Official Dirk is Great Thread - Page 31 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

GermanDunk · 01-27-2011, 08:57 AM

^ This. I first thought it was an older interview, but the BaD-Guys seem to be very fascinated by Dirks life in Würzburg *lol*

Maybe he looked like this guy. Obviously Dirk chose his colors early ;-)

b_o_r · 01-27-2011, 09:56 AM

Will they put up the 2nd part of the interview.

dude1394 · 01-27-2011, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_o_r

Will they put up the 2nd part of the interview.

Second part? I was listening on theticket site podcast that was different than the link. I would like to hear that.

b_o_r · 01-27-2011, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude1394

Second part? I was listening on theticket site podcast that was different than the link. I would like to hear that.

The link that was posted, the conversation was clearly cut off at the 23 minute mark. Was that the end?

Zaknaf3in · 01-27-2011, 11:14 AM

Awesome interview. A bit weird how closed-up he gets when it comes too the Nazi questions. By a guess, I'd say as most of German schoolkids who get the warstuff taught all the way at least four times in school, he just went into bored-mode, but didn't want to tell here and now.

Because really, by his words you would get the impression this stuff is covered up in schools - which it so massively isn't, that it probably has the opposite effect on pupils. For myself, I visited 3 different camp memorials during my school career.

dude1394 · 01-27-2011, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_o_r

The link that was posted, the conversation was clearly cut off at the 23 minute mark. Was that the end?

I don't know..your question prompted me, I didn't hear it live. They didn't say goodbye that's for sure.

twelli · 01-28-2011, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaknaf3in

A bit weird how closed-up he gets when it comes too the Nazi questions.

A bit weird that those questions are asked in the first place. It's been 65 years since the end of WWII. Most of the people who were adults during that time have died. Dirk was born like 30 years after the war, and he's an athlete not a historian.

Imagine Kobe, on a visit to Germany, is asked about the dropping of nuclear bombs in Japan and how this part of American history is taught in high school. It's absurd.

Anyway, it's alway great to listen to a Dirk interview. It's clear that he's all about sports and there is not much beyond that, but he's a fun guy to be around with, that's for sure.

SMC0007 · 01-28-2011, 11:59 AM

As I mentioned before about Dirks knee, it is something that might not ever get back to the way it was. It's obviously still bothering him and unless you have had knee problems it's hard to imagine that it won't fully heal. There's just so much weight on it and constant grinding. It wouldn't surprise my that it might linger thru the rest of his career and maybe end up causing it to be a bit shorter. That is worst case scenario. Best case scenario is that he heals fully by the playoffs even tho he's playing, practicing and grinding away on it.

dude1394 · 01-28-2011, 01:36 PM

I've never had a knee injury...but if he's being honest about there being no pain it would seem like it would come around. A friend of mine who has had knee injuries mentioned that he thought the knee muscles atrophied really quickly when injured...he's probably full of it...

But it would be interesting to hear thoughts from folks who have had knee injuries about how they came back from them, completely or not?

dude1394 · 01-28-2011, 01:48 PM

Great stuff...HTip to db.com....Even more greatness at the link...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...8&sportCat=nba

Quote:

Nowitzki: I can't decide if he's moving into the Barkley/Malone discussion (for best modern power forward not named Tim Duncan or Larry Bird) or the Larry Bird/Rick Barry discussion (for best offensive forward ever), but there's definitely been some moving. It's a junior version of the Kobe/Michael thing: Nowitzki's peak can't come close to matching Bird's peak, but his freaky consistency and legendary summer work ethic makes a Bird/Nowitzki career comparison closer than you'd think.

For 11 straight seasons, he's been the best player on a contender. Grab any Dirk season from 2001 to 2011 and it will look something close to his career numbers (22.6 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 48 percent FG, 38 percent 3FG, 88 percent FT, 23.8 PER, 0.213 WS/48, 27.0 usage rate, 58.1 true shooting). And he hasn't slipped even a little. I asked ESPN's Marc Stein, the Gayle to Dirk's Oprah, whether 2011 Dirk looks any different than 2001 Dirk or 2007 Dirk. His response: "He's a little creakier, but it's not like his first step was ever the key to his game. He's shooting the ball as well as he ever has. He's like a surgeon now, he just carves up anything you throw at him. [Erik] Spoelstra told me that, too -- he said the stuff [Miami] did in 2006 just doesn't work anymore."

Quick tangent: For whatever reason, basketball fans don't care about career NBA numbers like baseball fans care about baseball numbers. I see four reasons for this: (1) baseball has been around almost twice as long as basketball; (2) baseball's signature threshold numbers are famously identifiable (500, 3,000 and 300), as are the players who broke its major records, whereas your average sports fan would struggle to answer questions like "Who leads the NBA in career scoring?"; (3) statistics matter more in baseball because it's an individual sport; and (4) we need to throw ourselves into baseball statistics because the sport itself is so f------ boring. If we were eating lunch and I told you, "Johnny Damon has 2,571 hits right now," that would mean something to you. If you're a true baseball fan, you would process that information in 0.008 seconds and think, "He needs 429 for 3,000, that's doable!" But if I told you "Dirk Nowitzki has 21,925 points right now," you wouldn't think anything other than, "That's a lot."
Well, only 19 players have ever topped 25,000 points. Only 10 players (I'm including Kobe, who will get it next week) have topped 27,000. Only five players have topped 30,000. Only two (Kareem and Mailman) have topped 32,500. And then there's Dirk, who should be close to 23,000 by the end of this season and grinding out 1,700-1,900 points for at least three after that ... and we haven't even covered the final phase of his career, his late 30s, when he hangs on for an extra four years as the greatest version of Sam Perkins ever. Barring injury, we'll have our first foreign-born player in the 30,000 Point Club. Throw in longevity, durability and eye-popping shooting percentages (for his career, he's a 48-38-88 guy right now) and suddenly we're talking about one of the best 15-18 players ever and the best foreign-born player other than Hakeem. Pretty high stakes. Twenty years ago? He'd already be in the Fat Sam Perkins stage. With equally horrible hair.

Last footnote on Dirk: With advanced metrics slowly taking over basketball for better and worse, Dirk should be one of the big retroactive winners historically, a little like how the sneaky-great Tim Raines dropped the "sneaky" about two years and 550 homicidally impassioned pro-Raines sabermetric essays ago. I was there for Dirk, and I was there for Bird. It's no contest. (These three YouTube clips explain everything: "Why You Don't Mess With Larry Bird," "Larry Bird 47 Points vs. Portland (the Left-handed Game)" and "Larry Bird Greatest Passer of All-Time.") But Nowitzki's PER, win shares and true shooting percentages are better, and as long as you throw out MVPs, titles and overall impact, and you skew longevity, you can make a great case that Dirk Nowitzki was better than Larry Bird. I will now light my game-worn Bird jersey on fire with me in it.

tsar · 01-28-2011, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude1394

I've never had a knee injury...but if he's being honest about there being no pain it would seem like it would come around. A friend of mine who has had knee injuries mentioned that he thought the knee muscles atrophied really quickly when injured...he's probably full of it...

But it would be interesting to hear thoughts from folks who have had knee injuries about how they came back from them, completely or not?

When I was 5 - I got hit by a car and had a compound fracture (bone came out of the skin) right below my knee, as well as tearing my MCL. I feel like I'm 100% today, but I can't really comment on the recovery process besides the fact that it sucked balls at 5 years old not being able to play outside with friends for almost a whole year. Really though I don't remember that much. My example shows that even severe injuries can be recovered from quite well. Although I must say that I was 5, didn't play basketball, was not 7 feet tall :P

I'm sure Dirk wouldn't keep playing on it if he knew it would be detrimental to his future/playing career.

dude1394 · 01-28-2011, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsar

I'm sure Dirk wouldn't keep playing on it if he knew it would be detrimental to his future/playing career.

I'm thinking this as well. It would be incomprehensible to think the mavs would allow dirk to injure himself by playing...The entire season is just not worth it. He's got what 4-5 more years to go?

fluid.forty.one · 01-28-2011, 03:27 PM

D'oh. I didn't see Dude had posted it. Great stuff.

CadBane · 01-28-2011, 05:07 PM

Good article, though at the end the writer seems to be sarcastic in comparing Bird and Dirk.

"I was there for Dirk, and I was there for Bird. It's no contest. (These three YouTube clips explain everything: "Why You Don't Mess With Larry Bird," "Larry Bird 47 Points vs. Portland (the Left-handed Game)" and "Larry Bird Greatest Passer of All-Time.") But Nowitzki's PER, win shares and true shooting percentages are better, and as long as you throw out MVPs, titles and overall impact, and you skew longevity, you can make a great case that Dirk Nowitzki was better than Larry Bird. I will now light my game-worn Bird jersey on fire with me in it. "

Look, Bird is a Top 10 player of all time. But I can link you to some pretty amazing Dirk playoff highlights too (Dirk actually has MUCH better career playoff numbers). Calling it "no comparison" isn't fair.

BGMaverick9 · 01-28-2011, 05:09 PM

Carlisle has said it on multiple occasions, he has no doubt in his mind that Dirk will be an all time top-10 player when all is said and done.

SMC0007 · 01-28-2011, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsar

When I was 5 - I got hit by a car and had a compound fracture (bone came out of the skin) right below my knee, as well as tearing my MCL. I feel like I'm 100% today, but I can't really comment on the recovery process besides the fact that it sucked balls at 5 years old not being able to play outside with friends for almost a whole year. Really though I don't remember that much. My example shows that even severe injuries can be recovered from quite well. Although I must say that I was 5, didn't play basketball, was not 7 feet tall :P

I'm sure Dirk wouldn't keep playing on it if he knew it would be detrimental to his future/playing career.

At 5 yrs old? 30+ yrs old is what we're talking about. Obviously everyone heals from various injuries differently but the older you get the harder it is to recover. Also consider that he has been using those knees at such a high frequency for almost all of his life.

fluid.forty.one · 01-28-2011, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

Carlisle has said it on multiple occasions, he has no doubt in his mind that Dirk will be an all time top-10 player when all is said and done.

I think he will be top 20 but no way will he be top 10.

I would put MJ, Bird, Magic, Russell, Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem ahead of him plus others.

fluid.forty.one · 01-28-2011, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadBane

Good article, though at the end the writer seems to be sarcastic in comparing Bird and Dirk.

"I was there for Dirk, and I was there for Bird. It's no contest. (These three YouTube clips explain everything: "Why You Don't Mess With Larry Bird," "Larry Bird 47 Points vs. Portland (the Left-handed Game)" and "Larry Bird Greatest Passer of All-Time.") But Nowitzki's PER, win shares and true shooting percentages are better, and as long as you throw out MVPs, titles and overall impact, and you skew longevity, you can make a great case that Dirk Nowitzki was better than Larry Bird. I will now light my game-worn Bird jersey on fire with me in it. "

Look, Bird is a Top 10 player of all time. But I can link you to some pretty amazing Dirk playoff highlights too (Dirk actually has MUCH better career playoff numbers). Calling it "no comparison" isn't fair.

Rings the thing. and Simmons is a big Celtics homer so that's why he made a point of doing that.

GermanDunk · 01-28-2011, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadBane

Good article, though at the end the writer seems to be sarcastic in comparing Bird and Dirk.

"I was there for Dirk, and I was there for Bird. It's no contest. (These three YouTube clips explain everything: "Why You Don't Mess With Larry Bird," "Larry Bird 47 Points vs. Portland (the Left-handed Game)" and "Larry Bird Greatest Passer of All-Time.") But Nowitzki's PER, win shares and true shooting percentages are better, and as long as you throw out MVPs, titles and overall impact, and you skew longevity, you can make a great case that Dirk Nowitzki was better than Larry Bird. I will now light my game-worn Bird jersey on fire with me in it. "

Such comparisons are hard to make in general, because you can´t compare today´s athletes with those, who were active 20 years ago. All sports used to be slower back then and there was way less tactics involved.

The most ridiculous comparison imo is Diego Maradona vs Pelè, who both played pretty much different styles at a very different pace. How fast the sportive world has developed becomes visible when you think of names like Lendl, Sampras or Indurain vs. Bernard Hinault etc. or Valentino Rossi and the guys riding in the 80s like Spencer, Rainey, Schwantz or Wayne Gardner...

dude1394 · 01-28-2011, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadBane

Good article, though at the end the writer seems to be sarcastic in comparing Bird and Dirk.

"I was there for Dirk, and I was there for Bird. It's no contest. (These three YouTube clips explain everything: "Why You Don't Mess With Larry Bird," "Larry Bird 47 Points vs. Portland (the Left-handed Game)" and "Larry Bird Greatest Passer of All-Time.") But Nowitzki's PER, win shares and true shooting percentages are better, and as long as you throw out MVPs, titles and overall impact, and you skew longevity, you can make a great case that Dirk Nowitzki was better than Larry Bird. I will now light my game-worn Bird jersey on fire with me in it. "

Look, Bird is a Top 10 player of all time. But I can link you to some pretty amazing Dirk playoff highlights too (Dirk actually has MUCH better career playoff numbers). Calling it "no comparison" isn't fair.

Well I love dirk...but Larry was a much better player than dirk because of his passing ablity...period...It's what seperates him from the dirkster.. His grittiness also hasn't been matched by dirk either. Dirk is easily as tough or possibly tougher than Larry but larry had a school-yard mentatlity that the dirkster just doesn't have. Larry is one of the top 5 players in the nba..dirk will be one of the top 10-20 I expect.

BGMaverick9 · 01-28-2011, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

I think he will be top 20 but no way will be he top 10.

I would put MJ, Bird, Magic, Russell, Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem ahead of him plus others.

you should check out a previous MOR. A few weeks ago, me and Rhylan broke down our respective top 10s

fluid.forty.one · 01-28-2011, 10:04 PM

link?

CadBane · 01-28-2011, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

Rings the thing. and Simmons is a big Celtics homer so that's why he made a point of doing that.

Ah, didn't realize Simmons wrote it. That explains it. Bill is kind of bi-polar. Sometimes he writes great stuff, other times you just raise your eyebrows.

CadBane · 01-28-2011, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude1394

Well I love dirk...but Larry was a much better player than dirk because of his passing ablity...period...It's what seperates him from the dirkster.. His grittiness also hasn't been matched by dirk either. Dirk is easily as tough or possibly tougher than Larry but larry had a school-yard mentatlity that the dirkster just doesn't have. Larry is one of the top 5 players in the nba..dirk will be one of the top 10-20 I expect.

No question Bird was better. Bird is a top 10 player. Dirk, right now, is top 30. 10-20 if he keeps at it. My point is just that acting as though there is no comparison between the two (despite Dirk being better statistically in a number of areas) is silly. There's a comparison, Bird just comes out on top.

Underdog · 01-28-2011, 11:33 PM

You need some hardware to be in a top-10 conversation.

grndmstr_c · 01-28-2011, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Underdog

You need some hardware to be in a top-10 conversation.

I'll play devil's advocate. Karl Malone?

fluid.forty.one · 01-28-2011, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

I'll play devil's advocate. Karl Malone?

Not top 10.

Underdog · 01-28-2011, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grndmstr_c

I'll play devil's advocate. Karl Malone?

He's the gold standard for the "not top-10 without a ring" debate.

(at least Dirk still has time to rectify!)

CadBane · 01-29-2011, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Underdog

You need some hardware to be in a top-10 conversation.

Who is saying Dirk is top 10? Obviously he's not. Even with a ring he's not.

MJ
Bird
Magic
Wilt
Kareem
Russell
Duncan
Hakeem
Shaq

Those 9 are all Top 10 in my book (not in order). 10th is a choice between West, Oscar (really overrated IMO, despite his stellar numbers), and Kobe.

Dirk will never join that class. But with a ring he could be 10-20.

Underdog · 01-29-2011, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadBane

Who is saying Dirk is top 10?

Rick Carlisle.

(sometimes you need to read other people's posts to understand the conversation that's going on...)

dude1394 · 01-29-2011, 01:36 AM

Okay...let's get this thread back on track. I apologise for bringing negativity into the dirk is great thread. Stop it...

DirkFTW · 01-29-2011, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Underdog

He's the gold standard for the "not top-10 without a ring" debate.

(at least Dirk still has time to rectify!)

And all because Bryon Russell sucked at defending the shove move.

BGMaverick9 · 01-29-2011, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

link?

http://ballinwithbryan.podomatic.com...20_05_11-08_00

CadBane · 01-29-2011, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Underdog

Rick Carlisle.

(sometimes you need to read other people's posts to understand the conversation that's going on...)

Don't be a . I read the thread and I know what RC said it. Does RC post on this board? I missed the post where RC posted on dallas-mavs.com and stated as much. I didn't realize we were arguing with the poster RickLovesJJB4Life. I had not realized he joined this message board. So you were just refuting RC to the general public? That makes sense.

fluid.forty.one · 01-29-2011, 05:14 AM

Come on Cad... BG brought up a Rick quote saying he thought Dirk was top 10.. so saying "Dirk is definitely not top 10" is a totally legitimate, on topic response. I said the same thing and you didn't call me out saying "who said he was?".

oh thanks BG I'll that link out check it out tmrw (or I guess later today)

Underdog · 01-29-2011, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CadBane

Don't be a. I read the thread and I know what RC said it. Does RC post on this board? I missed the post where RC posted on dallas-mavs.com and stated as much. I didn't realize we were arguing with the poster RickLovesJJB4Life. I had not realized he joined this message board. So you were just refuting RC to the general public? That makes sense.

Post #1215.

Try to keep up, kid...

CadBane · 01-29-2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

Come on Cad... BG brought up a Rick quote saying he thought Dirk was top 10.. so saying "Dirk is definitely not top 10" is a totally legitimate, on topic response. I said the same thing and you didn't call me out saying "who said he was?".

oh thanks BG I'll that link out check it out tmrw (or I guess later today)

I wasn't calling anyone out. That's why I flipped out there. My "who said he was?" was completely innocuous. I actually thought UD was under the impression a poster was arguing that Dirk could be top 10, so I'm not sure why he felt the need to be a prick.

BGMaverick9 · 01-29-2011, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

Come on Cad... BG brought up a Rick quote saying he thought Dirk was top 10.. so saying "Dirk is definitely not top 10" is a totally legitimate, on topic response. I said the same thing and you didn't call me out saying "who said he was?".

oh thanks BG I'll that link out check it out tmrw (or I guess later today)

No problem!

I went on a "feel" basis, just my thought process and a gut reaction.

Rhylan went knee-deep in stats...it was hovering in "A Beautiful Mind" range

dude1394 · 01-29-2011, 05:53 PM

Go get a room and get out of my thread...

fluid.forty.one · 01-29-2011, 07:05 PM

BG... you put Dirk ahead of Shaq and Hakeem? (and Malone, West, Moses etc)