No one to blame but Dirk

[Dtownsfinest]

Originally Posted by alexamenos

My money is on the dude nuttin' it up and getting better next year....people who have followed his career closely know that there is nothing in his history or character to suggest otherwise.

Past history or recent history? What did he do after he choked after the the Miami series last year?

[Zack]

Dirk is like a Mercedes ML500 trying to pull a 10,000 lb trailer up a hill in the Rocky’s.

He can’t, the tranny slips up, engine sputters, frame starts to contort, and eventually all this leads to a swift death on the side of the road leaving all the passengers stranded.

What we need is a turbo diesel dually who can literally DRAG this team to any opposing team court and crush them, someone and won't seize up under the extreme pressure. Someone who could get us over the mountain pulling 8 horses, 5 people, 4 jet skis and 3 dogs, and 1 NBA championship trophy!

This whole UN approach of allowing a foreign boy to run the show is silly. This team needs a good old fashion American ass kicker as a leader and a true *SuperSTAR*!!!

[mffl03]

sure...blame dirk...and then blame everyone that is associated with the organization as well.....

you can't just point one finger...everyone sucked

[xavier]

I have been coming to this board for sometime now and I've been a huge Mavs fan since 99, and will continue to be one but why does everyone get mad or call out knee jerking when the obvious is being pointed out? This season, although made history, was still a failure, and Dirk like last year, didn't come through. And every post season we all continue to say, dont worry, we will come back. But honestly how many years in a row must that be said. When will we step up?

[Zack]

"I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep."


The New DIRK Motto!

[mavsman]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

Past history or recent history? What did he do after he choked after the the Miami series last year?

Become MVP this year?

[NYMavFan]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

Off topic or maybe it is but does Devean George ever make a shot? Damn..He was useless this year.

He was actually playing great up until his injury late in the season. Never regained his form after that

[NYMavFan]

Originally Posted by mffl03

sure...blame dirk...and then blame everyone that is associated with the organization as well.....

you can't just point one finger...everyone sucked

That's just a stupid thing to say. Yes, let's just blame EVERYONE--that solves the problem.

Get real. Josh Howard played great... he showed serious balls. Stack did in spurts too, though he did have a bad opening game. Devin had great stretches too. Diop was good. Terry was sub-par but not horrible.

Dirk, on the other hand, was simply atrocious. And from what I saw, it was mostly mental, and that's completely preventable.

[Dtownsfinest]

Become MVP this year?

Because the team won 67 games. Have you seen how many voters want they're vote back?

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

Past history or recent history? What did he do after he choked after the the Miami series last year?

He put together an MVP regular season and then kind of sucked for four or five games.

[Dtownsfinest]

He put together an MVP regular season and then kind of sucked for four or five games.

Those 5 games he sucked in outweigh every single one of those 82 meaningless games. Dirk was the best player on the team with the best record. That got him his MVP.

[TomThaMavsFan]

If only Dirk could post up , this series would have went in a total different direction. A PF such as Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett who can play back to the basket kinda ball would have slowed down the pace and allowed the Mavs to set the tone. But at the same time, when a team is coming down the floor hitting circus threes there's nothing you can really do about it, but give them credit for hitting their shots. Nelson knows everything about Dirk, his weaknesses, his strengths, so blaming him for this series might have some weight, but give more credit to nelson for executing his plan on defending dirk.

[AxdemxO]

Dirks defense is soooooooooo baddddddddddd that it hurts to watch. He put no effort into it,Please no one say that Nash is a bad defender after watching this series. It is seriously saddd how Dirk played.

[Knickfan]

It's funny to hear people trash Dirk now... It's so funny, when I would read this board during the season, people did nothing but talk about how great this guy was but he has ONE bad series and guess what, now I hear about how terrible he is....

That's what makes me mad about some fans, people always want to look at things through rose colored glasses. During the season, Dirk played himself BUT if you watch Dirk he's always had some weaknesses. He's never been a good defender and I think he got exploited defensively this series and that really effected him from an offensive standpoint. The reality is Nellie knows Dirks weaknesses and he knew Dirk isn't aggressive enough so he kept people running at him. Johnson was CLEARLY outcoached in this series and Dirk could have gotten more help, well consistent help that is. Howard was the only one who came to play every night everyone else showed up in flashes. As much as I like Dirk though, you are NEVER supposed to get the performance from him that you got!!!! Maybe one game but he only played ONE good game out of six and that's truly unfortunate.

With that being said, I can't think of ONE GM or coach who wouldn't KILL to have Dirk on their team next year. So he has some making up to do with the Dallas organiztion and I think he will but for now, he'll have a year to think about how poorly he played this series!

[endtroducing MASKED]

I don't blame Dirk. I blame the Warriors. those dudes straight up kicked our asses. it was THEIR fault we lost.

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by Knickfan

It's funny to hear people trash Dirk now... It's so funny, when I would read this board during the season, people did nothing but talk about how great this guy was but he has ONE bad series and guess what, now I hear about how terrible he is....

That's what makes me mad about some fans, people always want to look at things through rose colored glasses. During the season, Dirk played himself BUT if you watch Dirk he's always had some weaknesses. He's never been a good defender and I think he got exploited defensively this series and that really effected him from an offensive standpoint. The reality is Nellie knows Dirks weaknesses and he knew Dirk isn't aggressive enough so he kept people running at him. Johnson was CLEARLY outcoached in this series and Dirk could have gotten more help, well consistent help that is. Howard was the only one who came to play every night everyone else showed up in flashes. As much as I like Dirk though, you are NEVER supposed to get the performance from him that you got!!!! Maybe one game but he only played ONE good game out of six and that's truly unfortunate.

With that being said, I can't think of ONE GM or coach who wouldn't KILL to have Dirk on their team next year. So he has some making up to do with the Dallas organiztion and I think he will but for now, he'll have a year to think about how poorly he played this series!

^^^one of the better posts, all the way around. Just a few quibbles.

Dirk is not a horrible defender when matched up against a power-forward who is not a great offensive player....no way in hell can Dirk guard an offensively capable small forward with reasonable quickness, and it's unreasonable to expect otherwise;

Dirk's singular weakness on the offensive end of the floor was never more evident than in this series. He has no lowpost game and he just couldn't take advantage of the Dubs lack of size on the court. The Dubs were quick enough with the doubles and handsy enough that he couldn't put the ball on the floor, so lacking a low post game he just had nothing much to offer.

I was actually quite happy to hear dirk say that he needed to work on his low post game -- that's the first time I've ever heard him say such a thing. A little back to the basket game will make him even more of a formidable offensive force.

Cheers

[Amorphis]

I don't know how you can't lay the blame solely on Nowitzki for this series. With the way Jerry Stackhouse stepped up for his team last night, even a remotely effective Nowitzki would have likely won the game and the series. But Nowitzki just refused to step up and take charge. That's not what MVP's do. MVP's don't go extended periods without even touching the ball. For most of the time that Nowitzki was on the court, the Mavericks were basically playing 4 on 5 ball. The 4 players were rotating and actively moving around, while Dirk just hangs out by the 3 point line. And when the ball DID go to him, he usually had no intentions of shooting. His plan was to wait for the double and then dish the ball out. So the MVP's gameplan was basically to pass the ball and let his teammates make the big shots for him. 8 points. EIGHT! That's not on Avery. This isn't like the NFL where you can blame the coach for not calling any plays for the star receiver. Nowitzki just refused to create space and get himself open. And when he actually did, he clanked it off the rim.

At least this time Nowitzki refrained himself from berating and screaming at his teammates as he's done in past postseasons. Maybe he finally realized that HE'S the reason for his team's failures and not everybody else around him.

[endtroducing MASKED]

I don't think people are giving GS enough credit. they WHIPPED us.

[Grammaton Cleric]

Dirk's position on his team is one of accountability. If Dirk gets the glory for the wins during the regular season (ie: MVP), then he MUST also absorb the bulk of the blame for this fiasco of a series. Especially considering how alarmingly odious his own performance was.

Being a superstar is a two-edged sword.

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by endtroducing MASKED

I don't think people are giving GS enough credit. they WHIPPED us.

see Point #1

[rabbitproof]

Dirk was super passive. Yes, he didn't touch the ball that much in the 2nd half but in the first half, he was back to Game1-4 Dirk.. just holding onto it until the double came.

Tough to swallow.

[destroy ALL]

How the hell is Dirk gonna except the MVP trophy with such a bad showing in rd 1 against the 8th seed.

Dirk: you gotta love him casue hes such a good/nice guy, but you gotta hate him casue hes such a good/nice guy.

[Murphy3]

Easy.. Say 'Thank you for the MVP trophy' and "I'll do better next year"

[DarenG]

Didn't we already know that Dirk is poor defender for his size? Didn't we know that Dirk is not a great low post player? I mean people are acting like this stuff is new. It's not. The difference has been the team has played such great team defense that it covered much of that up until we played GS. We just got exposed.

Basically we placed all our faith on a big man who happens to play like a jump shooter. A good shooter? Hell yes. However, is it really surprising that if his shot goes south this team looks terrible? You can't be that surprised that Dirk like every jump shooter in the league has his shot go south for stretches. If you live by the jumper you die by the jumper. Dirk is not clutch enough to depend on him for every freaking game or every series he plays in.

This team needs a legit low post player. That would do 2 things. It would allow us to close out games from the free throw line. Second, it would prevent teams from double teaming Dirk and destroying our offense. A legit low post player who could draw the double team would also give Dirk wide open shots or a lane for him to drive.

If we don't get a legit low post player it will be much the same next year.

[purplefrog]

Alot of talk about Dirk and Avery, but imo JET seems to be proving that he is not to be counted on in the playoffs. His inconsistent shooting and poor decision-making rank right up there with our leaders (Dirk and Avery) when it comes to the blame game. Let's see we could also mention the lack of bench production, our defensive specialists playing like crap, ..... well you get the idea. It seems to me that we a have a near total meltdown, which brings me back to our coach. I still love Avery but maybe we are finding he has a lot to learn yet (understatement). His inexperience shows.

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by endtroducing MASKED

I don't think people are giving GS enough credit. they WHIPPED us.

I couldn't agree more. All this talk of Dirk didn't do this and Avery didnt do that and blah blah blah....i'm not sayin it doesnt have merit, but the fact is that Golden State had A) A better gameplan B) better execution and C) WAY more desire.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Dirk isn't the only person to blame. But, he's a good place to start.
The bad thing is that he validated the thoughts of so many people that were basing their claims on faulty logic with little to no statistical backing.

Where does Dirk go mentally from here? Does he decide to bust his ass and work on his shortcomings like usual or has the past couple of weeks been too much for him to handle going on from here...

You are right, the blame can be passed around a bit. I just think that it starts like you said with Dirk. I dont see how Dirk could come back from this mentally. I thought if he could come back it was this year after what happened in the finals. We essentially got a goose egg from Dirk in the playoffs. I honestly dont see Dirk being able to change because I think he has peaked, and it mostly is downhill from here. I think the NBA game has adjusted to Dirk for the playoffs. Regular season, teams just dont focus as much and put forth the top effort most of the time.

Did you get a chance to see the comments from Dirk b4 game 4? I learned of this yesterday, and if I knew this statement b4 hand, I would have not put my faith up so high on us coming back. I kinda ignored Dirk's comment after Game 4, but when you add this to his statement b4 Game 4, you have to question Dirk mentally. It is a fact that Dirk is lacking physical, now we got total proof that he lacks mentally as well.

[DevinFuture]

Originally Posted by Amorphis

I don't know how you can't lay the blame solely on Nowitzki for this series .

Originally Posted by purplefrog

Alot of talk about Dirk and Avery, but imo JET seems to be proving that he is not to be counted on in the playoffs. His inconsistent shooting and poor decision-making rank right up there with our leaders (Dirk and Avery) when it comes to the blame game.

And there's your easy answer.
The Jet never left the runway in this series.

[JeopardE]

OK -- Here are my observations of Game 6:

- Zero inside game. One would have thought that after a torturous five games, by now someone in the Mavs organization would have figured out that you can't beat these Warriors from the perimeter. It's understandable that the Mavs have no legitimate post player outside of Stackhouse, but the team showed no aggressiveness in trying to get to the basket at all. Devin Harris probably drove to the hoop one time, Terry, not once, Dirk not once.

- Dirk got eaten alive on defense by every single soul wearing a yellow uniform.

- Lived by the three in the first half, died by the three in the second half.

Plenty of blame to go around. Dirk deserves a good chunk of it for laying one of the largest eggs ever seen in modern times. Avery deserves some too, for two reasons: failing to establish some kind of inside game either by post or by penetration, and failing to realize that switch-and-isolation plays, the staple of the Mavericks offense, are next to useless against a team that is composed of nothing but long athletic guards. Unfortunately in the few instances when it could've worked (I could've sworn I saw Monta Ellis guarding Dirk on several possessions), he failed to take advantage.

I'm a huge fan of Baron Davis now. To watch him hobble back onto the court from the locker room on one leg, limp around unable to play defense or run, and proceed to score 11 straight points was one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen on live television.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Originally Posted by JeopardE

- Lived by the three in the first half, died by the three in the second half.

You would think that Nellie was still coaching OUR team.

I say we lost the game in the first quarter, not the third.

[DevinFuture]

I say we lost the game in the first quarter, not the third.

Exactly. Making 7 of 11 3s early was the worst thing that could have happened. It's the Antione Walker effect.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

Thing about KG is that he can't get the T-Wovles anywhere and frankly I don't think this team's role players are that much better than the Wolves to be honest. If i'm bringing in KG I want him alongside Dirk. Dirk's a beast. I think he would flourish like he did when Finley and Nash were here due to the spotlight being off of him. Being known as that 2nd guy. But its time to give up on him being the #1 option because he's not that and he has never been that. People have been disguised by their mancrush on him.

I really think that KG,Howard and Stack would play great together. I dont see our problem as much with offense, except that we have relied too much on Dirk, and it is time to move forward and involve others more. The biggest issue is on defense. When I think about KG with Damp and Diop, I see the Pistons all over again, plus a better supporting cast.

KG would fit the Mavs on offense and defense. The best of both worlds. We lose Dirk's 25, but get KG's 21. On the flipside, we gain about 10 points or more from better defense from KG. On top of that, we finally got out low post player to play along side Damp/Diop. With KG's passing ability, I think that Damp/Diop would up their numbers because of the high low game with KG.

There is no way to get KG w/o giving up either Howard or Dirk. There is no way I give up Howard at all. Last year, I WOULD have given up Howard first, but after this performance from Dirk, I will give him up first in a heartbeat.

Here is my starting line-up next year:

Harris--PG
Howard-SG
George-SF
KG--PF
Diop--Center

I think that group is very dangerous on both ends of the court. Then we have Terry,Stack, Damp coming from the bench. That is alot of experience coming from the bench.

Look at the line-up...

You have size,quickness,inside and slasher players playing with a stellar defense with great size. Could you all imagine how many offensive rebounds we would get. How could the Spurs match-up with that? Then we really match-up against the Suns. On top of that, GS would not even match-up at all. THey would get pounded, plus KG is the hard-nosed defender who would match the intensity of any player on the floor. To couple this with Avery!!!

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by DubOverdose

IMO, Avery is the main one to blame for this series. Game 1 was just disgusting. Throughout the series he's gone small with George rather than forcing a style upon the Ws. By doing this he's abandoned his system. Last night we started out chucking 3s. Even when Stack was making them, I was yelling at the TV. We all know that's not how the Mavs win games anymore. Ours 3s stopped falling, and the Ws built a huge lead. Yes, this team was hurt by Dirk not being more aggressive, but as you could see, Avery wanted 3 pointers to be shot. He wasn't demanding that players drive to the rim.

If you believe that Avery wants jumpers to be taken like that, then you just dont know Avery at all. There is not a coach in world that would tell you that Avery wanted all those jumpers. Avery did not build that team like that, and has never been a part of his coaching style. Just ask Dirk does Avery encourage jumpers.

[Dirkadirkastan]

Smoov, you're going off the edge. Dirk has come through for the Mavs way more often than Josh, especially in the clutch. We're all disappointed by the recent series but overall that's the way it is. I'm also tempted to think you expected more from Dirk than Josh to begin with, and since Dirk failed to meet the higher standard, you're now throwing him under the bus.

That doesn't mean Josh is better than Dirk; it just means Josh did better at filling his role than Dirk did. That doesn't mean the same thing will happen in another series against another team.

[Rhylan]

We'll never trade Dirk. Because if we do, he'll snap out of it and become Mr. Pissed/King of the Basketball Universe, just like Nash did.

The real solution is to stop drafting guys who require histrionics and being "dissed" by an owner to get a fire lit under their asses.

Dirk is on probation with me.. unless one year from now he looks like a new man, I'll be done with him as the unquestioned star & leader of this team. I'll still be just as big a fan, but I'll be a fan with significantly lower expectations and less faith.

[MeanGreen]

Originally Posted by NYMavFan

I don't post here much. In fact, I haven't posted in over 4 years mostly because I find a couple of high volume posters on here pretty uninformed and irritating. I have been lurking tho so I'm pretty familiar with the new faces.

But I've decided to post tonight because I am freaking disgusted.

Dirk was the difference in this series. He played like a pussy for 98% of the series and is the sole reason that this happened. He didn't even have to play like an MVP for the mavs to win this series. He just had to play decently... aggressively. He didn't.

After last year, I was disgusted at the NBA because the mavs were robbed, plain and simple. After the season, I swore I was done with the NBA. I came back this season though because I wanted justice. I thought it might happen. But obviously, it didn't.

Now what? Dirk is going to live with the stigma of a choker for the rest of his career. He'll be known as the worst MVP choice in the history of the NBA. Is he going to bounce back from this? Will the Mavs? I'd like to think so, but honestly, I don't think so.

I'll be honest about one more thing. I'm pretty much one of the biggest Mavs fans there is. I've been around since 1980. But I've never liked Dirk. If he weren't a Mav, I wouldn't even root for him. He is a flawed superstar. He'll never be a gamer because he's limited physically, and he's soft mentally. I'd like to see him prove me wrong. But I don't think he will.

Next season? I dunno. I'm just disgusted. I hate that Nellie gets the last laugh. He doesn't deserve it. He's a quitter and has a loser mentality.

You know who I feel the worst for, though? Mark Cuban. He's the one that deserves the championship the most... he's been right all along, and he has nothing to show for it. Proof that there is no justice in this world.

Excellent post. I'm right there with you.
You're asking for all hell to break loose when you talk bad about Dirk on this board.

[rabbitproof]

No way around it.

Dirk plays his normal game, we're on for Game 7.

Guy has to take control.

EDIT: Disagree with title though. He's not the only one to blame but if he isn't the primary guy for Game 6, you're fooling yourself.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by NYMavFan

I don't post here much. In fact, I haven't posted in over 4 years mostly because I find a couple of high volume posters on here pretty uninformed and irritating. I have been lurking tho so I'm pretty familiar with the new faces.

Good your postings are disgusting. Weak and wimpy.

[MFFL]

If your best player cannot score on his own (either in the post or driving) then you need another player to pick up the load.

Dirk can't consistently post up other players and he can't consistently drive. So we need other players to do it. Dirk is fine - we just need another threat.

[FINtastic]

Originally Posted by Rhylan

We'll never trade Dirk. Because if we do, he'll snap out of it and become Mr. Pissed/King of the Basketball Universe, just like Nash did.

The real solution is to stop drafting guys who require histrionics and being "dissed" by an owner to get a fire lit under their asses.

No kidding. I had that exact same thought cross my mind when I was tossing the idea of trading Dirk around in my head. He'll probably become Steve Nash II and win 5 straight MVPs to rub our nose in it.