Dirk hot stretch

[Murphy3]

I've thought for the past couple of years that Dirk's numbers had dropped for a couple of reasons..
1. decreased minutes
2. he's decided to take a back seat

I understand playing fewer minutes as he gets older. Obviously, keep him fresher for longer. I suppose you can say the same thing with taking a bit of a backseat. But, I think a bit of it was mental. He was getting older and didn't always feel as if he could do the same things as he did when he was younger. Cuban said the same thing on TheTicket. Dirk sometimes feels like he's older and can't do what he has always done, but it's simply not true. He's always been a bit of a pessimist and he has been pessimistic about his game feeling that there has been more of a decline than there actually has been..

But, for whatever reason, Dirk has decided to no longer take a back seat. Over the past 13 games, Dirk has averaged:
24 points
32.3 minutes
.534 FG%
.377 3pt %
.898 FT %
7 rebounds
1.1 blocks
and only
1.5 Turnovers.

He's taking 17 shots a game... He's being assertive.. It finally appears as if he's saying "no one else is doing it, so I suppose I should". He's taking over offensively. With a team hovering around the 6th-8th seed, it would be great to see him continue to look to be the man offensively..to no longer take a back seat. His numbers over the past 13 are in line with the absolute prime of his career. It truly appears that he could average 21-22 a game if he would not defer... It's not like there are better options... We don't need fewer looks for Dirk in lieu of more opportunities for JJB...