If Dirk is a choker, so are these clowns

[Captain Disaster]

It makes absolutely NO DIFFERENCE how you lose, you just lose. It is ridiculous to label Dirk a choker. He has delivered MANY more times in the playoffs, under pressure than he hasn't. There is a reason MJ, Magic, Bird, etc... were the greatest ever.

No one truly believes that Dirk, Nash, Kobe, LeBron, etc... are in the elite class of the three above. Choke is a ridiculous word to describe a loss. A loss is a loss; a win is a win. It doesn't matter if it is by 50 or by 1; people are just tremendously disappointed, shocked if you will. Well, don't be shocked for too long; apparently Golden State is not done yet: they really are THAT GOOD. Basketball purists have ALWAYS known about Baron Davis (he's just never been healthy and consistent); why is everyone so surprised? Stephen Jackson has been impressive in previous postseasons. Doesn't JRich remind you of a young Michael Finley? Barnes is just playing flat out over his head. Harrington can definitely shoot. Biedrins is a young version of Kirilenko, sort of AK47-lite. And c'mon, folks! Nellie is one of the greatest coaches in NBA history; we all know he thrives on mismatches and small ball. Right now he has a team with no fear who also happen to be very athletic; they are hotter than ANY other team in the league right now, and if they dispatch Utah, they may may very well win it all this year, barring injury.

Dirk is not a problem; their are MANY other teams who would LOVE to have Dirk, AND our several 50+ seasons he has given us. All these whiners; it's time to get over it, get on with it, or get off the bandwagon and switch to another team or another sport. We've hashed and rehashed everything by now, we don't need to keep repeating it ad infinitum. In the end, it just wasn't our year. Dirk did the best he could; he can only be Dirk just like everyone has to be themselves also, and he's done A LOT MORE winning then everyone else in the last few years.

[And1]

Originally Posted by kingmalaki

1. Tracy McGrady. Mega talented and has never been out of the first round.
2. Paul Pierce. Completely non-descript in the postseason.
4. Kevin Garnett. Two career playoff series won.
5. Vince Carter. Done next to nothing in the postseason.
6. Carmelo Anthony. Nothing of note done in postseason play.
7. Yao Ming. See McGrady.
8. Jermaine O'Neal. Can't even get his team through the East or keep a consistent record.
9. Stephon Marbury. ROFL.

I would argue that all of the above players were never on a team good enough to win 407 regular season games in 7 years. KG came close in one season, but his team was not as good as LA (especially with his starting PG being injured). Again, it seems like Dirk's surrounding talent is really discounted on this board.

Kobe Bryant is the perfect comparison for this point. He went from having help and winning 3 titles, to having little to no help and not being able to get out of the first round. He didn't become a worse basketball player....his surrounding talent just got worse.

Now have any of the players on that list been held to 8 points in an elimination game? There is a difference between playing well and losing and playing like garbage and losing, especially to an #8 seed (what, 3 times in history?).

I can see that, love the kobe example