Official Dirk is Great Thread

[dude1394]

You da' man Dirk!!


Nowitzki, who scored 23 points in the win to give him 26,953 in his career, received two standing ovations from the sellout crowd at the American Airlines Center. The first occurred during the next break in play. The next came during a timeout a few minutes later, following a video on the arena big screens that showed all of his milestone shots.
Holger Geschwindner, Nowitzki's longtime shot doctor and mentor, was in the crowd. Geschwindner began developing Nowitzki as a lanky teenager in Germany and continues to make three visits to Dallas per season to work with him in addition to their summer sessions.


The one-legged fade has helped Dirk Nowitzki move into ninth on the NBA scoring list past Hakeem Olajuwon, but the
ESPN Stats & Information recaps Dirk Nowitzki's accomplishments, comparing him to Hakeem Olajuwon and noting what he needs to do to move further up the NBA scoring list.




"It's great for him to be here and see it," Nowitzki said. "He meant so much to me in my career and he still does. I'm 36 years old and we still work on my game like I'm 21 years old. It's fair to say that without him I wouldn't be sitting at number 9 right now.


"If you know him, he rarely gets excited. It's hard to get a smile out of him. Maybe he was smiling a little bit. He'll probably critique me on the five shots I missed. That's just him."


Nowitzki, a 12-time All-Star who is averaging 20.9 points this season, is likely to be the seventh-leading scorer in NBA history within a couple of months. The next players he would pass are Elvin Hayes (27,313) and Moses Malone (27,409).


"Dirk has earned everything he's gotten, and every step up the ladder he takes is a reflection of his effort and his focus," Mavs owner Mark Cuban said before the game. "To be the greatest international scorer ever is an amazing accomplishment. We're glad to have him here."



Added coach Rick Carlisle: "It's just a tribute to his greatness. Guys like him that live their entire life committed to excellence are able to do things like this, and that is why he is so special."

[dude1394]

You da' man Dirk!!

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/...s-scoring-list
Nowitzki, who scored 23 points in the win to give him 26,953 in his career, received two standing ovations from the sellout crowd at the American Airlines Center. The first occurred during the next break in play. The next came during a timeout a few minutes later, following a video on the arena big screens that showed all of his milestone shots.
Holger Geschwindner, Nowitzki's longtime shot doctor and mentor, was in the crowd. Geschwindner began developing Nowitzki as a lanky teenager in Germany and continues to make three visits to Dallas per season to work with him in addition to their summer sessions.

The one-legged fade has helped Dirk Nowitzki move into ninth on the NBA scoring list past Hakeem Olajuwon, but the
ESPN Stats & Information recaps Dirk Nowitzki's accomplishments, comparing him to Hakeem Olajuwon and noting what he needs to do to move further up the NBA scoring list.

"It's great for him to be here and see it," Nowitzki said. "He meant so much to me in my career and he still does. I'm 36 years old and we still work on my game like I'm 21 years old. It's fair to say that without him I wouldn't be sitting at number 9 right now.

"If you know him, he rarely gets excited. It's hard to get a smile out of him. Maybe he was smiling a little bit. He'll probably critique me on the five shots I missed. That's just him."

Nowitzki, a 12-time All-Star who is averaging 20.9 points this season, is likely to be the seventh-leading scorer in NBA history within a couple of months. The next players he would pass are Elvin Hayes (27,313) and Moses Malone (27,409).

"Dirk has earned everything he's gotten, and every step up the ladder he takes is a reflection of his effort and his focus," Mavs owner Mark Cuban said before the game. "To be the greatest international scorer ever is an amazing accomplishment. We're glad to have him here."

Added coach Rick Carlisle: "It's just a tribute to his greatness. Guys like him that live their entire life committed to excellence are able to do things like this, and that is why he is so special."

[EricaLubarsky]

Dirk is now 9th in points but 19th in shot attempts and 14th in misses.

He's absolutely insanely efficient, and eveN more impressive since he isn't a post player and most of those are coming from jumpers.

[sike]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Dirk is now 9th in points but 19th in shot attempts and 14th in misses.

He's absolutely insanely efficient, and eveN more impressive since he isn't a post player and most of those are coming from jumpers.

GREAT INFO, EL!

[dude1394]

http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2014/11/...sacramento-98/

Tyson Chandler
On Dirk moving up the scoring list:

“I can’t say enough about how proud I am of him and the things he’s been able to accomplish. He’s the most humble player. He’s an example for us all and every young player coming up of what hard work and dedication can do and the things you can accomplish in this league. He was a player that was almost [written] off early in his career, and there were a lot of people who thought that he would be able to play in this league. This organization believed in him and a few people around him believed in him. He continued to work and continued to believe in himself. You see where he is now.”


Tyson is pretty great as well.

[Sportstudi]

Just went through the Hakeem vs. Dirk thread on clutchfans... some posts over there are beyond ridiculous. Acting like Dirk is just an overhyped foreign prospect, just some lucky guy who never faced double- or triple-teams, never saw any good defense against him. Just utter nonsense. I mean, don't get me wrong. If I compare Dirk and Hakeem, for me it's Hakeem all the way. I might get crucified for it around here, but while they're about equal in their offensive game (Dirk has more range, Hakeem the better post game), Hakeem's defense was just unreal. And that really makes the difference here. Probably the 2nd best defensive C of all time after Russel. Loved watching him play, I honestly admit it.

I have Hakeem in my Top 10 (somewhere around 7-8, he played for Houston and I can't stand Houston, but I have no problem to give credit when credit is due) and Dirk around #13-15. But some people over there act that Dirk isn't even within #30. Dirk defense was about slightly above average in his prime. He was never a defensive stalwart like Hakeem, but he wasn't a huge liability either as some people on clutchfans think. Sure, he is now much slower and sometimes it becomes quite obvious that he has lost a step and has become a weakness on defense.

And some "arguments" over there were like he had Nash... I loved Nash when he was here, but while playing in Dallas he was nowhere close the player he was in Phoenix. So, that's just idiotic to use Nash in that regard. And Kidd... Kidd was 38 years old when Dallas rang in 2011. Still solid, but far away from his prime during his days with New Jersey. Tyson Chandler? As much as I like Tyson as a player and a human (and I'm glad that he's back), I doubt he would have won DPOY in 2012 if Miami had won the title one year earlier. Marion? Same like with Kidd. Solid, but also a clear step below his days when playing with the Suns. Peja? He was an all-star 8-9 years earlier. Please. He retired after winning with Dallas. Terry? Come on, the JET was a solid 2nd and 3rd (these days) option, but without Dirk that team was flat out garbage. Dallas went 2-7 in 2011 without Dirk and lost the first two games after he came back while still trying to find his groove.

On NBA.com there is right now a poll where you can vote who's the NBA's alltime best international player. Duncan would be my first choice, but as he's an American citizen by birth, went to college in the US and represented the US internationally, I have a very hard time considering him as an international player. Hakeem in that regard is slightly different as he was born in Nigeria and didn't move to the US before college. He also got US citizenship in 90's and not earlier. Well, if you see Hakeem as an international player, then it's him. Otherwise, it's Dirk all the way.

[dude1394]

Having "clutch***" in the dirk thread dirties it up. I would suggest removing it.

[sefant77]

Hakeem is an alltime great but as usual they forgot that his (and their) only championships are sponsored by Jordans Baseball Brainfart

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Hakeem is an alltime great but as usual they forgot that his (and their) only championships are sponsored by Jordans Baseball Brainfart

Dirk's career has no such asterisks.

[markus1234]

Originally Posted by Sportstudi

just some lucky guy who never faced double- or triple-teams,

Dirk had a 42-18 game vs. prime Duncan, Bowen and Robinson
Dirk had a 37-15 game vs. prime Duncan, Bowen, Ginobili
Dirk had a 35-15 series against prime Kevin Garnett
Dirk scored 48 points on 15 shots vs. Ibaka, Durant and co.
Dirk scored 40 points vs. Ibaka, Durant and co.
Dirk had a 50-12 game vs. prime Shawn Marion
Dirk had a 29-15 game 6 against Shaq, Morning and co. (unfortunately Jet and Devin choked)
Dirk scored 40 points against Anthony Davis
and so on.

I think that's pretty solid.

[EricaLubarsky]

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* 28307
2. Karl Malone* 26210
3. Kobe Bryant 24542
4. Michael Jordan* 24537
5. Elvin Hayes* 24272
6. John Havlicek* 23930
7. Wilt Chamberlain* 23497
8. Julius Erving* 23370
9. Dominique Wilkins* 21589
10. Rick Barry* 21283
11. Alex English* 21036
12. Hakeem Olajuwon* 20991
13. Dan Issel* 20904
14. Kevin Garnett 20771
15. Moses Malone* 20750
16. George Gervin* 20583
17. Elgin Baylor* 20171
18. Allen Iverson 19906
19. Dirk Nowitzki 19867

Dirk just past Hakeem the dream while taking 1,124 fewer shots

[EricaLubarsky]

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* 28307
2. Karl Malone* 26210
3. Kobe Bryant 24542
4. Michael Jordan* 24537
5. Elvin Hayes* 24272
6. John Havlicek* 23930
7. Wilt Chamberlain* 23497
8. Julius Erving* 23370
9. Dominique Wilkins* 21589
10. Rick Barry* 21283
11. Alex English* 21036
12. Hakeem Olajuwon* 20991 -1,124
13. Dan Issel* 20904
14. Kevin Garnett 20771
15. Moses Malone* 20750
16. George Gervin* 20583
17. Elgin Baylor* 20171
18. Allen Iverson 19906
19. Dirk Nowitzki 19867

Dirk just past Hakeem the dream while taking 1,124 fewer shots

[twelli]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

... and 14th in misses.

Kobe is No. 1 in that department, right?

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by twelli

Kobe is No. 1 in that department, right?

Correct. He's currently at 13,421. Havlicek is now #2 at 13,417 and Kobe is still going.

At the current pace Kobe will probably end up with upwards of 15,713 misses-- beating the old record set by Havlicek in 1978 by almost 2,300 misses.

[dirt_dobber]

Originally Posted by Thukydides

awesome stuff: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/th...we-chose-them/

"Look. At. That. Red. Everywhere" :-)

I missed this story - thanks for posting.

With one minor exception (gotta work on that left wing 3, Dirk), Nowitzki outshoots league averages by a wide margin everywhere on the court. The same cannot be said for Curry or Durant. Nowitzki integrates volume, efficiency, and ubiquity better than anyone right now.

[dude1394]

http://www.csnphilly.com/basketball-...bcs&ocid=yahoo
"
The Sixers return to action on Thursday when they take on the Mavericks in Dallas.
Waiting for them is a Mavs squad that is sitting at 5-3 and led by a superstar that continues to reach more career milestones. Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points in the Mavs’ win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night to pass Hakeem Olajuwon for ninth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list and become the league’s highest-scoring player born outside born outside of the United States.


Nowitzki now has 26,953 career points. He is averaging 20.8 points per game so far this season.
When Sixers head coach Brett Brown was an assistant with San Antonio, part of his job was to scout the Mavericks when the Spurs were getting ready to play them.
Nowitzki has such a unique set of skills, Brown felt his homework sometimes became irrelevant because the 7-footer was unstoppable.


"I look back at my days battling through Dallas. First there was Kobe (Bryant). How do you guard that? Dirk came in at 7-foot, and you couldn't guard him in pick-and-roll. If you switched, (Don Nelson) Nellie used to roll him right to the nail and he would do this with Tony Parker on him,” Brown said with his arm stretched high in the air to demonstrate.
"With his height and his ability to shoot, he is such a lethal scorer. What he has done over his career for a man of his size and his ability to shoot, he was borderline impossible to guard. He made everyone around him better. He created so much attention.”


For his career, Nowitzki has averaged 22.5 points a night while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from behind the arc. Now in his 17th season, he has averaged 8.1 rebounds and 6.2 free throw attempts a game.
Given the youth on the Sixers' roster, any appreciation players have for the 36-year-old comes from watching highlights of Nowitzki over the years on TV.


"He has a different play style, nothing like mine," Nerlens Noel said. "I respect his Euro-style play that he brought to America. He is a great player, and he will be in the Hall of Fame soon."
Michael Carter-Williams' admiration for the 7-foot sharpshooter was similar to Noel's.
"Dirk is unbelievable," Carter-Williams said. "I have been watching him since I was a little kid. He has been unbelievable for Dallas with what he has done. He won a championship for them. He is a unique player who does a lot of good things on the court. He brought to the game something no one else has with his shot at his size."

[dirt_dobber]

great article find dude.

Nice to see the younger guys in the league acknowledge the greatness of Dirk.
.

[dirt_dobber]

-dp-

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by dude1394

"If you know him, he rarely gets excited. It's hard to get a smile out of him. Maybe he was smiling a little bit. He'll probably critique me on the five shots I missed. That's just him."

I remember losing it when Holger was shown teary eyed in the stands after Game 6 of the finals.

[twelli]

27000

Efficiency, Consistency, Durability, Dominance, Creativity, Loyalty, Intelligence, Hard Work

What else?

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by twelli

27000

Efficiency, Consistency, Durability, Dominance, Creativity, Loyalty, Intelligence, Hard Work

What else?

Great singing voice, sax, guitar and drum player.

[GermanDunk]

I found my old Championship stuff, Videos, pictures and stored it at mega. You can download if you like.

https://mega.co.nz/#!XZdSnQxY!fYRaYI...GCydx6PSLvcblE

Mods can move the post to a section that fits better.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Good stuff about Dirk in this article. It's from Grantland, so you know it's quality. Grantland rules.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/de...ve-of-success/

[Skywalker]

http://dimemag.com/2014/11/video-dir...ch-3-mavs-win/

With a shade under eight minutes to play in last night’s Wizards-Mavericks game at the Verizon Center in DC, Bradley Beal — in his first game of the season, after returning from injury — knocked down another three-pointer to give the Wizards an 85-84 advantage. At the same time, Dirk Nowitzki rolled his ankle on the back of Kris Humphries‘ foot. Dirk would leave, but the all-time leader in points scored by a foreign-born player would return and show why he’s a champion and future Hall of Famer.

Here’s the nasty ankle sprain as Dirk came into the paint to try and get a board on the Beal three-pointer. You can see he inadvertently steps on the back of Humphries’ foot and twists his ankle. He would leave the court hobbling and almost knock over an usher.

We can remember the days when people said Dirk was soft because he preferred to arc three-pointers at the hoop rather than bang down low like other power forwards of his size. But there aren’t many players tougher and Dirk would have his left ankle re-taped and return to the court four minutes later. After he re-entered, he didn’t shy away from the big shots, either.

Up 99-97 with 1:20 left, but with the Wizards lying in wait to steal the game at home, Nene showed hard on Dirk’s high screen for J.J. Barea — momentarily leaving Dirk open when he popped to Barea’s right. Barea smartly bounced it to Dirk, who turned to nail the three-point knife into the Wiz by putting Dallas up five with a little over one minute remaining.

Yes, Monta Ellis dropped 34 points (10/21) to help the Mavs overcome Bradley Beal’s 21 off the bench…and Tyson Chandler had 16 rebounds and three blocks. Plus, Brandan Wright climbed the ladder for two of his 14 points. But it was Nowitzki, their leader, and his return from the twisted ankle, who led this team to the 105-102 road win.

Last night was a long cry from those days when the majority of NBA people thought Dirk was too soft — which is what most analysts thought about European imports — to be an NBA champion. After grabbing his MVP in 2007 and his Larry O’Brien trophy and Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award in 2011, Dirk silenced those often unfair critiques. Now — in his 17th NBA season — he’s just reiterating why he’s one of the greatest players of all time.

"soft"..."choker"....

[fluid.forty.one]

Saw this on insidehoops.. Excuse the mention of other players, used for comparison:

4th quarter scoring leader during the Playoffs since 1997 (1997 is the earliest these stats are available)
*Minimum 10 games

1997
MJ: 9.6 ppg on 49/18/84

1998
MJ: 9.0 ppg on 45/14/81

1999
Sprewell: 6.1 ppg on 42/43/84 (6 players ahead played under 10 games)

2000
Shaq: 9.0 ppg on 67/0/49 (Payton #1 - 5 games)

2001
Kobe: 8.0 ppg on 49/39/82

2002
Kobe: 8.1 ppg on 49/50/79

2003
Kobe: 9.6 ppg on 45/37/88

2004
KG: 6.7 ppg on 47/33/71 (Boykins #1 - 5 games, Marbury #2 - 4 games)

2005
Amare: 8.6 ppg on 61/0/77

2006
Lebron: 9.8 ppg on 44/31//71 (Arenas #1 - 5 games)

2007
Lebron: 8.6 ppg on 46/36/73 (Bosh #1 - 5 games)

2008
Kobe: 9.2 ppg on 47/45/82

2009
Lebron: 8.8 ppg on 46/19/76

2010
Lebron: 8.6 ppg on 53/45/67 (Wade #1 - 5 games)

2011
Dirk: 9.9 ppg on 51/53/94

2012
Durant: 8.3 ppg on 54/43/81

2013
N. Robinson: 7.5 ppg on 54/35/85

[Jproxursoxoff]

Wow. Nice post, Fluid. Arguably the greatest 4thQ playoff performance ever. And easily the best "We're not losing" individual performance Ive ever seen.

[dude1394]

Damn straight he's great! That is some awesome, awesome stuff. And as I recall he wasn't just jacking up shots either.

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

Saw this on insidehoops.. Excuse the mention of other players, used for comparison:

4th quarter scoring leader during the Playoffs since 1997 (1997 is the earliest these stats are available)
*Minimum 10 games

1997
MJ: 9.6 ppg on 49/18/84

1998
MJ: 9.0 ppg on 45/14/81

1999
Sprewell: 6.1 ppg on 42/43/84 (6 players ahead played under 10 games)

2000
Shaq: 9.0 ppg on 67/0/49 (Payton #1 - 5 games)

2001
Kobe: 8.0 ppg on 49/39/82

2002
Kobe: 8.1 ppg on 49/50/79

2003
Kobe: 9.6 ppg on 45/37/88

2004
KG: 6.7 ppg on 47/33/71 (Boykins #1 - 5 games, Marbury #2 - 4 games)

2005
Amare: 8.6 ppg on 61/0/77

2006
Lebron: 9.8 ppg on 44/31//71 (Arenas #1 - 5 games)

2007
Lebron: 8.6 ppg on 46/36/73 (Bosh #1 - 5 games)

2008
Kobe: 9.2 ppg on 47/45/82

2009
Lebron: 8.8 ppg on 46/19/76

2010
Lebron: 8.6 ppg on 53/45/67 (Wade #1 - 5 games)

2011
Dirk: 9.9 ppg on 51/53/94

2012
Durant: 8.3 ppg on 54/43/81

2013
N. Robinson: 7.5 ppg on 54/35/85

[Murphy3]

Dirk is not only a tremendous 4th quarter player..but he has stepped up his game in the playoffs throughout his career. Probably the only playoff performers that can match what Dirk has done the past 20 years or so would be Jordan, maybe Shaq, and Lebron. Not only that, in elimination games, Dirk usually steps it up another notch.

If you ever get bored, start comparing playoff numbers for some of the greats of the game. Dirk's numbers truly are nothing short of astounding.

[twelli]

MJ sucked on 3-pointers it seems.

[Jproxursoxoff]

Originally Posted by twelli

MJ sucked on 3-pointers it seems.

He just hardly ever took them. Wasn't his thing. He was good and athletic enough to always shoot a higher percentage shot which is why, among the all-time greats, his career field goal percentage is only rivaled by centers.

[dude1394]

https://m.numberfire.com/nba/news/37...storic-offense

"Dirk Nowitzki is currently hitting an insane 46.9% of his three-pointers, which is a number that most players strive for in terms of just pure field goal percentage. He’s taking just over four of them per game, and the effect of having a 7-footer hit 3-pointers at that rate is just completely devastating to a defense."

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by dude1394

https://m.numberfire.com/nba/news/37...storic-offense

"Dirk Nowitzki is currently hitting an insane 46.9% of his three-pointers, which is a number that most players strive for in terms of just pure field goal percentage. He’s taking just over four of them per game, and the effect of having a 7-footer hit 3-pointers at that rate is just completely devastating to a defense."

Dirk is aging like a fine wine...

[twelli]

Originally Posted by dude1394

https://m.numberfire.com/nba/news/37...storic-offense

"Dirk Nowitzki is currently hitting an insane 46.9% of his three-pointers, which is a number that most players strive for in terms of just pure field goal percentage. He’s taking just over four of them per game, and the effect of having a 7-footer hit 3-pointers at that rate is just completely devastating to a defense."

Nice find. Hope they continue to share the ball like they did against the Lakers.

[Jproxursoxoff]

Bump because this was on the third page, which is a no-no.

Rajon "Tyson Chandler Parsons" Rondo doesn't happen without Dirk's sacrifice this summer. And all of a sudden Mark Cuban kind of looks likes a genius for what he did a couple years ago.

[Underdog]

Posted this in the Rondo thread, but this seems like a better place for it...

@CelticsLife: Worth noting Dirk took a lesser contract to go for another title & Mavs got Parsons/Chandler/Rondo. Kobe went for the $$$ & LAL got Boozer

[grndmstr_c]

Dirk is now just the 5th highest paid Mav.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

Dirk is now just the 5th highest paid Mav.

Lowest-paid starter on the team.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Jproxursoxoff

Bump because this was on the third page, which is a no-no.

Rajon "Tyson Chandler Parsons" Rondo doesn't happen without Dirk's sacrifice this summer. And all of a sudden Mark Cuban kind of looks likes a genius for what he did a couple years ago.

Good freakin job!!

[Jproxursoxoff]

Cuban really did maximize every single dollar that Dirk gave up, in a way I didn't think likely. Much respect goes to Mark for setting up Dirk in his (possibly) final contract. The ball is in Dirk's court now to go out and win.

[endrity]

Seems to me like he's had a bit of an off month. I thought he was surely going to make the All-Star team before, but I am pretty sure he can't now. He's either saving his legs for the playoffs, or well.... starting to look like he's a bit on his last legs.

Hope I am wrong though.