense taht focuses on getting the right people the ball during the course of the game. And it helps having a player like Kidd who is smart enough to keep the right players touching the ball.

Question answered.

[Rick41]

Wow, a non bias article on dirk!

[dirno2000]

Originally Posted by Rick41

Wow, a non bias article on dirk!

I'd say this article is pretty biased.

[fluid.forty.one]

yeah, but this is a bias I can get behind.

honestly though -- Dirk became one of the top 5 players in the world with his offense only. He was horrible on D.

Think about that. With his defense as a liability, he still became a top 3-5 player in the world.

GET HIM THE DAMN BALL

[SMC0007]

Thinks he is being sarcastic, I hope. Definitely Dirk biased...



This guy is talking about the Cleveland and S.A. games, Dirks efforts weren't even in the same galaxy.

"In the Cleveland game, Dirk only took 11 shots and had less than 30 touches. There were many times he would go 4 or 5 consecutive trips down the court without even receiving a single pass. The result of that statistic was a blowout on the Mavs home floor.

The next night against San Antonio, Dirk was 13 of 24 from the field and had 61 touches. That statistic resulted in the Mavs blowing out the Spurs in a very impressive offensive showing. Coincidence? Not possible."


All our jump shots were falling, and S.A. isn't near what they used to be right now.


Bad complimentary players. Bad coaching..blah blah. Anytime Dirk doesn't have success it's has nothing to do with him, ever. He's always hungry and always wants the ball, it's just everything around him drags him down.

Dirk needs a lot of touches, give him the ball yes, but thats obvious.

[alby]

We'll be fine. Kidd is our point guard.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Duncan, shaq any big guy has a problem with touches.

Duncan and Shaq do not have problems with touches. Duncan demands the ball when he wants it, and the players around him are not shoot first players as well. You have a good balance with Duncan. Shaq only had problems with touches when Kobe became a Superstar, which meant both needed/demanded touches.

KG does not have a problem and Yao does not have a problem. Yao is a little laid back, so he tends to not want as many touches, plus he has another Superstar on his team that demands touches. IMO

I dont know of any Superstars with a problem with touches more than a game or two. For that matter only a couple of trips down the floor is more than enough for Superstars to demand touches. In the end it is up to the Superstar to DEMAND the ball. If a Superstar is demanding the ball and not getting it, all hell breaks loose and the coach will make sure the Superstar is getting those touches. I dont think we have selfish players on our team that would deny Dirk the ball when Dirk is demanding the ball. IMO

[alby]

What makes Dirk special is his insane efficiency.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Every player you mentioned are players that bring the ball up the floor.

A coach can easily change this by setting up an offense taht focuses on getting the right people the ball during the course of the game. And it helps having a player like Kidd who is smart enough to keep the right players touching the ball.

Question answered.

Ok, let me counter that. Akeem, Ewing, Barkley, Kareem, Chambliss, Shaq, Duncan, KG, McHale never had problems with touches. Ask Magic or Drexler if Kareem or Akeem had problems with touches. I just named two title teams with at least two superstars on them, and the big man won out everytime. You win titles from the inside/out for the most part.

Lastly, you duly noted by having Kidd you have a player smart enough to keep the right players touching the ball. I agree, and that is why I also say that Dirk was not demanding the ball. If so, I think a player like Kidd would make more than sure Dirk got the ball. I think Dirk is too laid back for the most part, and needs to be more selfish. The more selfish Dirk becomes the more playoff games the Mavs will win. We have all seen it and the SA game just farther proves it.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by Silk Smoov

Duncan and Shaq do not have problems with touches. Duncan demands the ball when he wants it, and the players around him are not shoot first players as well. You have a good balance with Duncan. Shaq only had problems with touches when Kobe became a Superstar, which meant both needed/demanded touches.

KG does not have a problem and Yao does not have a problem. Yao is a little laid back, so he tends to not want as many touches, plus he has another Superstar on his team that demands touches. IMO

I dont know of any Superstars with a problem with touches more than a game or two. For that matter only a couple of trips down the floor is more than enough for Superstars to demand touches. In the end it is up to the Superstar to DEMAND the ball. If a Superstar is demanding the ball and not getting it, all hell breaks loose and the coach will make sure the Superstar is getting those touches. I dont think we have selfish players on our team that would deny Dirk the ball when Dirk is demanding the ball. IMO

I agree and the guys you named in both posts would be yelling at their teamates for not getting them the ball, hell would break loose and not just by the coach, probably would happen during a timeout on the floor by the superstar. Not saying that Dirk doesn't demand the ball at all, but it's not just everyone elses fault when he's not getting enough touches.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Thinks he is being sarcastic, I hope. Definitely Dirk biased...



This guy is talking about the Cleveland and S.A. games, Dirks efforts weren't even in the same galaxy.

"In the Cleveland game, Dirk only took 11 shots and had less than 30 touches. There were many times he would go 4 or 5 consecutive trips down the court without even receiving a single pass. The result of that statistic was a blowout on the Mavs home floor.

The next night against San Antonio, Dirk was 13 of 24 from the field and had 61 touches. That statistic resulted in the Mavs blowing out the Spurs in a very impressive offensive showing. Coincidence? Not possible."


All our jump shots were falling, and S.A. isn't near what they used to be right now.


Bad complimentary players. Bad coaching..blah blah. Anytime Dirk doesn't have success it's has nothing to do with him, ever. He's always hungry and always wants the ball, it's just everything around him drags him down.

Dirk needs a lot of touches, give him the ball yes, but thats obvious.

"All our jump shots were falling" is dumb analysis. How about the rebounding effort? How about the defense? You see what TP and Duncan did against Minnesota the next night?

You rip Dirk for not being dependable down the stretch, then when he turns in a superstar effort in the fourth quarter, keying a stretch where the Mavs pulled away after a big San Antonio run, you make excuses.

Admittedly the Cleveland game is a poor example for this guy to use, because Dirk's lack of touches can largely be attributed to his pathetic effort. No doubt about that. But the central idea of the article is valid, and shows that what you call "obvious" was not always obvious the past couple of seasons.

And to Silk's point, there is no denying that Dirk's passiveness hurts the team at times. I've never denied it and we've had long conversations on this board about it at times. Dirk would be a better player (and a lesser human) if he had a bigger ego. For sure. But it's on a coach to realize he doesn't have the perfect superstar, and to focus his offense and his players on getting Dirk the ball when it matter, and throughout a game.

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Thinks he is being sarcastic, I hope. Definitely Dirk biased...

to clear things up, i meant bias against dirk.

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Dirk needs a lot of touches, give him the ball yes, but thats obvious.

If it was obvious, we would have had at least one championship by now.

[Dirkadirkastan]

I never really thought of Duncan as someone kicking and screaming for the basketball in the post either. Instead, he seems to have a quiet confidence that his teammates are always looking for him anyway.

Obviously that never works, as Duncan will clearly never win a ring.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by jthig32

"All our jump shots were falling" is dumb analysis. How about the rebounding effort? How about the defense? You see what TP and Duncan did against Minnesota the next night?

You rip Dirk for not being dependable down the stretch, then when he turns in a superstar effort in the fourth quarter, keying a stretch where the Mavs pulled away after a big San Antonio run, you make excuses.

Admittedly the Cleveland game is a poor example for this guy to use, because Dirk's lack of touches can largely be attributed to his pathetic effort. No doubt about that. But the central idea of the article is valid, and shows that what you call "obvious" was not always obvious the past couple of seasons.

And to Silk's point, there is no denying that Dirk's passiveness hurts the team at times. I've never denied it and we've had long conversations on this board about it at times. Dirk would be a better player (and a lesser human) if he had a bigger ego. For sure. But it's on a coach to realize he doesn't have the perfect superstar, and to focus his offense and his players on getting Dirk the ball when it matter, and throughout a game.

Dood, get off Dirks bone, you do not have to defend every single opinion that differs yours on him. Everything is DUMB with you, or you don't get this or that. Relax, things aren't always gonna be roses with this team or Dirk. Folks are gonna have opinions and different views of whats going on. Once again you're saying I rip Dirk, like i'm not a fan. I'm trying to be as realistic about this team and players as I can be without over defending my fav player, unlike you (and few others).

Jet and Dirks jumpers were falling all game, down the stretch too, yes. My point is lets see when they aren't falling if they go to the rack or if Dirk (and JET) keeps forcing up shots. When the Jumpers are falling it's easy to see a win and say welp things are back to good and problems solved, how about Dirk now.

But I guess this dood just wrote some ground breaking article that Dirk should have more touches...nice.

FF1:
what? I don't follow. So the blame is on Avery or the rest of the team for us not winning a championship vs Miami because Dirk didnt get touches? Or, now that this guy finally let us all in on something we never knew, if no one on the team gets in the way of Dirk and his touches we will win.

[fluid.forty.one]

If we weren't running an ISO offense where Dirk would literally have 5-6 minutes where he didn't even touch the ball, yes I think we would have won a Championship during the last four-five years.

It's the same reasoning behind the people who say that we would have won a championship if Nash was still here. The offense would have looked a lot different.. Dirk would have gotten more touches (and more importantly, better shots) and we probably would have won a championship.

It's also the same reasoning behind why Dirk's numbers skyrocketed after Kidd got here.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

If we weren't running an ISO offense where Dirk would literally have 5-6 minutes where he didn't even touch the ball, yes I think we would have won a Championship during the last four-five years.

It's the same reasoning behind the people who say that we would have won a championship if Nash was still here. The offense would have looked a lot different.. Dirk would have gotten more touches (and more importantly, better shots) and we probably would have won a championship.

It's also the same reasoning behind why Dirk's numbers skyrocketed after Kidd got here.

Ok, I can't really disagree with that. If in fact there were actually 5-6 mins where he didn't touch the ball at all whiles he was on the floor. I mean there were quite a few things in the Miami series alone that could have gone different and we finish them off, wierd/bad calls esp phantom calls on Wade. A Time-out we didn't have that = tech.

[Murphy3]

Here's the problem with Dirk. He thinks team first. He wants to do exactly what the coaches have in mind. He has no problem running a play that will likely get a shot for someone else. He is a total team player in that sense. But, Dirk needs to ALWAYS understand that he is the man on this team.

Now, this goes both ways... the coaches need to do a much better job of making sure that Dirk gets his touches. Call more plays for Dirk. Get the ball to him more in different types of scoring situations.

One thing that has bothered me the past couple of years.. even when Dirk won the MVP... It seems as if Avery almost completely got away from Dirk taking his man off the dribble. The year before he won his MVP, you would see the Mavs clear out and let Dirk create off the dribble. You rarely see that anymore. Why? AJ's plan was to more and more try and make Dirk's game look like that of Tim Duncan. This had it's upsides. Dirk's better in the post.. not necessarily as low as some would like, but he's an efficient scorer now with his back to the bucket. Dirk's a little bit better passer. But, we no longer see Dirk taking the ball hard to the rim after beating his man off of the dribble.

So what needs to happen? I think we need to see even more diversity in Dirk's game. Dirk needs to be a threat with his back to the basket. He needs to be a threat in the pick and roll. He needs to be a threat hitting threes. He needs to be hitting the mid range jumper. He needs to be a threat taking the ball to the rim. We've seen less and less of that under Avery. Personally, I believe that the Mavs need more and more of that because it allows him to get to the line.

So yeah, Dirk needs more touches consistently. This team isn't going anywhere once it gets into the playoffs unless Dirk is going full throttle averaging 30 a game in the post season. There needs to be more variety in his game.. Hopefully we'll see more and more of this under Carlisle. Primarily, the touches thing needs to come from the coaches.. but if it doesn't, I'd like to see Dirk be a little more selfish and demand the damn ball. I know that being selfish just wasn't how he was raised to play the game... but if need be, he needs to say " f' the coach and give me the damn ball and watch out." We saw alot of that aggressiveness strangled out of his game under Avery. Dirk, you need to get that aggressiveness back.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Here's the problem with Dirk. He thinks team first. He wants to do exactly what the coaches have in mind. He has no problem running a play that will likely get a shot for someone else. He is a total team player in that sense. But, Dirk needs to ALWAYS understand that he is the man on this team.

Now, this goes both ways... the coaches need to do a much better job of making sure that Dirk gets his touches. Call more plays for Dirk. Get the ball to him more in different types of scoring situations.

One thing that has bothered me the past couple of years.. even when Dirk won the MVP... It seems as if Avery almost completely got away from Dirk taking his man off the dribble. The year before he won his MVP, you would see the Mavs clear out and let Dirk create off the dribble. You rarely see that anymore. Why? AJ's plan was to more and more try and make Dirk's game look like that of Tim Duncan. This had it's upsides. Dirk's better in the post.. not necessarily as low as some would like, but he's an efficient scorer now with his back to the bucket. Dirk's a little bit better passer. But, we no longer see Dirk taking the ball hard to the rim after beating his man off of the dribble.

So what needs to happen? I think we need to see even more diversity in Dirk's game. Dirk needs to be a threat with his back to the basket. He needs to be a threat in the pick and roll. He needs to be a threat hitting threes. He needs to be hitting the mid range jumper. He needs to be a threat taking the ball to the rim. We've seen less and less of that under Avery. Personally, I believe that the Mavs need more and more of that because it allows him to get to the line.

So yeah, Dirk needs more touches consistently. This team isn't going anywhere once it gets into the playoffs unless Dirk is going full throttle averaging 30 a game in the post season. There needs to be more variety in his game.. Hopefully we'll see more and more of this under Carlisle. Primarily, the touches thing needs to come from the coaches.. but if it doesn't, I'd like to see Dirk be a little more selfish and demand the damn ball. I know that being selfish just wasn't how he was raised to play the game... but if need be, he needs to say " f' the coach and give me the damn ball and watch out." We saw alot of that aggressiveness strangled out of his game under Avery. Dirk, you need to get that aggressiveness back.

Agreed.

Thing is at what point is he going to be a threat with his back to the basket? He's been in the league for a long time and while he has improved at it he could be better for sure. I think he is already a threat at everything else you brought up. The above mentioned and stopping his man on D are what could put us over the top. He is ok but when his head isn't in it or whatever is going on he's a poor defender. I'm Not sure if he will ever be the post back to basket threat I hoped he would be by now.

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by jthig32

And to Silk's point, there is no denying that Dirk's passiveness hurts the team at times. I've never denied it and we've had long conversations on this board about it at times. Dirk would be a better player (and a lesser human) if he had a bigger ego. For sure. But it's on a coach to realize he doesn't have the perfect superstar, and to focus his offense and his players on getting Dirk the ball when it matter, and throughout a game.

I gagree. If Dirk weren't the way he is I wouldn't love him so much. He's pure greatness in spite of the fact that he's not "Me Me Me Me" all the time.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Agreed.

Thing is at what point is he going to be a threat with his back to the basket? He's been in the league for a long time and while he has improved at it he could be better for sure. I think he is already a threat at everything else you brought up. The above mentioned and stopping his man on D are what could put us over the top. He is ok but when his head isn't in it or whatever is going on he's a poor defender. I'm Not sure if he will ever be the post back to basket threat I hoped he would be by now.

He's already a threat. No, he doesn't get the position that most people would want, but he is a threat. It usually results in a turn around jumper, but he is getting the ball in the post and making a move with his back to the basket. No, it's not necessarily what most want out of a back to the basket player, but when you consider that it's not his bread and butter, you have to be happy that he's efficient there. It's fine to want more out of that aspect of his game.. but yes, he is still a threat there.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

He's already a threat. No, he doesn't get the position that most people would want, but he is a threat. It usually results in a turn around jumper, but he is getting the ball in the post and making a move with his back to the basket. No, it's not necessarily what most want out of a back to the basket player, but when you consider that it's not his bread and butter, you have to be happy that he's efficient there. It's fine to want more out of that aspect of his game.. but yes, he is still a threat there.

I would love to see a few more turnaround fake, up and uder moves etc(ala TParker/TD) to get to the foul line. Something going back towards the bucket. It's a mind set more than him not having the ability to do it. I don't deny the efficiency but the free throw is typically more efficient than the contested fadaway/turnaround.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Dood, get off Dirks bone, you do not have to defend every single opinion that differs yours on him. Everything is DUMB with you, or you don't get this or that. Relax, things aren't always gonna be roses with this team or Dirk. Folks are gonna have opinions and different views of whats going on. Once again you're saying I rip Dirk, like i'm not a fan. I'm trying to be as realistic about this team and players as I can be without over defending my fav player, unlike you (and few others).

Jet and Dirks jumpers were falling all game, down the stretch too, yes. My point is lets see when they aren't falling if they go to the rack or if Dirk (and JET) keeps forcing up shots. When the Jumpers are falling it's easy to see a win and say welp things are back to good and problems solved, how about Dirk now.

But I guess this dood just wrote some ground breaking article that Dirk should have more touches...nice.

FF1:
what? I don't follow. So the blame is on Avery or the rest of the team for us not winning a championship vs Miami because Dirk didnt get touches? Or, now that this guy finally let us all in on something we never knew, if no one on the team gets in the way of Dirk and his touches we will win.

You're going to continue to look ridiculous in your discussions if you chalk up every opinion that does not match your own as being homerish or because someone is on someone's "bone". I have openly criticized Dirk when I felt he deserves it. I criticized him in the very post you just quoted.

You're trying to be "realistic" to the point that you're swinging the opposite way.

I would love to see a few more turnaround fake, up and uder moves etc(ala TParker/TD) to get to the foul line. Something going back towards the bucket. It's a mind set more than him not having the ability to do it. I don't deny the efficiency but the free throw is typically more efficient than the contested fadaway/turnaround.

Dirk's consistently been in the top twenty in free throw attempts per game. The national level notion that he is strictly a jump shooter is false. I'd always love for him to get even more free throws, but he does a good job in that area.

[Murphy3]

typically..., but Dirk isn't your average big man shooting a contested turnaround jumper. And no, it's not the strongest part of his game. I know alot would like for it to be...but, it's just not the case. I do believe he needs to be put in situations to where he can utilized all of the parts of his game... but for some reason, the driving aspect has been almost cut out. This is a huge part of his game that separates him from other big men (along with his outside touch).. This ability to drive is what gets him to the line. But, AJ sucked that part out of the offense.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

One thing that has bothered me the past couple of years.. even when Dirk won the MVP... It seems as if Avery almost completely got away from Dirk taking his man off the dribble. The year before he won his MVP, you would see the Mavs clear out and let Dirk create off the dribble. You rarely see that anymore.

I'm glad someone else has noticed this. I remember in the 05 season when Dirk was one of the top 5 in scoring that year, it seemed like at least half of his shots came off the cribble. In subsequent years, it became less and less common.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by jthig32

You're going to continue to look ridiculous in your discussions if you chalk up every opinion that does not match your own as being homerish or because someone is on someone's "bone". I have openly criticized Dirk when I felt he deserves it. I criticized him in the very post you just quoted.

You're trying to be "realistic" to the point that you're swinging the opposite way.


Dirk's consistently been in the top twenty in free throw attempts per game. The national level notion that he is strictly a jump shooter is false. I'd always love for him to get even more free throws, but he does a good job in that area.

Chalk up EVERY opinion that isn't my own to someone being homerish...Whatever guy, original thought there. You openly criticize Dirk but then expect that to be the end of it? I shouldn't have an opinion on it because you have already done it for me, thanks. Your stupid ass quotes on words make me lol... But Like I said you don't have to over defend him, things will be ok. I'm not Dirk hating, just posting what I think about some things. And I think your condescending to a lot of posters opinions around here.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Chalk up EVERY opinion that isn't my own to someone being homerish...Whatever guy, original thought there. You openly criticize Dirk but then expect that to be the end of it? I shouldn't have an opinion on it because you have already done it for me, thanks. Your stupid ass quotes on words make me lol... But Like I said you don't have to over defend him, things will be ok. I'm not Dirk hating, just posting what I think about some things. And I think your condescending to a lot of posters opinions around here.

That just doesn't make any sense.

[alby]

Go Dirk

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I'm glad someone else has noticed this. I remember in the 05 season when Dirk was one of the top 5 in scoring that year, it seemed like at least half of his shots came off the cribble. In subsequent years, it became less and less common.

Even in our win against the Spurs, when Dirk had a great game, he looked slow and gimpy for some reason. He's looked like that in 3 of the 4 games I think, the lone game being against Houston.

His shots don't have any lift (not just his fadeaway off one foot, which jthig correctly pointed out is how he always shoots that), but it's mostly noticeable when he's running down the court or trying to drive with the ball.

I hope his ankles aren't finally catching up with him.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I think the Mavs should still play Dirk at his strengths and get a low-post threat at a different position. I don't see Dirk ever being a dominant low-post player. He does have a few post-up moves though that he turns to now and then. But overall, I just don't see him drastically improving his post game.

I agree with Murphy about letting Dirk create off the dribble more.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by jthig32

That just doesn't make any sense.

[fluid.forty.one]

I don't understand who positive reps people like SMC0007.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

I don't understand who positive reps people like SMC0007.

Thats so Ironic.

[LSMF]

I don't expect to see Dirk driving to the rim anymore, I don't think Dirk ever recovered from the injury he got vs the spurs last season. And that's why he looks like he's lost his speed

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by longsufferingmavsfan

I don't expect to see Dirk driving to the rim anymore, I don't think Dirk ever recovered from the injury he got vs the spurs last season. And that's why he looks like he's lost his speed

I thought he looked fine in the olympics. I personally think something else is up that's not being talked about. He even wore a sleeve on his knee for a game or two early.