Official Dirk is Great Thread

[EricaLubarsky]

Dirk passes Barkley and takes 22nd all-time playoff scoring

Bill Russell - passed
Patrick Ewing - passed
Robert Parish - passed
Barkley - passed
21st place-- 61 to Sam Jones
20th place-- 115 to Clyde Drexler
19th place-- 124 to Reggie Miller
18th place-- 174 to James Worthy
17th place-- 240 to Julius Erving
16th place-- 268 to Dennis Johnson
15th place-- 334 to Kevin McHale
14th place-- 759 to Wilt Chamberlain

[Kante]

Finishing behind Kobe at the MVP Ranking:

[CadBane]

Although at times it might appear that way, don't think the Dallas Mavericks take Dirk Nowitzki for granted.

"Playing with Dirk has been great," center Brendan Haywood said. "He opens the floor for everybody, he hits big shots, he takes on that leadership role, he assumes responsibility.

"I think he's a great player, he's been an MVP in this league and he's a sure-fire Hall of Famer. The proof is in his work."

"Dirk is probably one of the best scorers to ever play the game," Corey Brewer said. "A 7-footer with his jump shot, the things he does with the ball is amazing.... And Dirk is a great guy, too." -

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/05...#ixzz1LSISPwPJ

[CadBane]

Dirk's playoff numbers:

27/9/3 on 47/50/89 shooting with a 26 PER.

[LetsGoMavs]

If i would ever turn gay...it would be for this man...this beast...this half-god!

Hahaha Luck the Fakers!

[LetsGoMavs]

edit:
Double post

[Dale4Saul2Red0]

[EricaLubarsky]

Bill Russell - passed 2011 playoffs
Patrick Ewing - passed 2011 playoffs
Robert Parish - passed 2011 playoffs
Charles Barkley - passed 2011 playoffs
21st place-- 29 to Sam Jones
20th place-- 83 to Clyde Drexler
19th place-- 92 to Reggie Miller
18th place-- 142 to James Worthy
17th place-- 208 to Julius Erving
16th place-- 236 to Dennis Johnson
15th place-- 302 to Kevin McHale
14th place-- 727 to Wilt Chamberlain

Dirk didnt pass any of the alltime greats tonight but he's now in position to surpass Sam Jones and with at least 4 more games for the Mavs this playoff run, I'm pretty sure we'll see him at least pass Reggie.

[CadBane]

I love that Dirk is taking some threes recently. I think ideally he should be taking 4 or so a game. He's just so damn good at them, and they really are momentum shots.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by CadBane

I love that Dirk is taking some threes recently. I think ideally he should be taking 4 or so a game. He's just so damn good at them, and they really are momentum shots.

If you haven't been at the arena...When dirk gets a wide open 3 the entire arena stands up, perks up and gets ready to explode. There is NOTHING else like it at the arena.

Greatness..pure greatness...

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by dude1394

If you haven't been at the arena...When dirk gets a wide open 3 the entire arena stands up, perks up and gets ready to explode. There is NOTHING else like it at the arena.

Greatness..pure greatness...

Right-o. And you don't even have to be at the arena. It was quite visible on the screen tonight (the crowd rising). Maybe it was the blue shirts that made it stand out. I was telling my buddies tonight: nothing the AAC crowd loves more than a Dirk three. I think it makes them feel all alpha dog.

[Texas stand up]

Watching dirk play every night is truly great. Now to see them 3-0 against the defending champs just warms the heart

[JeffViggiano]

four 3s???? incredible game by dirk.he is the best european player ever.i love him

[jcm28]

WhAt are the odds of cuban paying for a Dirk statue outside of the arena once he retires?

[Zaknaf3in]

Originally Posted by jcm28

WhAt are the odds of cuban paying for a Dirk statue outside of the arena once he retires?

No question about odds. Only question left: when.

[LetsGoMavs]

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by LetsGoMavs

Fantastic gif!

[markus1234]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insid...26id%3d6499806

[fluid.forty.one]

17 more points for Dirk.... and at least 4 more games to climb the leader board.

[CadBane]

Originally Posted by markus1234

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insid...26id%3d6499806

Can someone with Insider post this?

[BGMaverick9]

Magic's 'message' to Dirk, "I was a semi-fan, but now I am a fan because now you have the mental toughness to lead your team to an NBA title. Stick with that, stay with it, stay with the course because I think they're in a great position to do it."

[CadBane]

So true.

http://www.thetwomangame.com/


"It’s adorable to watch the entire country appreciate Dirk Nowitzki (32 points, 12-19 FG, 4-5 3FG, nine rebounds) as if he were a great novelty rather than an established wonder. Yes, he’s that good. Yes, pretty much all the time. It’s terrific that Dirk’s public narrative is being rewritten with every big shot and every heady play, but really, it never should have come to that. The degree diametric star-praising and star-targeting that goes on for NBA analysts is absurd. There is room for shades of gray; every Maverick loss isn’t an indictment of Nowitzki’s heart or toughness or ability, just as every win isn’t necessarily an affirmation (though due to just how fantastic Dirk is, this is largely the case). There’s plenty more nuance to the game than the goings on in the superstar strata, and while I’d be the first to tell you that Nowitzki is a truly phenomenal player, I’d also be the first to remind that playoff success is inherently a team accomplishment. We use rings and playoff wins to gauge the careers of individual players against each other, but the Mavericks’ shortcomings over the years have not been part and parcel to Dirk’s. He’s had some bad games now and again. Perhaps he struggled in this series or that. Yet overall, Nowitzki is one of the top playoff performers of the modern era and of all time, and while I’m happy to see the narrative turn, the root of the problem that bizarrely diminished the postseason repute of one of the game’s top performers still exists. Think for yourselves and evaluate for yourselves — stories from the ether are great, but the best antidote for over-the-top narrative exaggeration is our own capacity to reason."

[xrobx]

dirk said he would cheat on his diet and eat pizza tonight. what kind of diet is this man on? i too want superhuman powers.

[g30hd3]

82.5%

Dirk Nowitzki's true shooting percentage in clutch situations in the playoffs thus far.

^ according to NBA.com

[CadBane]

Another Gem from NBA.com

105.2

Lakers' PPG against the Mavs when Nowitzki is on bench, vs. 85.4 when Nowitzki is on court.

[CadBane]

Man, Dirk just locked Pau down on D.

http://www.nba.com/statscube/player-...,1717;season=p

[FreshJive]

Originally Posted by CadBane

Can someone with Insider post this?

He is a 10-time All-Star and an MVP award recipient. He is regarded as the toughest matchup in the league. He is the best-shooting 7-footer to ever play the game.

His name is Dirk Nowitzki, and he is the most underrated star in basketball. Up 3-0 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Nowitzki is putting together a playoff campaign that rivals anything he's done in his career. Against the Lakers, the 32-year-old is averaging 28 points and 10 rebounds per game, along with 53 percent shooting. Nowitzki remains one of four players in NBA history to average 25 points and 10 rebounds in his playoff career (Hakeem Olajuwon, Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit make up the other three). Put it all together, and his 26.3 PER ranks among the NBA's best here in the playoffs.

Perhaps Nowitzki's metronome-like consistency has numbed our senses, but each prolific performance in the playoffs reminds us that he is essentially unguardable. He may not be as quick as he used to be, but he can still get his shot off anytime he pleases. He does it with patience and craft, playing the angles like a pool player. While watching Nowitzki's performance in Game 2, Tracy McGrady said it best on his Twitter account: "how do u defend a lonnnng seven footer that shoots the ball behind his head AND fades away #dirk."

No one knows.


Despite the longest frontline in the game, the Lakers are still scratching their heads. Ron Artest tries shielding Nowitzki's eyes the moment he reared back for his shot. Nowitzki still drains it. Pau Gasol tries to get his hand on the ball. Nowitzki still releases it untouched.

In Friday's fourth quarter, Gasol tried to guard Nowitzki tightly, so what did Nowitzki do? He put the ball on the deck, drove to the rim and flashed a lefty hook shot on the baseline. Not a problem.

In the first round of the playoffs, it was said that the Portland Trail Blazers had a great chance to upset the Dallas Mavericks because they had elite defenders to throw at Nowitzki and slow him down. He promptly torched them for 27.3 points a night. And he's doing it again against the Lakers.

He has meant everything to this Mavericks team. When the German 7-footer missed nine games during the regular season, the Mavericks went 2-7 with defeats that came at the hands of the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers -- all teams under .500. But as we're learning now, the Mavericks are about as good as any team in the NBA when their All-Star is on the floor.

And when it comes to describing Nowitzki's value to the Mavericks, the 2-7 record just scratches the surface. Dig deeper and we see a player who is as vital to his team's success as any player in the league. In the regular season, the Mavericks were outscored by 5.8 points every 100 possessions when Nowitzki rode the pine. With him on the court, the Mavericks trounced opponents by 10.4 points every 100 possessions. That 16.2-point swing is the third-largest in the NBA, behind Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

Here in the playoffs, Nowitzki's impact on the court, in the box score and on the scoreboard continues. He nailed big shots down the stretch, he set up that critical 3-pointer from Peja Stojakovic and finished plus-nine in a six-point game. He was at the center of it all.

After Saturday's Game 3, Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked to describe Nowitzki's play. Jackson offered a one-word response:

"Great."

Indeed: one of the all-time greats.

[iella]

We are now on page 41 of this thread. Just sayin'.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by iella

We are now on page 41 of this thread. Just sayin'.

there is not enough bandwidth on the internet in 2011 to explain just how great Dirk is and certainly 41 pages is not enough and will not be the end.

[EricaLubarsky]

Bill Russell - passed 2011 playoffs
Patrick Ewing - passed 2011 playoffs
Robert Parish - passed 2011 playoffs
Charles Barkley - passed 2011 playoffs
21st place-- 12 to Sam Jones
20th place-- 66 to Clyde Drexler
19th place-- 75 to Reggie Miller
18th place-- 125 to James Worthy
17th place-- 191 to Julius Erving
16th place-- 219 to Dennis Johnson
15th place-- 285 to Kevin McHale

Not bad considering Dirk only needed 32 minutes and 11 shots

4 more games minimum to play in this playoffs and a very real posibility of breaking into the top 18 this season.

[EricaLubarsky]

PS-- Dirk was +37.

37

[xrobx]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

[b]

4 more games minimum to play in this playoffs and a very real posibility of breaking into the top 18 this season.

tell dirk to stop sweeping everyone so he can get more playoff points

[GermanDunk]

As a man, who does not trust stats, i must say, it is unbelievable, that he is always reduced to the Nike Tennis Kid fröm Würzburg. That is so rediculous. I mean, the sports journalists are getting paid for their contributions. The whole sports broadcasting business is 100 % rigged.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

PS-- Dirk was +37.

37

That's alot of plus

[Underdog]

Carlisle: Dirk Nowitzki 'has carried this franchise'

link

DALLAS -- There's something different about Dirk Nowitzki, and it seems as if the rest of the country is taking notice of the Dallas Mavericks' superstar.

And opinion isn't being confined only to this year's playoffs: Nowitzki's legacy as an all-time great is also gaining momentum.

"In my opinion, he's a top 10 player in NBA history because of the uniqueness of his game and how he's carried this franchise on his back for over a decade," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told "ESPN First Take" on Monday. "He's just right. He's leading the team. His shot-making is great. He's passing the ball great. He's one of the guys that's directing traffic for us defensively."

Sure, Nowitzki has been the league MVP (2006-07), and he's been the one constant on the floor during the Mavericks' run of 11 consecutive 50-win seasons. But he's yet to win an NBA championship, making his only Finals appearance in 2006 when the Mavericks lost to the Miami Heat in six games.

"He's got one thing missing from the mantel and that drives him," Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson told ESPN 103.3 FM on Monday morning. "We've maybe been spoiled by how good he is."

Nowitzki is 23rd on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 22,792 points, his career average of 23.0 points ranks 21st, and his free-throw percentage (.877) is tied for 13th all-time.

One could make a strong case that Nowitzki has been the NBA's MVP of the first two rounds of the playoffs. The 7-footer has averaged 26.5 points and has consistently come through as a closer, putting up double figures in the fourth quarter of half the Mavs' wins this postseason.

He also twice hit go-ahead shots in the final two minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers, whom the Mavericks swept out of the playoffs with a 122-86 victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.

"When he's on the floor, we feel like we can beat anybody," Carlisle said. "He's that good."

Nowitzki is one of four players in NBA history with career postseason averages of at least 25 points and 10 rebounds.

"This is the best I've seen him play in his career, to be honest with you," said Lakers forward Pau Gasol, who was defended by Nowitzki for most of the series.

High praise from both Carlisle and Gasol...

[Mav Addict]

A +37 is like the equivalent of 154 QB rating...that like almost perfect

[markus1234]

a top 10 player in NBA history is absolutely right.


People do not understand that there are about ~25 top10 players on the same level. And it makes absolutely no sense to argue who is No.11 and who is No.20 in this group.

[sefant77]

Dirk vs Kobe

[Murphy3]

Craig Miller is terrible when it comes to talking basketball. The segment on Dirk is just absolutely terrible.

[MaverickOutlaw]

Dirk is great and is a top 10 player of the decade. I want to see a good list of why he should be left off. He is not soft,he might not be a thug just a hard nosed player.