Addressing some common fallacies concerning Dirk

[Murphy3]

I've heard alot being made of Dirk's start this year. Many people have attributed his quick start to him finally being forced to be the man with Nash gone. Other's have speculated that he couldn't have taken this next step with Nash here still in the lineup. Sure, it's definitely possible that it has something to do with Dirk's surge.

But, haven't we seen this before for extended periods of time? Is this something new and exciting from Dirk that we haven't seen before? Sure, there are some changes in his game such as taking the ball to rack more, shooting less threes, posting up more, and attacking the glass harder. But aren't his numbers eerily familiar to some?

Well, being the type of guy that likes to do just a little statistical research and analysis, I'm here to show you that we have seen this type of production before WITH Nash on the court. The means by which he comes to some of the numbers has changed slightly, but putting up MVP type numbers over extended periods of time is nothing new to the Diggler.


Let's take a look at some numbers:

FG 9.3 - 8.8
FGA's 19.9 - 19.2
FG% 47.30% - 45.90%
3pt 2.2 - 1.2
3ptA's 5.7 - 2.8
3pt% 38.60% - 40.70%
FT 6.7 - 9
FTA's 7.4 - 10.4
FT% 90.10% - 86.80%
Pts 27.7 - 27.7
Reb's 9.5 - 10.8
Assists 3.3 - 2.6


Yes, we can see some differences in the numbers. Most notably, the numbers on the right show a more aggressive player getting to the rim 10.4 times a game while shooting less three pointers. We also see a guy that's grabbing more rebounds. But, look at the total points. Look at the FGA's.


Where do these numbers come from? They come from the final 43 games of the 2002-2003 season. You can even go back to the final 57 games of that season and find similar numbers. Dirk had taken over the reigns to this team. He was dominant. He might have been the MVP of the league the second half of the 2002-2003 season.

What happened? Was Nash out the entire second half of the 2002-2003 season? No, of course not. Dirk and Nash played alongside each other just like they had done for years. What happened? Dirk, Nellie, Fin, Nash, and everyone else on the team finally got it. Dirk had to be the go to guy. He performed that task brilliantly.

Well, if he did all of that in 2002-2003 AND in the playoffs (as usual), whathappened last year? I have an interesting email that I sent to several people last April addressing the same issue. Basically, every step that Dirk had taken to make this team his team was nullified by a coach with a new toy. Nellie got the point forward that he had always wanted in Antoine Walker. For about half the season, Walker actually took more shots per game than Dirk. Dirk was relegated to playing second fiddle offensively to Antoine Walker.

Basically, Nellie screwed the pooch. His handling of personnel and coaching strategies last season were some of the worst in the history of the Mavs organization. Yes, I know I'm saying alot, but how could anyone in their right mind make Dirk play second fiddle to Walker? It's just not logical in any manner.

To be brief, Dirk regressed. He took a step back. It wasn't the same Dirk that we had seen developing in the 02-03 season. It wasn't playoff Dirk. Yes, perhaps he should have just told the team to ignore the coach and give the damn ball to him. But hey, let's remember that Dirk was just initially taking his first steps as to being THE GUY on the team in the 02-03 season.

But what's the point of this thread? It's to point out that Dirk COULD have been the Dirk of 04-05 WITH Nash on the court. He had been the same Dirk previously in his career. Anothing point is to point out that we missed out on a year of Diggler domination because of the mismanagement of Nellie. Wouldn't you have liked to have seen this last year? Wouldn't you have liked to see Dirk finishing in the top 3 of the MVP voting? Wouldn't you have liked to see the Mavs getting out of the first round of the playoffs?

Put all the blame on Nellie and anyone else in the organization that made the horrible decision to make a budding MVP candidate take a backseat to Walker.