Official Dirk is Great Thread

[jthig32]

Boom

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by jthig32

Boom

Well, that was pretty unanimous...

[dude1394]

Well that was some hip hoppy fun.

[EricaLubarsky]

Bill Russell - passed 4/19/11
Patrick Ewing - passed 5/2/11
Robert Parish - passed 5/2/11
Charles Barkley - passed 5/4/11
Sam Jones - passed 5/17/11
Clyde Drexler - passed 5/19/11
Reggie Miller - passed 5/19/11
James Worthy - passed 5/24/11
Julius Erving - passed 6/2/11
Dennis Johnson - passed 6/5/11
15th place-- 39 to Kevin McHale
14th place-- 464 to Wilt Chamberlain
13th place-- 480 to Elgin Baylor

[Bayliss]

Don't believe he'll pass Wilt and Elgin in the Finals. But he'll get them before he retires.

[CadBane]

Dirk is putting up 28/8/3/1 for the playoffs on 51/53/94 shooting. God that's insane. If he keeps the percentages where they are, he'll join Bird as the only player ever to hit the 50/50/90 club in the playoffs.

[b_o_r]

Holger Geschwindner doubts Dirk will play for Germany National Team

http://www.focus.de/sport/mehrsport/...id_634545.html

[twelli]

Nothing really new in here, but nice fodder for Dirk groupies, anyway.

NBA Finals 2011: Dirk Nowitzki One of the Greats, Championship or Not:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/7...-of-the-greats

[Sportstudi]

Originally Posted by CadBane

Dirk is putting up 28/8/3/1 for the playoffs on 51/53/94 shooting. God that's insane. If he keeps the percentages where they are, he'll join Bird as the only player ever to hit the 50/50/90 club in the playoffs.

Dirk shot 54/57/95 in the last playoffs.

[j0Shi]

Clutch-Watch:

Dirk is now 13-23 (3-4 from Three) and 29-30 at the line. FG% of 56.52, eFG% of 63.04 and TS% of 80.11 lead all players in the playoffs who attempted at least 15 shots in the Clutch.

Second in FG% is LeBron with 42.86.
Second in eFG% are Durant and LeBron with 50.00.
Second in TS% is Durant with 58.86.

He also leads all players in Clutch points with 58. Second is James with 43.

He also leads all players with at least 50 points in the 4th quarter in all three shooting categories (52.00%, 56.00%, 68.12%) and scored 180 points. Durant is second with 133.

[CadBane]

Originally Posted by Sportstudi

Dirk shot 54/57/95 in the last playoffs.

Yeah, but that was only for 6 games. I think for the stat is has to be a 10 game minimum or something like that.

[Dreams]

Hey can anyone give me the url for the dirk vader pic?

[mavspwnage]

Originally Posted by Dreams

Hey can anyone give me the url for the dirk vader pic?

...

Originally Posted by LetsGoMavs

[Dreams]

thanks a bunch

[CadBane]

Does anyone have a game by game breakdown of Dirk's 4th quarter point totals?

Another 10 in the 4th tonight. It seems like he's had 10+ in 80% of the playoff 4th quarters.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Bill Russell - passed 4/19/11
Patrick Ewing - passed 5/2/11
Robert Parish - passed 5/2/11
Charles Barkley - passed 5/4/11
Sam Jones - passed 5/17/11
Clyde Drexler - passed 5/19/11
Reggie Miller - passed 5/19/11
James Worthy - passed 5/24/11
Julius Erving - passed 6/2/11
Dennis Johnson - passed 6/5/11
15th place-- 18 to Kevin McHale
14th place-- 443 to Wilt Chamberlain
13th place-- 459 to Elgin Baylor

2 more games left and it sure looks like Dirk will crack the top 15 all time this year

[BGMaverick9]

Donnie on Dirk's Game 4 performance, "I think last night was one of the most inspirational, gut performances in Mavericks history. That was our version of Willis Reed if you think about it.”

[BGMaverick9]

Donnie on Dirk's Game 4 performance, "I think last night was one of the most inspirational, gut performances in Mavericks history. That was our version of Willis Reed if you think about it.”

[Zaknaf3in]

Found this to be a rather well-written piece:

Dirk Nowitzki has answered questions

By Howard Bryant

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/comme...ory?id=6641871

[Nowitzness81]

Cool.

Reed's most famous performance took place on May 8, 1970, during Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in Madison Square Garden. Due to a severe thigh injury, a torn muscle that had previously kept him out of Game 6, he was considered unlikely to play in Game 7. Yet Reed surprised the fans by walking onto the court during warmups, prompting widespread applause.

Starting the game, he scored the Knicks' first two field goals on his first two shot attempts, his only points of the game.[1] Reed's performance inspired the Knicks, as teammate Walt "Clyde" Frazier went on to score 36 points. The Knicks won the game 113–99, giving New York City its first NBA title. The moment Reed walked onto the court was voted the greatest moment in the history of Madison Square Garden

[badfish22]

Caron Butler walks out onto the court in game 5.......

[Nowitzness81]

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by Zaknaf3in

Found this to be a rather well-written piece:



http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/comme...ory?id=6641871

Really nice, thanks...

[LonghornDub]

[iella]

Taking the fourth: Nobody's doing it like Dirk is doing it

Originally Posted by John Schuhmann

Dirk Nowitzki ranked fourth in fourth-quarter scoring in the regular season (7.1 points per game), behind Amar'e Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant. But he's No. 1 in the postseason (10.0 per game) and has been off the charts in The Finals.

Nowitzki's 44 fourth-quarter points in this series are more than Wade (30) and LeBron James (nine) have scored combined. Nowitzki is shooting 12-for-24 from the field, 2-for-4 from 3-point range and 18-for-18 from the free throw line in his 48 fourth-quarter minutes. No other player has attempted more than eight fourth-quarter free throws in the series.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by iella

Taking the fourth: Nobody's doing it like Dirk is doing it

wow

[CadBane]

Shocker.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusmi...&split=9&team=

[twelli]

Originally Posted by CadBane

Shocker.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusmi...&split=9&team=

I don't believe this statistic is very valuable, when Joel Anthony is listed as the best Heat player, with all respect to their center.

[chrisschubi]

Originally Posted by mavspwnage

...

awesome!!! does anyone know where a Tshirt is available? it is really too nice....

[alexamenos]

word

[badfish22]

"After this year of scolding and moral posturing, we have arrived at a final scene: Dirk Nowitzki — a simple man from vague origins — walks alone into battle against three mercenaries whose heedless and reckless pursuit of personal gain has unhinged the American Way. Everyone our hero has trusted and loved has either betrayed him (Jason Terry) or has died (Jason Kidd, Peja Stojakovic). And although the journey has long since lost its direction, the people's hero pushes on, not because there is value in pushing on for pushing on's sake, but because the audience demands its fill of blood and vengeance."

Rest of this greatness here: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...5/dirk-vs-heat

[EricaLubarsky]

and Dirk passes McHale

[41creepingdeath]

Finish the job, MOSES!

[CadBane]

^^When is that pic from?

[41creepingdeath]

It's a photoshop mesh, I think.

[MaverickOutlaw]

Haslem is he playing good d on Dirk? I say he is grabbing and clutching.

[CadBane]

Originally Posted by MaverickOutlaw

Haslem is he playing good d on Dirk? I say he is grabbing and clutching.

Yeah, he's getting away with a lot of straight up holding Dirk. Refs don't want to call that late in the game, but at some point, you have to. You can't even catch the ball if a guy is holding your arms down. Once he catches it, it's game over.

[iella]

One leg, seven feet and lots of points: Dirk's legacy grows

Originally Posted by Steve Aschburner

DALLAS -- Everyone has been shooting off the wrong legacy, you might say, in this 2011 NBA Finals.

So much attention has been heaped on Miami Heat forward LeBron James since his team took the Eastern Conference finals two weeks ago: Will James finally get his ring? Will "The Decision" that led to all the derision pay off so swiftly? Is he up to the moment? What was with Game 4 the other night or, for that matter, fourth quarters in general? And always, how will Cleveland feel about all this?

Meanwhile, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, with little of James' LeDrama and apparently none of his Madison Avenue marketing sizzle, plugs along in a half-speed, George Gervin-way toward a breakthrough in his own legacy.

He may, in fact, already have achieved it with his performances and other work in carrying Dallas to the brink of its first NBA title. ABC/ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy riffed during Dallas' 112-103 Game 5 victory Thursday night at American Airlines Center that Nowitzki had become a household name around the globe, achieving -- as "Dirk" -- the lofty one-name status among basketball fans that Michael, Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Kobe, Elgin, Shaq and a few more enjoyed at various times. Y'know, the NBA's equivalent of Elvis, Cher, Prince, Snoop and Ozzy

Sealing the deal, though, by helping the Mavericks win one more game in this best-of-seven championship series would kick Nowitzki's profile higher still. Much higher.

There are four presumptive Hall of Famers in the Finals -- Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade -- and all but Wade are in search of their first rings. Someone is going to get it. Someone else is going to stay on a list with Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, John Stockton, Karl Malone and several other greats who -- one-name worthy or not -- never won a title.

It's a simplistic list, probably an unfair list, the sort of list you rarely hear about from other sports. But it's the NBA's list, part of the league's culture, and Dirk, LeBron and Jason desperately want off of it.

Legacy? That is something different. Nowitzki already has a pretty terrific legacy -- greatest European import in NBA history -- and he has been adding to it, methodically, diligently, since his arrival in 1998. That the fellow for whom he was traded on that Draft night, Robert Traylor, died suddenly last month at age 34 adds some poignancy to what Nowitzki has been doing and perspective to how long he's been doing it. But the work he has put in has not wavered.

Nowitzki has built his legacy piece by piece. (One hesitates to say "brick by brick" for a shooter of such proficiency.) But the Mavs' unique 7-foot power forward has placed and mortared a couple more rows already in these Finals:

• He has played through whatever pain from, and definitely the inconvenience of, a messed-up middle finger on his left hand. Say hello to Dirk's little friend: A small splint that protects the torn tendon near the tip of that damaged finger. No, it's not his shooting hand, but it is his guide hand as well as one of two catching hands, rebounding hands and defensive hands.

• Nowitzki played through a 101-degree fever in Game 4, giving him the "sick" game that every NBA all-timer ought to have on his playoff resume. Mostly only Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas and Willis Reed do, though, so that's another nice piece of separation from some peers past or present.

• He has racked up late-game heroics twice, beating Miami's Chris Bosh to the left to win Game 2 down in Florida and then doing likewise against Udonis Haslem, only to the right, near the end of Game 4. In between, Nowitzki struggled and failed in the final minute of Game 3 with a turnover and a missed jumper against Haslem. But at least no one was asking him afterward about shrinkage.

In Game 5 Thursday, Nowitzki didn't need to score over the final 2 ½ minutes because Jason Terry and Jason Kidd came through with five points each. But the big German's presence never was neglected by the Heat defense. He did get the baseline dunk at 2:39 that made it 102-100 and broke the night's final tie and he scored a game-high 29 points.

• Nowitzki has accomplished all this -- 10 All-Star selections, the 2007 NBA MVP, 120 playoff games, 28th all-time in points scored -- by staying put as a one-franchise star. He has adapted to the changes around him, season by season -- he and Terry are the only Mavs left from the 2006 Finals team -- and even game-by-game. Career backup J.J. Barea suddenly became the Mavs' starting point guard in Games 4 and 5, but Dirk just did what Dirk does.

"He's been in this position before in '06 and they've put teams around Dirk for a while now, and he hasn't gotten back here," Kidd said late Thursday. "He's enjoying the moment but he's also focused and understands how hard it is to win a championship."

• He has coped with nearly the same level of defensive ministrations from Miami as any lone star gets, although he has not faced the Derrick Rose-wrinkle of being guarded yet by James. With Miami out front in the series, that seemed like a maneuver coach Erik Spoelstra was keeping in his pocket for the right moment. Now that the Mavs are within a game of the championship, it might be something Miami avoids so as to not make James' Finals experience any worse.

• Nowitzki's one-legged fadeaway jumper -- a staple of his game forever -- suddenly is getting touted as No. 2 on the NBA's all-time list of unstoppable shots. James ranked it right behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's legendary sky hook. High praise? That's like ranking right behind Steve McQueen in all-time cool.

• He has drawn more awkard comparisons to Larry Bird since the Finals began, based on their shooting ability, their star status and two original but overlapping skill sets. Based, too, on their pigment and hair color. It's silly and lazy, but Nowitzki isn't the one comparing. He's too busy chasing down the ring, a category in which he trails Bird 3-0.

• His shooting coach and mentor, Holger Geschwindner, is getting as much acclaim and air time as a PGA swing coach. Many NBA players hang out with agents or, worse, boyhood barnacles who can lead them astray. Nowitzki travels the world with a taskmaster who looks like his dad and has yet to be photographed smiling.

• Nowitzki has shown himself to be a taskmaster himself at times, barking at Terry, Barea, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler and the rest of them as part of the leadership role he has assumed over the years. He did it at blast levels in Game 2, when Terry slept on Mario Chalmers' game-tying 3-pointer near the end. But he also told the Dallas sixth man, "I've got your back," as they exited the timeout huddle. That's slapping Steve Kerr and passing the ball to Steve Kerr for a championship game-winner, that's what that is.

• He has shown a dry sense of humor and an easy style to the public through his media sessions. Nowitzki referred to Kidd as a "fossil" and after Game 5 mentioned how much Terry likes to hear himself talk, well, pretty much anytime. His habit of yanking the microphone out of its stand, leaning back and going hand-held, like a Vegas lounge singer, is such a part of his interview-room shtick now that the league's media aides lay the mike, standless, on the table when Dirk is the next scheduled speaker.

• He has risen to this occasion. Only Wade has kept pace, actually outscoring Nowitzki in the series 142-135 but with the added benefit of two more All-Stars at his side as help and/or decoys. You want clutch? Nowitzki has outscored the much-hammered James 52-11 in the fourth quarters in this series. And he's shooting 43.9 percent, a nod to Miami's defensive obsession on him but also an encouraging sign to Dallas fans who believe Nowitzki still has a scoring explosion in him before this ends.

That doesn't really matter, though. Not now. Legacies can wait till summer.

"I really can't enjoy it much," Nowitzki said, "because in the playoffs for some reason, you're always on edge. You don't sleep much. You think basketball 24/7. I can enjoy it, hopefully next week when we're on vacation."

By which point, win or lose, Nowitzki will have earned it.

[CadBane]

Dirk Nowitzki went into Game 5 shooting 93.7 percent from the line in the playoffs on 174 attempts. The all-time postseason record (for at least 150 attempts) is 91.2 percent by Larry Bird in 1987. Nowitzki was perfect on 10 attempts in Game 5.

[fluid.forty.one]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQb13...layer_embedded

That is all.