Official Dirk is Great Thread

[MaverickOutlaw]

Craig Miller from the ticket right? He was always a Spur homer when I lived in DFW.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by MaverickOutlaw

Craig Miller from the ticket right? He was always a Spur homer when I lived in DFW.

He had nothing but complimentary things to say about Dirk.. He's just not good at talking basketball.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Underdog

High praise from both Carlisle and Gasol...

"This is the best I've seen him play in his career, to be honest with you," said Lakers forward Pau Gasol, who was defended by Nowitzki for most of the series.
High praise from both Carlisle and Gasol...

And Gasol has already seem him VERY up close and personal.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by MaverickOutlaw

Craig Miller from the ticket right? He was always a Spur homer when I lived in DFW.

Still is.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by dude1394

And Gasol has already seem him VERY up close and personal.

Pau is 0-8 against Dirk in his playoff career...

I'd bring that up the next time someone tries to compare the two, but I doubt we'll ever hear that comparison again!

[Mav Addict]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Pau is 0-8 against Dirk in his playoff career...

I'd bring that up the next time someone tries to compare the two, but I doubt we'll ever hear that comparison again!

I think you are right...these playoff showed that Pau and Bosh are mental midgets, and therefore cannot carry Dirk's jock strap

[mavs777]

Originally Posted by Mav Addict

I think you are right...these playoff showed that Pau and Bosh are mental midgets, and therefore cannot carry Dirk's jock strap

dont forget boozer

[dalger]

Dirk is reportedly taking his love for the game of tennis a step further. According to an article at SPIEGEL Online, Dirk is on this season's roster of the TG Würzburg, which is a tennis club in Dirk's hometown. Their season runs until late July.

Roland Mayer, one of his potential teammates, said: "Dirk wants to play. He's fired up to be a part of the team." Considering that the season has already started, "Dirk constantly wants to know how things are going."

Needless to say (I still say it) that Dirk would only join them after the NBA season is over, if at all. One might want to add that said Roland Mayer happens to be the husband of Dirk's sister Silke. Oh, and the team plays in the ninth division, so these guys are pretty bad and want to play some tennis just for fun.

Even if Dirk only played one game for the team some time in July, it's safe to say that his opponent would have the time of his life.

While it's of no importance to the Mavs and their current postseason, it would be another classic Dirk move to go back to Germany after the season and play for some bush league tennis club to have some fun. Pretty down to earth, as always.

[Zaknaf3in]

Originally Posted by dalger

Dirk is reportedly taking his love for the game of tennis a step further. According to an article at SPIEGEL Online, Dirk is on this season's roster of the TG Würzburg, which is a tennis club in Dirk's hometown. Their season runs until late July.

Roland Mayer, one of his potential teammates, said: "Dirk wants to play. He's fired up to be a part of the team." Considering that the season has already started, "Dirk constantly wants to know how things are going."

Needless to say (I still say it) that Dirk would only join them after the NBA season is over, if at all. One might want to add that said Roland Mayer happens to be the husband of Dirk's sister Silke. Oh, and the team plays in the ninth division, so these guys are pretty bad and want to play some tennis just for fun.

Even if Dirk only played one game for the team some time in July, it's safe to say that his opponent would have the time of his life.

While it's of no importance to the Mavs and their current postseason, it would be another classic Dirk move to go back to Germany after the season and play for some bush league tennis club to have some fun. Pretty down to earth, as always.

Read that as well and wasn't sure if I wanted to bring it up, as it sounded a bit like a fallback-plan to me.

[dalger]

Yep, it would be something to kill time during the offseason. If he plays tennis anyway, he can as well join a couple of guys and make it just a little more competitive. It's the level of play (again, 9th division) where guys know that they have a game on Sunday and still go on an all-night drinking tour on Saturday.

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Craig Miller is terrible when it comes to talking basketball. The segment on Dirk is just absolutely terrible.

And it's not just Craig Miller, but a whole host of people who are now on the Dirk bandwagon. Since these late-arriving Dirk respectors have been bashing Dirk for a decade, they can't admit that they've been wrong hence Dirk must have made dramatic improvements in his game (the sort of improvements they've been saying that he needs to make all along by no coincidence).

For instance, I heard one commentator say that the play late in the 4th Q of game 3 (the left hand hook play) exemplified the *new* Dirk because now instead of sitting outside and settling for the jumper Dirk is flooring the ball and going inside....

...yeah, right, that's only new if you haven't watched Dirk play for the last decade or so....

Dirk has had an excellent playoff run thus far, but what's obviously different is the mavs are getting a lot of good play from people around Dirk.

[Murphy3]

Yep, Dirk's actually taking the ball to the rim less than he did in the middle of last decade. He's just making more intelligent decisions as to when to attack the rim.

[alexamenos]

From what I can recall....a lot of craig miller's analysis of dirk's game boiled down to watching games 3 and 4 of the Miami series and game 6 of the one-shot-Warriors series......

IOW, he cherry picked 3 of the worst games in Dirk's postseason career and made that as his starting point. WTF? Why not start with game 5 of the '06 WCF and Game 5 of the '07 series and then tell me how much Dirk's game has evolved over the years?

Yeah, Dirk has made incremental improvements, added bits and pieces, to his game from '10 to '11, just as he did from '01 to '02 and from '02 to '03, etc., etc....But I think the folks who think they're seeing some radically new Dirk are sorely mistaken....he's great today, and he's been great for a long time.

[Murphy3]

Dirk has definitely improved. His low post game is more refined. He picks when to drive much better than in the past. His mid range game is just devastating. But, Dirk was already playing at a Hall of Fame level back in the mid 00's.

Anyways, it was interesting hearing Legler this morning on 103.3. He said that he believes Dirk has 5 years left in his prime.

[dude1394]

I actually did think I saw something a little different in the Denver series. Martin or anyone was on him he took em straight to the block. He abused carmelomdown there.

A lot of this however is because we have much better pg play and TONS more movement in our offense. The little Napoleon would just camp him out at the free throw line and he had to make everything happen himself. That was if they couldmactually get it to him there, half the time he had to come out even further.

Who would have thought coming off a baseline pick and getting the ball before you can be shoved tom the three point line would work?????

[Scoobay]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Dirk has definitely improved. His low post game is more refined. He picks when to drive much better than in the past. His mid range game is just devastating. But, Dirk was already playing at a Hall of Fame level back in the mid 00's.

Anyways, it was interesting hearing Legler this morning on 103.3. He said that he believes Dirk has 5 years left in his prime.

I think this is not only interesting, but very relevant to what the mavs do in terms of building their future rosters. With a still in his prime Dirk in place, it would make it that much easier to build around, swap pieces in and out as needed, etc.

Couple things come to mind - his raw athleticism is not a huge part of his game so he's got a good chance of staying at this high level. But one thing we don't know is when will his inner drive to compete will start to dwindle. In any event, 5 years sounds like a long time given his age... i'd be hopeful for 2-3 years of prime, followed by 2-3 years of still good but not dominant.

[tsar]

Can anyone post the new Q&A that Dallas Morning News had with Dirk recently?

[dude1394]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dal...#ssStory181775

By BRAD TOWNSEND
The Dallas Morning News
btownsend@dallasnews.com
Published 12 May 2011 12:10 AM

Dirk Nowitzki returned to work Wednesday, three days after a sweep of the Lakers that stunned the NBA and propelled him back to the national forefront, as though he’d somehow been AWOL.

Nowitzki rewarded himself by indulging in his first pizza “in a long time” but said he otherwise did or felt nothing different since Sunday’s clincher over L.A., when American Airlines Center fans gave him goose bumps.

Nowitzki emphasized that he and his teammates will pour their focus and energy into the Western Conference final, which starts Sunday or Tuesday. But after practice, he paused for a lengthy sit-down with The News, during which he issued many thank yous while reflecting on his Mavericks career.

“It’s been an amazing ride, 13 years here,” he said. “There’s been some great ups and some great downs. The franchise stuck with me and I think that’s the best thing, how the city still embraces me.

“You know, I think we could have broken this team up numerous times, especially the last couple of years. But Donnie and Mark always stuck with me and said ‘This is our guy. We’re going with him.’ That means a lot to me.”

President Donnie Nelson and owner Mark Cuban would have laughed at hearing those words. If anything, it is Nowitzki who has time and again stuck by the franchise, most recently last July, when he became an unrestricted free agent by choosing to return, with a slightly discounted contract, no less.

For perspective, understand that the Mavericks are about to play in the fourth Western Conference final in the franchise’s 31-year history.

It will be Nowitzki’s third conference final over an eight-year span, under his third head coach.

The only players remaining from Dallas’ last conference final appearance, 2006, are 32-year-old Nowitzki and 33-year-old Jason Terry. Nowitzki is the lone holdover from the team that reached the 2003 conference final.

“Dirk has sacrificed so much for this franchise, it can’t be reduced to words,” Nelson said. “There’s so much that he’s done that fans will never know. He loved this city when it wouldn’t love him back in the early years.


“He stood up for it in ’06 and ’07 when critics said we were failures that would never recover. He chose it last summer when he could have taken an easier path to the championship. There isn’t anything he hasn’t put on the line for this franchise and this city.”

When told Nelson’s words Wednesday, Nowitzki sat back in his chair and shook his head.
“That’s powerful,” he said. “But you know I hate talking about myself, right?”
Yes, Dirk, we know. We have known that since you arrived in Dallas in the summer of ’98 as a 19-year-old German kid who had never had a bank account.
You brought your own pillow on that trip because you were bunking at then-coach Don Nelson’s house and you weren’t sure Nellie had extras.

Before Wednesday’s interview with The News, Nowitzki stood after practice, patiently answering media members’ questions for 20 minutes. Because that’s what franchise players are supposed to do.
Even when some of the questioners are the very ones who criticized the franchise player after the Mavericks blew a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA Finals. Ditto the next year, when 67-win Dallas was toppled in the first round of the playoffs.

Losses sting

On Wednesday, he spoke of the sting, not from the criticism, but the defeats. As for the fact that Charles Barkley and other national talking heads suddenly are again praising him, Nowitzki shrugged.
“Really, it’s not about that to me. I want to win a championship before I retire. That’s my goal. … I don’t play for anything else. That’s really all that’s left in my career. We’ve got a great shot this year, so we’ve got to go for it. We’re going to be one team out of four that’s still playing, and that feels good.”

The first time he found himself a step away from the Finals was 2003. In that year’s Western Conference final, the Mavericks won Game 2 at San Antonio to take homecourt advantage.
But with eight minutes left in Game 3, Nowitzki sprained his left knee and never returned to the series, which San Antonio won in six games. As he reflected on that series Wednesday, Nowitzki smiled as he ticked off the names of teammates Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Nick Van Exel and Walt Williams.

“Steve and Mike were really big for me my first couple of years, the way they took care of me,” Nowitzki said. “Steve always made sure I wasn’t sitting at home, or in the hotel.
“I don’t know if I would have made it without them being so nice to me and showing me the ropes, on and off the floor. Those were special times. They taught me how to be a professional.”
The 2006 Western Conference final against Phoenix was tied 2-2 when Nowitzki rallied the Mavericks from a Game 5 deficit by scoring 50 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, doing much of it against future teammate Shawn Marion.

In the conference semifinals, his three-point play in the closing seconds of Game 7 at San Antonio forced overtime and ultimately led to a breakthrough victory for the franchise. But those clutch performances, as well as those in Games 1 and 2 of the Finals, were all but forgotten after Miami rallied to win that series.
“I remember both sides, obviously,” Nowitzki said. “I remember going on a drinking binge for weeks, just so depressed. But the time leading up to the Finals was some of the best basketball I played in my career, I think.
“And it was some of the best times we had, with the city being so excited. It was a special ride until the Finals, unfortunately.”

Popular man

Nowitzki recalled walking into Dallas restaurants during those playoffs and receiving standing ovations. As Dallas lost first-round series in three of the next four seasons, he must have wondered whether he would experience Dallas’ full embrace again.
But Nowitzki and his teammates did indeed experience it on Sunday at American Airlines Center, when they walloped the two-time defending champion Lakers by 36 points.
“The place in Game 3 and Game 4 was as crazy as I’ve heard it,” Nowitzki said. “Then at the end, the fans singing the ‘Goodbye’ song. I mean, I had goose bumps.
“That was another special moment I probably will never forget. There will be so many special moments once I retire. That will definitely be one I’ll remember, but ultimately it was great beating the Lakers, but if we lose in the next round, it will mean not as much.”

For the rest of the playoffs, he’ll look forward. But on Wednesday, he recalled the pivotal 90-minute meeting he had at Cuban’s house last July, when he was briefly a free agent.
He said he just wanted to hear reassurance from Cuban that the Mavericks would continue a win-now approach.
“I already knew I wanted to stay,” Nowitzki said. “Mark hit the nail on the head when he said, ‘Look, we’re in this together. We’ve been through a lot. How sweet would it be if we could actually win a championship together?’”
Nowitzki said that at the end of the meeting, he stood, hugged Cuban and said, “Hey, let’s do it. I’m in.”
Exactly where he’s been for 13 seasons.

[dude1394]

But Nowitzki and his teammates did indeed experience it on Sunday at American Airlines Center, when they walloped the two-time defending champion Lakers by 36 points.
“The place in Game 3 and Game 4 was as crazy as I’ve heard it,” Nowitzki said. “Then at the end, the fans singing the ‘Goodbye’ song. I mean, I had goose bumps.
“That was another special moment I probably will never forget. There will be so many special moments once I retire. That will definitely be one I’ll remember, but ultimately it was great beating the Lakers, but if we lose in the next round, it will mean not as much.”

Sometimes fans (well I do anyway) forget that they effect the players, that they are human just like them. Nice to hear that the dirkster felt the love..

I know one thing..I'll be there when he hangs 'em up, it had damn well better be here.

[Murphy3]

I obviously want this title for my own selfish reasons.. I have invested alot of time into the Mavs over the past 20+ years. But honestly, at this point, I want the title for Dirk more than anything. It wasn't the case last year with the Rangers. I didn't look at Michael Young and say "I want this thing more for him than for myself".. but it's the case this year with the Mavs. I cannot think of any professional athlete that is more "deserving" of the opportunity to compete in the finals and win a championship than Dirk..

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Dirk has definitely improved. His low post game is more refined....

Absolutely Dirk looks better with his back to the basket, etc....

...but my point is that the reason the Mavs are 8-2 this post season rather than 2-4 is not because Dirk is incrementally greater than he was last year (or the year before, or the year before...) but because of the play of guys around Dirk piled on top of Dirk's greatness.

Also, yeah i'm rooting like hell for Dirk to get one....

[Axilla]

just came in to say Dirk is the Man.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by alexamenos

Absolutely Dirk looks better with his back to the basket, etc....

...but my point is that the reason the Mavs are 8-2 this post season rather than 2-4 is not because Dirk is incrementally greater than he was last year (or the year before, or the year before...) but because of the play of guys around Dirk piled on top of Dirk's greatness.

Also, yeah i'm rooting like hell for Dirk to get one....

I can agree with that.. although I think alot of it has to do with the inherent mismatches that Dirk creates.. They finally have someone that can make them pay for such mismatches.

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

I can agree with that.. although I think alot of it has to do with the inherent mismatches that Dirk creates.. They finally have someone that can make them pay for such mismatches.

Certainly....Dirk was creating the same mismatches in '08 when J-Ho, Kidd, Devean George and Stackhouse went a combined 2-103 or whatever it was they shot.....

[alexamenos]

He's the German Moses

[41mvp]

Originally Posted by alexamenos

He's the German Moses

haha this song is so good!!!

[iella]

It's like Tim is reading d-m.com:

Recognition for Dirk is long overdue

Originally Posted by Tim MacMahon

No matter what you might hear on TV, Nowitzki isn't in the process of proving he's the kind of player who can put a team on his back during the playoffs. He's been one of the NBA's premier playoff performers for more than a decade, as evidenced by the fact that he's one of four players in history with career postseason averages of better than 25 points and 10 rebounds.

The sudden change in the perception of Dirk that occurred while the Mavs busted out the brooms on the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers is simply proof that people haven't paid close enough attention to his career.

Long article, go read the rest yourself if you are so inclined..

[Mav Addict]

Originally Posted by iella

It's like Tim is reading d-m.com:

Long article, go read the rest yourself if you are so inclined..

Believe me you would be surprised to know that most writers get the good stuff from team message boards.

We know Fish and DLord pops in here from time to time...Tim hates the Mavs so I doubt he's on D-M.com....if he is on here, im sure he has plenty of red boxes next to his name.

[Skywalker]

Dirk gets All-NBA love for 11th straight season

By Tim MacMahon
DALLAS -- In what has become an annual rite of spring, Dirk Nowitzki got All-NBA recognition.

Nowitzki made the All-NBA second team this season. The Mavs could be seeing the two first-team forwards -- Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Miami's LeBron James -- over the next month.

This is the 11th consecutive year Nowitzki has been an All-NBA pick. He's been a first-team selection four times, a second-team selection five times and a third-team selection twice.

Two other Mavericks received All-NBA votes. Tyson Chandler got seven and Jason Kidd got one.

Here’s the full balloting with position, player, team, first-place votes and total points:

2010-11 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
Position Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points
Forward LeBron James, Miami (119) 595
Forward Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (69) 492
Center Dwight Howard, Orlando (118) 593
Guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (98) 551
Guard Derrick Rose, Chicago (118) 593

2010-11 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM
Forward Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers (2) 259
Forward Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas (47) 437
Center Amar’e Stoudemire, New York (2) 258
Guard Dwyane Wade, Miami (24) 392
Guard Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City 184

2010-11 ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland 135
Forward Zach Randolph, Memphis 67
Center Al Horford, Atlanta 62
Guard Manu Ginobili, San Antonio 106
Guard Chris Paul, New Orleans 157

Congrats to the Dirkster, even though he got robbed.

[markus1234]

2nd team is a joke.

Durant: .462 .350 0.88
Dirk: .517 .393 0.89

nuff said.

Durant takes more shots and gets more FT's from the refs. And this makes him a "better" forward than Dirk ?

[Skywalker]

Dirk still was the PF with the most votes though, so if the all-nba teams were built like a regular team (one SF and one PF) he would have got the spot in the 1st team.

[nikeball]

Apparently Russell Westbrook > Chris Paul? lol

[Sportstudi]

Durant over Dirk is a joke. Now I want OKC even more in the WCF just to get Dirk the chance to beat up Durant.

[fluid.forty.one]

"(Dirk) brought your own pillow on that trip because you were bunking at then-coach Don Nelson’s house and you weren’t sure Nellie had extras."

This is my favorite thing ever.

[CadBane]

Dirk really should be 1st team over Durant.

They had almost identical PERs (Durant had a slight edge) but Dirk had a flat out superior on/off +/-, much better crunch numbers, and led his team to a better record despite no second all-star like KD had in Westbrook.

[markus1234]

Hopefully we can beat (or maybe even sweep) OKC and then Dirk can make some funny jokes in the post game press conference about his 2nd team status.

I mean, now he is officially not the best player in this series (if we play OKC). This is what the voters say.

[dude1394]

Dirk was asked about this today....he mumbled something...
I think it was f'em. Or something along that line.

[Rick41]

More fuel to his ever growing fire of proving people wrong.

[CadBane]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Dirk was asked about this today....he mumbled something...
I think it was f'em. Or something along that line.

Did he really seem upset by it? That would be cool. But usually Dirk doesn't give a s**t about those kind of accolades.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by CadBane

Did he really seem upset by it? That would be cool. But usually Dirk doesn't give a s**t about those kind of accolades.

Nah he didn't give a crap one way or the other. I believe the quote I heard was the one I bolded in his dmn interview