Official Dirk is Great Thread

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by iella

Hope you guys are following http://twitter.com/#!/BallinWithBryan for the latest on Dirk's injury.

I hope he's good to go by the time we play the Spurs next week...

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I hope he's good to go by the time we play the Spurs next week...

This.

[Underdog]

Situation losing two stars in a week: Carlisle, "I lost a whole team in the brawl year, this is nothing."

lol

[iella]

^I giggled at that also, UD.

Also,

Dirk said long break between ORL and IND could allow him to come back then.

Fingers and toes crossed!

[Axilla]

good stuff BG

[Murphy3]

Personally, I don't think missing a few games is a big deal to dirk in the MVP race especially when the Mavs lose without him. It just illustrates his true value. I've maintained for years that the Mavs are a 30 win team (or less) without Dirk. I think we're seeing that now. The key for him and the Mavs is for him to come back healthy (obviously)

[#41]

http://www.82games.com/1011/CSORT11.HTM

Amazing how he keeps on piling up numbers late in games. Also a FG% of 60.0 looks pretty nice compared to the guy atop the leaderboard at 38.5.

[dude1394]

Insider Report with the dirkster...

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/tn...nba/index.html

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by #41

http://www.82games.com/1011/CSORT11.HTM

Amazing how he keeps on piling up numbers late in games. Also a FG% of 60.0 looks pretty nice compared to the guy atop the leaderboard at 38.5.

Weird...what's up with the plus/minus? I think the FG% is effected because that top guy just seems to jack up 3s.

[dude1394]

Identifying the NBA's top clutch performers...Who else!

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.c...lutch-players/



Courtside, in the paint, fadeway in your face! Bosh looks like JJB in this one..

Well this was too good not to post..

The Cream of the Crop

Alan Diaz/Associated Press Dallas’s Nowitzski is who you want shooting the ball with a game on the line.


Dirk Nowitzki: Defending Nowitzki is a brutal challenge throughout any game, but it is particularly vexing as end of the game nears. Being 7-feet gives Nowitzki an indisputable advantage, and the high release point on his shot does defenders no favors. Whether in isolation at the elbow, going to work in the post, or coming off a baseline screen, Nowitzki is essentially unstoppable; he may be challenged and does -– on occasion -– miss, but his shot is too inaccessible to defenders for it to be fully thwarted.

Additionally, Nowitzki’s masterful footwork and assortment of fakes earn him trips to the line frequently, and force defenders to think twice before committing to challenging Nowitzki’s shot too strongly.
It’s not enough that Nowitzki is having one of the most efficient seasons of his career; he had to rub it in by being as brutally effective in the clutch as ever. Nowitzki is second in the league in points per minute in the clutch, and has made a fantastic 60 percent of his clutch field goals. Throw in an excellent clutch rebounding (13.9 per 48 minutes), unexpectedly solid assist numbers (5.1 per 48), and the best clutch plus/minus in the N.B.A., and Nowitzki is a no-brainer to top the list.

[Kante]

Dirk is the best midrange shooter in the NBA, and it’s really not even close. Dirk is known for having a seven-foot frame and a sweet stroke, but the key to his success is how good he is at making “ugly” jumpers. Dirk is never quite on balance when he shoots over a defender from the high post or the midpost, but he’s never really rushing either — he takes his time, squares his shoulders to the target, fades away just enough to keep the defender from having any chance of blocking the shot and calmly shoots over him.

There are a number of players who have had “unblockable” shots over the years, either because they shot them so quickly the defender didn’t have time to react (Antawn Jamison comes to mind), or used a ridiculously high release to keep the ball away from the defender (Rasheed Wallace), but they had to sacrifice accuracy in order to keep their signature shots away from potential shot-blockers. That’s not the case with Dirk; his shot is unblockable, but it’s the exact shot he wants. Dirk’s fadeaway is now what Kareem’s skyhook was in the 70s and 80s: a shot that the offensive player is completely comfortable taking and the defensive player has no chance of stopping. (Blasphemy, you say? At 32 years old, Kareem averaged 24.8 PPG on 63.9% True Shooting; before getting injured, Dirk was averaging 24.1 PPG on 63.2% True Shooting.)

The numbers speak to just how devastating Dirk is from mid-range. Dirk makes 3.7 shots from 16-23 feet per game, which is easily the most in the league, and he makes a 53% of his attempts from that area — only Al Horford is more accurate from that range, and almost all of his midrange shots are catch-and-shoot opportunities. Dirk is also effective from the 10-15 foot range — he makes 1.7 shots from that range per game, which is tied for the league lead, and he makes an impressive 53% of those shots. Oh, and Dirk makes 40% of his threes, 76.3% of his shots at the rim, and 88% of his free throws. Dirk Nowitzki is better at putting a basketball in a 10-foot high hoop than you are at just about anything.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...in-the-league/

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Kante

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.c...in-the-league/

Nice...and this seems sig-worthy..

"Dirk Nowitzki is better at putting a basketball in a 10-foot high hoop than you are at just about anything."

[dude1394]

Dirk Nowitzki...Nightmare Fuel!!

http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/phot...ightmare-fuel/


OH GOD DON’T KILL ME HAVE MERCY OH GOD OH GOD I REPENT FOR MY SINS I REPENT FOR MY SINS NO NO NO AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-
[h/t Keith]
Photos via here and here

[GermanDunk]

Pft, my conglomeration of pics and articles about Dirk Nowitzki is growing bigger and bigger.

[#41]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Weird...what's up with the plus/minus?

It's total +/- and +/- per 48 (in the clutch).

[BGMaverick9]

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/1/1...ck-rose-clutch

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.c...ers/#more-8099

[fluid.forty.one]

badass

[bernardos70]

Is he proving he's the MVP while he sits and the Mavs perish in his absence?

[fluid.forty.one]

Dirk is now the 24th all time leading scorer.

[mavErika]

Help me out: What exactly is Dirk making fun of in his twitter reply to C.Kaman? That he's whiter than white, the fact he's barely seen on the court or is it just his regressing hairline? Can't be Casper's high-flying ways that inspired the comparison.

(RT @ChrisKaman: @swish41 Nice job getting ejected out of the Memphis game tonight!(Wow. Now casper the ghost is killin me? Speechless) 11:33 PM Jan 15th via ÜberTwitter )

[fluid.forty.one]

I'm going to go with "whiter than white"

[dude1394]

whiter than white

[SMC0007]

Maybe they secretly have gay sects and Kaman dresses up as Casper...

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Maybe they secretly have gay sects and Kaman dresses up as Casper...

It's actually worse than that:

[Rick41]

Nothing new about Dirk's clutchness, but here's a cool chart. JET also cracks the top 10.

http://www.82games.com/1011/CSORT11.HTM

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by Rick41

Nothing new about Dirk's clutchness, But here's a cool chart. JET also cracks the top 10.

http://www.82games.com/1011/CSORT11.HTM

ha. sort by plus minus.

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

ha. sort by plus minus.

Lol, who would of thought of 3 Mavs up top.

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Weird...what's up with the plus/minus? I think the FG% is effected because that top guy just seems to jack up 3s.

awesome. next time maybe I'll read a thread before posting.

[sefant77]

I give a damn that Terry cracks the Top10

[Usually Lurkin]

Originally Posted by sefant77

I give a damn that Terry cracks the Top10

I'd much rather he be more consistent (produce in quarters 1 through 4, rather than just 4)

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by Usually Lurkin

I'd much rather he be more consistent (produce in quarters 1 through 4, rather than just 4)

Yeah but how are you gonna wave all those fingers around...all game? It's much more convenient to only wave 4 around late in the game...occasionally.

[CadBane]

Man, Dirk is destroying in the clutch. 60% and +43!?

For comparison:

Durant: +39, 39%
Kobe: -9 (lol) 39%
LBJ: +19 33% (lol)

Great to see Kidd, Terry, Tyson and Dirk all Top 10 in +/-

[rabbitproof]

That sort of shows how +/- can be misleading. There is some definite clustering going on. It's just more apparent when you reduce the sample population to situations when lineups are basically static. 1-3 is Dallas, 4-6 is OKC. Then like 8 of the next 9 are all Celtics, Suns, Mavericks or Thunder players.

[SMC0007]

Well the interview on the tickets BAD RADIO with DIRK (that followed Cuban) was awesome..again. It seemed like he was on for 2 hours. Great stuff.

[dalger]

Any chance that someone can put up a link to the interviews with Cuban and Dirk?

[Dim499]

Interview available anywhere by now?

[BGMaverick9]

Originally Posted by Dim499

Interview available anywhere by now?

I've got a guy that usually sends me interviews from Radio Shows. I have already emailed him to see if he can get both of them...if I get something, I'll link it on here.

[jthig32]

Cuban interview.

[dalger]

I think I may have found the Dirk interview:

http://theticket.com/Portals/2/UserF...3/BaD-Dirk.mp3

[dude1394]

That interview was greatness. Dirk in the army marching in his sweats and sleeping in a tent where his feet stuck out the front!!

And then still sleeping in his old room at his mom's in the basement. What a hoot.


It's also on thetickets podcast site.

Dirk admits he probably came back a little early but couldn't take seeing the team struggle. And it's begun to right itself just having him on the floor.