Official Dirk is Great Thread

[mavErika]

great video, but dang, just discovered it myself a few days ago. Was hoping for a new one. And you need to be tough to stand it, as you'll lust for more.

edit: not exactly what I meant, but actually there is more... on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ1nlWD39_E&feature=fvw

kind of a later and extended version, longer, but not as emotional. I liked your link better.
And while I'm at it, a really old(2003) cnn interview with Dirk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOKHo..._embedded#t=43

[GermanDunk]

Haha " Steve looked weird with his hair "...

[fluid.forty.one]

AWESOME video

[SMC0007]

1) Nash departure

2) The rip job in the finals by the refs

3) Otis Smith pants'd us on the Gortat



My top 3 franchise moments of discomfort (in my heart area).

[nowhereman]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

1) Nash departure

2) The rip job in the finals by the refs

3) Otis Smith pants'd us on the Gortat



My top 3 franchise moments of discomfort (in my heart area).

Really? Not getting an unproven center because his team unexpected matched him as an RFA is worse than losing Finley, or getting eliminated by Golden State, or being eliminated at home by a Steve Kerr barrage a game before Dirk came back, or watching Nash drill a 3 in transition to force overtime against us, or the refs not calling the intentional foul on antoine wright, or signing doug christie?

That's f*cked up.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by nowhereman

Really? Not getting an unproven center because his team unexpected matched him as an RFA is worse than losing Finley, or getting eliminated by Golden State, or being eliminated at home by a Steve Kerr barrage a game before Dirk came back, or watching Nash drill a 3 in transition to force overtime against us, or the refs not calling the intentional foul on antoine wright, or signing doug christie?
That's f*cked up.

1) I didn't say top 10.


2) I don't care who the refs sign or don't sign.







Gortat isn't proven of course but I wasn't expecting that schiester to match and it caught me offguard...

[nowhereman]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

1) I didn't say top 10.


2) I don't care who the refs sign or don't sign.







Gortat isn't proven of course but I wasn't expecting that schiester to match and it caught me offguard...

1. You're right. The #3 thing on your list would not crack my top 10 list.

2. How else would you list those things in that order? Don't hate on the oxford comma.

Back to the topic on hand: Check out this badass Dirk vid from his rookie season:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8ziTfhepc

[mavErika]

Back to the topic on hand: Check out this badass Dirk vid from his rookie season:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8ziTfhepc

that's a great video, and even better: this guy has also interesting footage about Dirks time in Germany before his departure to the NBA, but it's in German:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w27KbPfH1oM edit: damnit you, beating me twice)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGTH0...e=channel_page


this Dirk-mix contains the famous suit-buying scene (at around 1:40):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuf6b...eature=related

and this guy catched a lot of his international play on tape(sadly, some of the videos don't work anymore):
http://www.youtube.com/user/Nowitzki...l?blend=3&ob=1

for instance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkkK2...e=channel_page

he also made this Dirk-mix, which I highly recommend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-30Z...e=channel_page


2009 Real NBA Talk with Dirk Nowitzki:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4cyl...ture=quicklist

Also the fresh rookie-Dirk footage encouraged me to enlarge my sig a few pixels, although quality is still crappy.

[twelli]

Originally Posted by nowhereman

Really? Not getting an unproven center because his team unexpected matched him as an RFA is worse than losing Finley, or getting eliminated by Golden State, or being eliminated at home by a Steve Kerr barrage a game before Dirk came back, or watching Nash drill a 3 in transition to force overtime against us, or the refs not calling the intentional foul on antoine wright, or signing doug christie?

That's f*cked up.

....and the loss at LA when the Lakers came back from 50 points down...

[Pongo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w27KbPfH1oM

Young Dirk doin' some work, showing off his at least semi-impressive hops

[mavErika]

this article is just balm for the souls of media-annoyed mavs fans:

If what Nowitzki doesn't know has hurt him, he'll never show it
Sep. 30, 2009
By Jan Hubbard
Special to CBSSports.com

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki should have serious conversations with important people in his life. It seems that those closest to him keep forgetting to provide him with vital information.

For example, someone should have told Nowitzki that players usually get their hair styled before media day, when all the local television stations and print photographers show up.

Nowitzki strolled into the Mavericks' practice gym Monday looking like a combination of a biblical character who had just ridden his camel across the Sahara, and a burned-out surfer dude who hadn't experienced the business side of a comb in months.

Nowitzki called his shoulder-length hairstyle a "summer-beach" look and said, "I'm definitely planning on getting it cut soon."

Despite the charming ragged look, the 2007 MVP looked refreshed from a summer that featured nine weeks off. For the first time in many years, Nowitzki did not play for the German national team and spent much of the summer relaxing and the rest of it getting in shape.

Part of his relief resulted from extricating himself from another situation where someone forgot to tell him something. In this case, it was former fiancée Cristal Taylor, who forgot to tell Nowitzki while living with him that there were eight outstanding warrants for her arrest.

Taylor was arrested at Nowitzki's Dallas home after Game 2 of the Dallas-Denver conference semifinal series in May on a theft of service charge for refusing to pay a bill for dental work. She was later sent to prison for five years for forgery and stealing. She also claimed to be pregnant, but that was later disproved.

The experience was a gut-wrenching one for Nowitzki, and it might have adversely affected a lesser player on the court.

But if there is one misconception about Nowitzki -- and it is certainly promoted by the otherwise entertaining crew at TNT -- it is that he lacks toughness.

Let's make this clear: Dirk Nowitzki is not a woofer or a fighter. Neither is Tim Duncan. Nor Yao Ming. Nor any number of others.

Nowitzki is also the complimentary sort. He doesn't disparage others. He has a habit of telling the truth, which apparently violates some sort of playground ethic.

The TNT fellows have been on him several years, calling him soft, and they certainly have not distinguished between him being mentally or physically soft.

Perhaps they need a little help in examining Nowitzki's purported softness.

After the Mavericks lost Game 1 of the Denver series, Dirk praised the defensive talents of Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen and Nene. The TNT guys went nuts, with Chris Webber saying "Dirk is scared of a defender." Kenny Smith said that "it feeds the stereotype that this guy is playing a little soft."

Nowitzki went out that night, fully aware that his fiancée was about to be arrested and in complete emotional shambles because of his off-court life, and was so scared of the defenders that he scored a mere 35.

The Taylor story went public the next day. Nowitzki's "softness" continued with 33 points in Game 3, 44 in Game 4 and 32 in Game 5.

After the absurd TNT tirades and a devastating personal experience, the "soft" Nowitzki averaged 36 points, 12 rebounds and made 53 percent of his shots in the remainder of the Denver series.

And he still said nice things about the Nuggets, who won the series 4-1.

Mavericks assistant Rolando Blackman was born in Panama and moved to New York when he was 7 years old. He grew up in the asphalt jungles of the city and was such a success at Kansas State and with the Mavericks and Knicks in the NBA that he had a park named after him in Brooklyn.

He also served three years as an assistant coach for the German national team, and in his opinion, Smith, Webber and Charles Barkley need to do a little homework. Blackman is so passionate on the subject of Dirk that he talks non-stop for minutes at a time.

"It all goes down to the cultural aspects," Blackman said. "What people have to understand is Dirk is intensely competitive and intensely confident. But the way he shows it is not the way an American street kid will show it. I grew up in that lifestyle just like Kenny, but Dirk shows his in a completely different way. It's hard for all the jungle warriors to understand that kind of confidence he exudes and how he goes about it because it's just completely different.

"In the German culture, everything is internal. It's not that are not feeling it or thinking about those types of things, it's just that they don't display it in an arrogant or boastful way. You can't tell me and you won't tell me that Dirk is not an intensely confident, competitive player. But it's almost like everybody is waiting for him to have this macho-man display and a street-cred moment and then everybody will leave him alone.

"It's a funny situation with him that they just will not accept how great he is for dropping 25 and 12 every single night and whupping every player who tries to guard him. It's like you can show that greatness but you have to be a macho man to do it. He just doesn't play the macho side of it."

And then Blackman gets even more animated, saying:

"But he puts plenty of foot in people's butts."

It is unlikely that anyone can say it better than that.

Nowitzki and the Mavericks are excited about flying under the championship radar this season. They enter 2009-10 with few people expecting them to compete for the NBA elite.

They believe they have improved with the additions of Shawn Marion, Tim Thomas and Drew Gooden.

Jason Kidd is back, and at age 36, he is still a world-class athlete in tremendous physical shape.

Josh Howard missed 30 games, was not healthy for most of last season and is recovering from ankle surgery. But the Mavericks are optimistic he will be fully recovered.

Jason Terry is 32 and the returning Sixth Man Award winner, so the Mavericks will again have quality play off the bench.

The Mavericks will start the year with seven players who are 30 or older and critics are already dismissing them because they are "too old." But with Nowiztki at 31, the Mavericks have about a three-year window left to compete for a title, and they are not interested in rebuilding. They will compete with their veterans, and they are realistic -- hopeful, but not cocky.

"We're just going to have to see how it works out during the season," Nowitzki said. "I think we're all going to fit in well, but we'll wait and see how it goes. A lot of the great teams got better and made great moves, so we're going to have to see how it works out. I think we can be right there."

Once again, it shows that people are withholding information from Nowitzki. By "right there," he meant in the championship hunt. Apparently no one has told him that it can't happen.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/12289918

certainly some sig-worthy stuff in there, but I just added a different line to mine.
But it's hard to withstand Ro's comment about what Dirk does to people's butts.
Did that sound gay? Made rhyming it even worse?
And is this not the right time to admit how much I love his long, blonde hair?

[dude1394]

It is sad when the idiots at TNT are the "media".

[sefant77]

"Nowitzki strolled into the Mavericks' practice gym Monday looking like a combination of a biblical character who had just ridden his camel across the Sahara, and a burned-out surfer dude who hadn't experienced the business side of a comb in months."

Nailed it

PS: Since years i mute the sound the second they switch into the TNT studio.

[mavErika]

PS: Since years i mute the sound the second they switch into the TNT studio.

Certainly that would be the best for my nerves too, but at the same time I want to know what they have to say about the Mavs. They're not "the media", but, without looking at the numbers, they do have a wide range and reach probably a lot of people with their playoff-coverage who usually don't watch or read about Mavs ball, and some of them may be mislead by the "nba expert"-label to listen to what they have to say and take it without the necessary grain of salt.

[Spurred1]

The TNT crew is there for entertainment, nothing more. They are perceived as part of the the media, but most people who follow basketball/NBA know that TNT isn't a solid source of information, just good for some laughs. Barkley often comes off as terribly ignorant of a great many things-I really can't tell if his buffoon act is real or pretend, nor do I care.
Rarely do they say anything positive about the Mavs, but seem to search strive only for negativity regarding the team. They made a big deal out of Nowitzki's comments on the Denver defense,which was ridiculous. Webber has no place to comment-he's very soft.

[92bDad]

I hope Dirk's new look also shows up with a new attitude. For the record, I like the new look...the hair makes him look like a street baller with attitude.

I'm starting to get the gut feeling that this Mavs team is about to surprise the NBA world!!!

I've been down on them the past couple of years...but I think the hangover from 07' might finally be gone, and this years team will be defined by a whol new way of playing.

Dirk, could play at an MVP level for 09', but will not get the MVP vote because of what happened last time...however, this years Mavs will make a very deep run, even perhaps their first Championship trophy!!!

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by 92bDad

..but I think the hangover from 07' might finally be gone,

I think this is an interesting comment and I pretty much agree with it. It's one of the things I have liked about getting jkiddo in here. Obviously jason isn't the atheletic guy that devin was, but I do believe the mavs needed a very strong point guard leader type. And jkiddo values the things that are needed here, defense, rebounding, durability and teamwork.

I do wish he were more of a threat but they obviously look up to him a lot. I thought that last years team showed quite a bit of grit that I hadn't seen in a while. Hopefully it will continue with the additional talent influx.

[sefant77]

The Mavs like to set up him at the top of the key and have him either go one-on-one or kick out to a shooter if a double-team arrives, leaving defenses with a conundrum, given the difficulty of double-teaming in the middle of the floor. Last season it was a bit easier to guard since Dallas played so many non-scorers around him, but their revamped roster this season could make Nowitzki's life much easier.

The key in 2 sentences...

[thurst0509]

Originally Posted by dude1394

I think this is an interesting comment and I pretty much agree with it. It's one of the things I have liked about getting jkiddo in here. Obviously jason isn't the atheletic guy that devin was, but I do believe the mavs needed a very strong point guard leader type. And jkiddo values the things that are needed here, defense, rebounding, durability and teamwork.

I do wish he were more of a threat but they obviously look up to him a lot. I thought that last years team showed quite a bit of grit that I hadn't seen in a while. Hopefully it will continue with the additional talent influx.

Amen, and IMO, all early signs point to it continuing. Monday's game versus Orlando was such an encouragement to me simply because the players were out there hustling and competing with intensity. And this is only the preseason!

[dirno2000]

2008-09 season: A year earlier, when Nowitzki blew up in the second half of the season, everyone attributed it to the midseason acquisition of Jason Kidd. It makes for a nice story, but he had Kidd for the whole season this time around and the same thing happened. Nowitzki scored 20 points or more in his past 25 games and averaged 26.8 a night on 51.8 percent shooting in the playoffs despite his well-documented personal travails at the time.

The Mavs found Nowitzki nearly three more shots per game, which is never a bad idea, but he was much more one-dimensional than in past seasons. His assist ratio plummeted to 8.9, ranking him below the league average for power forwards; in previous seasons he'd settled among the leaders. Fortunately, he retained his capacity to generate lots of high-percentage shots without turning the ball over. Nowitzki's miniscule 7.1 turnover rate ranked seventh among power forwards, and among players with a usage rate over 20, only Antawn Jamison and Michael Redd fared better.

Nowitzki's shot mix reveals an amazing and rare skill set. Generally, the two highest-value shots in the game are right at the basket and the 3-pointer, but Dirk hardly shoots either of them. Last season only 19.5 percent of his shots came in the immediate basket area, and despite his prowess as a long-range shooter, he took barely two 3-pointers a game, making an ordinary 35.9 percent.

However, he nailed 47.4 percent of his long 2s, and shot even better on closer-range shots. On inside shots that weren't at the basket, or "in-between" shots, Nowitzki hit 48.4 percent; this is an area in which most players shoot in the high 30s. Nowitzki's percentage was the fourth-best in the league in this range among players with at least 200 attempts, which is impressive in its own right (see Pau Gasol comment).

Additionally, he launched a staggering quantity of shots from this range. In the five years for which there is available shot-chart data, only one player had taken more than 400 in-between shots; that was Philadelphia's Andre Miller, with 413 in 2007-08. Last season Nowitzki took 580, crushing the previous high by more than two shots a game.

Nowitzki, in other words, succeeds largely by taking and making shots that nearly every other player in the league misses, and taking them in historic quantities. He's become extremely effective on short and midrange 2s, and he can create them while rarely turning the ball over. And as long as he keeps doing it, he'll remain among the game's elite offensive players.

Scouting report: Nowitzki is a deadly midrange shooter, and at 7 feet can get his shot up over nearly anybody. Because of this, most defenders crowd him aggressively and make him put the ball on the floor, but this creates a lot of driving lanes for him. Moreover, he's developed into one of the best pull-up shooters in the game; few players of his size can stop and go straight up as quickly and easily as Nowitzki does.

The Mavs like to set up him at the top of the key and have him either go one-on-one or kick out to a shooter if a double-team arrives, leaving defenses with a conundrum, given the difficulty of double-teaming in the middle of the floor. Last season it was a bit easier to guard since Dallas played so many non-scorers around him, but their revamped roster this season could make Nowitzki's life much easier.

Defensively, Nowitzki has shown steady improvement. He has a great strip move that he uses against opposing post players, so taking him to the block isn't a great idea despite his lack of muscle. However, he's only average in pick-and-roll defense, and quick 4s can give him a lot of trouble off the dribble. Additionally, he's likely to see a lot more minutes at center this year given Dallas' other additions, which could expose his lack of length and muscle.

2009-10 outlook: Although he's no spring chicken, Nowitzki's game is likely to age extremely well. Size and shooting ability are the two biggest determinants of career length, and Nowitzki is a 7-footer who stands among the best shooters of all time. He also has a lot more help in Dallas this season, which should translate into fewer shots but more assists and higher-quality looks. I'd expect slightly fewer minutes too, which means his scoring average could head back to the low 20s, but he might average four assists a game.

Nowitzki has an opt-out in his contract for the summer of 2010, and if he plays nearly as well as he did last season, he'd be foolish not to exercise it. That makes him one of the plum catches of the 2010 free-agent class, even though everyone assumes he'll stay in Dallas. At 32, it's certain to be his last major payday.

[Murphy3]

People don't remember that Dirk was on fire before Kidd ever arrived....

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

People don't remember that Dirk was on fire before Kidd ever arrived....

The dirkster has pretty much been on fire for a decade...I think the jkiddo has just made it easier for him to be on fire than having to fight for every shot with someone in his face.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

People don't remember that Dirk was on fire before Kidd ever arrived....

I remember he was slumping the last few months before the trade. Then after the trade he played much better. Don't know whether it's X's and O's or just psychology but there was an immediate tangible difference.

[RareMilk]

Dirk gets some coverage on NBA's youtube channel plus a feature of Skin! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2ZH-...eature=channel

[Murphy3]

Actually, I don't think Kidd's done much to improve that Dude. If anything, I'd say that Kidd's probably made it a little more difficult for Dirk.. Kidd's one more guy out there on the court that defenses do not respect when it comes to hitting shots. He's one more player that the defenses can sag off on to put more attention on Dirk. And honestly, I don't think we've seen all that great a playmaking out of Kidd. It's not really his fault, but more an issue with the personnel on the Mavs team not necessarily matching up with Kidd's skill set as a passer at this point in his career.. especially since Kidd rarely breaks people down off the dribble on his way to the bucket nowadays.

[dude1394]

I'll have to disagree in that I think dirk is getting more wide open shots, especially wide open in transition that before. That will increase I expect with gooden/shawn on the team. He's certainly getting easier shots than he was with Avery out there...when it was throw it to dirk and a cloud of dust. But that's probably as much a function of the littlest napoleons leaving as it is with jkiddo.

I agree with jkiddo not breaking down the defense and kicking out as much as the more elite pgs, but devin "couldn't" kick out worth a hoot, so he was usually taking a contested shot it appeared.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by dude1394

I'll have to disagree in that I think dirk is getting more wide open shots, especially wide open in transition that before. That will increase I expect with gooden/shawn on the team. He's certainly getting easier shots than he was with Avery out there...when it was throw it to dirk and a cloud of dust. But that's probably as much a function of the littlest napoleons leaving as it is with jkiddo.

I agree with jkiddo not breaking down the defense and kicking out as much as the more elite pgs, but devin "couldn't" kick out worth a hoot, so he was usually taking a contested shot it appeared.

Devin Harris did as much to get Dirk good looks as Kidd has simply because he forces defenders to actually cover him.

[sefant77]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Devin Harris did as much to get Dirk good looks as Kidd has simply because he forces defenders to actually cover him.

Question: Warriors 07 with Kidd instead of Harris. What woud have been the result?

[SMC0007]

Same result.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Same result.

BS. The whole problem was our tiny backcourt and stagnant offense. Kidd changes all of that.

[spreedom]

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

BS. The whole problem was our tiny backcourt and stagnant offense. Kidd changes all of that.

Agreed. Kidd of 2007 would have been a much better matchup for Davis.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

BS. The whole problem was our tiny backcourt and stagnant offense. Kidd changes all of that.

Davis would have blown by Kidd. Jax and Harrington would have intimidated in the same way. Their crowd would still have been unbelieveable. We STILL would have had Avery.

Our offense may have been stagnant but it wasn't as bad as our defense was. They did what they wanted, whenever and however they wanted.

Same end result. A 1st rnd playoff loss.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Davis would have blown by Kidd. Jax and Harrington would have intimidated in the same way. Their crowd would still have been unbelieveable. We STILL would have had Avery.

Our offense may have been stagnant but it wasn't as bad as our defense was. They did what they wanted, whenever and however they wanted.

Same end result. A 1st rnd playoff loss.

Like Davis has blown by him ever since? Davis is not exactly quick. Davis killed us with his size in that series.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Like Davis has blown by him ever since? Davis is not exactly quick. Davis killed us with his size in that series.

You never thought of Davis as quick? wow. Point is, were talking about in that playoff series. Not now after knee injuries etc. I would still put my money on Davis in a race vs Kidd right now.

Remove Harris in that series and add Kidd, regardless how many games it may take, the end result IMO is...give us a lossss. There whole team killed it, not just Davis. They were bombin 3's from all over the court. Biedrins, Barnes, Azubuike, Harrington, they all played really well.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Davis would have blown by Kidd. Jax and Harrington would have intimidated in the same way. Their crowd would still have been unbelieveable. We STILL would have had Avery.

Our offense may have been stagnant but it wasn't as bad as our defense was. They did what they wanted, whenever and however they wanted.

Same end result. A 1st rnd playoff loss.

A pile of fags can beat a highly superior team only when they are able to maximally exploit one glaring weakness. Make an adjustment that fixes that, and everything is dandy once again.

[dude1394]

We "may" not have had Avery. I'm not sure Jkiddo would put up with his crap.

[twelli]

This thread is supposed to be about Dirk's greatness, why discussing that unfortunate GS series...



Dirk is great, cause he always adds something new to his game, like the headband.

[StackAttack]

In my mind, the only thing that would have 100% changed the outcome of that series would be Carlisle instead of Avery.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by StackAttack

In my mind, the only thing that would have 100% changed the outcome of that series would be Carlisle instead of Avery.

DING DING DING...WE HAVE A WINNA!!! You have just won the Nobel Peace Prize!!

[joemoeschmoe]

I look forward to another year of people calling Dirk soft when he comes back from injuries 10x faster than everyone else and steps up his game in the playoffs to average 32-13...Most people are idiots.