Dirk had 39 pts 17 rebs and 3 steals. Dirk is the one that started the game smoking hot and put the Pups way behind the eight ball. Yes Najera made some very key plays down the stretch as did Finely as did Dirk. The truth about this game was that it was never really close. The Mavs would be 17 or 19 points ahead and let the pups get back to 10 and then they would push the lead back to 19. In the fourth when it looked like the pups would make a game of it and pulled to with in 3 the Mavs once again pulled away. The Mavs toyed with the pups today...that is all. Unfortunately for the pups they are a lot more than just one man away from beating the mavs. You say you can't believe how sure I am of Dirk being better than KG but can you believe some of the open lay ups that KG missed? Especially down the stretch? Or how about all of the free throws that he missed that could of kept the game close? KG may be as good as Dirk in the regular season but he does not even compare in the play offs when it counts the most. As far as runs go the Pups made one good run in the first half with KG on the bench and it was Van Exel that ended the pups run with an open three. In the 4th when the mavs did not seem to be able to score it was Dirk that hit a three and then two free throws and then later Nash hit a three and Finely hit a mid range 2 with about half of the T-Pups team hanging off of him. There is no way to deny that Dirk was the Best player on the floor today. I think it was Finley in game two but today it was Dirk.
I didn't really think they were that close, especially the third one wasn't. crash described it already, all I can add is that when it got close in the fourth, Dirk made a three that helped the Mavs pull away and that broke the Wolves' neck. Also, I don't think that having Brandon in there would have changed the result of any of the three games. Dirk displayed a true champion's attitude by going into Minnesota and just from the start destroying them. If KG was REALLY that much better defensively than Dirk and if the whole difference was the rest of the respective teams, KG would not have allowed Dirk to come in and rip his heart out. He just could not stop it. But of course, KG is a great, great player. I would love to have him on the Rockets. It's just that Dirk showed that he is even better. Watch out for him to have some more monster games in these playoffs .
I'll assume you're talking to me, even though you haven't addressed me directly. Nash played in 80 percent of the games his first year with the Mavs, and 68 percent in his second. How does missing some games prevent him from producing in the games he plays in? Nowitzki excelled before Nash did -- the statistics don't lie. In Dirk's second year, he was already putting up 17.5 points and 6.5 boards -- all this while Nash was supposedly ineffective due to injury, scoring 8 and a half points and dishing out 5 assists. Nash put up crap numbers for 4 years, while Nowitzki came out with guns blazing in just his second season, when Nash was doing nothing. You expect us to believe that Dirk is where he is today because of Nash?
No, but I do expect you to acknowledge the fact that he has it easier than basically every star player in the league this side of Kobe.
Dirk has to go up against Duncan, Garnett, Webber, Malone, Brand and Wallace on a regular basis. That is not having it easier than basically every other star in the NBA.
Not really. The Mavs will put guys like Lafrenz or Najera on the tougher low post opponents or Finley on explosive quick swingmen types. Dirk usually gets to conserve energy defensively by playing the weakest forward or an offensivelyt inept center, allowing him to come off his man to rebound and occasionally be a weak side shot blocker. It really is the ideal situation for letting him focus on offense and contribute here and there on defense (mostly via defensive rebouding). Compare this with Garnett who draws the toughest defensive assignment individually and/or becomes the highest expenditure player in their zone--KG is really the focus on both their offense and defense, only a few other really good teams also do this (Lakers, Spurs off hand). I really don't know who is better between Dirk and KG, though I think it is much closer than most of ya'll make it out. They really are both players in a little bit different ways (offensive nod to Dirk w/o question, defensive nod and overall floor impact to KG). But I have NO DOUBT if you switched their jerseys the Mavs would have still won 3-0, the Mavs are better at every position that KG doesn't play and have more quality depth. You have to remember Hakeem had like an 7 year stretch of not doing much in the playoffs, didn't mean he still wasn't better than Jabbar, Vlade, Cage, Eaton or whomever else he was matched up with at the time, just the rest of the talent gap was too great.
Hmmm. I don't know, maybe. What makes it 'easy' for him? The Mavs resurgence is tied directly to Dirk Nowitzki. Finley was always good, but the Mavs weren't. Nash wasn't good until after Dirk became good. I'd say Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber must have it easy too then -- Dirk still outplays those guys handily in the post-season. I don't care how 'easy' he's supposedly got it, he's still better than Garnett. The great ones find a way to at least get a shot off in the clutch. There are two guys in the NBA since 1970 to have 4 straight games of 30 point, 15 rebound performances in the playoffs -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one, Dirk Nowitzki is the other. The amazing thing about this guy is that he's putting up Rodman-like rebounding numbers in the playoffs. He's also scoring 30 without breaking a sweat. The guy is nuts.
You mean KG scored over 39 points on less than 17 shots? I must have been watching the other Mavs/Wolves series because the one I saw had Dirk scoring 39 points on 17 shots. Both are great players but KG's lack of a go to move, and lack of clutch ability leads me to pick Dirk over KG. I also agree with the statement that the Spurs have equal to or less talent than the Wolves yet Duncan is able to elivate his game in crunch time, and has his team as the most favored to unseat the Lakers where as KG has already begun his vacation.
But this ignores defense and setting up teammates that KG is superior at. I do agree Dirk is the better offensive player--though if he were playing on the Wolves I don't believe his offensive production (or at least efficiency) would be near the level it is witht he Mavs . I don't think either KG or TD has much to work with, though I think TD is better. But TD is also better than Dirk too though. As much as Freak says Dirk is playoff tested he still has never advanced out of the 2nd round of the playoffs yet (and got his a@@ kicked by Duncan last year), something a host of players from Shaq to TD to Karl Malone TO Iverson can say. To fools maybe. Anyone with half a brain realizes the Kings and Dirk's team have the best shots at beating the Lakers because they can score in multiple ways. The Spurs just hope to win a game or two on their own court against them this time.
It's 'easy' for him in the way that Scar described. These gaudy numbers he's putting up show what a superstar caliber player can do when he's the third option on offense most of the time (ie: little to no double coverage)......not 'third option' in the sense that he gets a less number of shots, but rather that the offense runs through him less than it does Nash and Finley. And, yes, he does always get the easier defensive assignment, which is a smart thing to do, since he is a bad defender. With his physical attributes, they can pair him up with the worst frontcourt player almost every time. This also allows him to roam around and pick up an exorbitant amount of defensive rebounds....which is why I'm not that persuaded by his rebounding numbers. This isn't so much about me actually believing that Garnett is a better player than Nowitzki.....'talent-wise', I'd say they're equal, but I doubt that Nowitzki could emulate what Garnett has done in Minnesota with the same talent surrounding him.
How about putting a preliminary end to the discussion here - let's review this after the next round of the playoffs. If Nowitzki dominates Webber, some people will have to admit that it is not just because he has more talent around him - for me, this would be proof that he is already one level above Garnett and Webber who I consider to be pretty much on a similar level, with an advantage for Garnett. Mavs-Kings should be such a fun series to watch. I am pretty convinced that the Mavs will survive the next round, not as easily as this one, but I think they will make it. Even against the Lakers, I think they would have the best chance of all teams to beat them.
SJC IF Dirk dominates Webber and his team wins the series I'll go along with what you say. Don't count your chickens on either happening just yet though--the 1st series often is not a litmus test for happens later.
At the time, I was discussing game two. In which, both players scored 31 points. Jackie Chiles, you have to at least admit that games one and two were close...Game one at the very least. Garnett did not guard Nowitzki for most of the series. If he had, I do not see Nowitzki scoring as much as he did. At about 13 points and 8 assists, Terrell Brandon is not much worse than Steve Nash statistically. How can you say that Brandon would not have had an impact on the series? My thoughts exactly...And vice-versa. I could see Garnett in Dirk's situation.
Wrong! Garnett and Rasho took turns trying to guard Dirk. Garnett was usually the one trying to gard him. Notice I used the term trying. I watched all of the games and Dirk abused Garnett when ever Garnett tried to guard him. KG had no clue what to do against Dirk. When Dirk would get the ball out at the arc he would shoot if Garnett did not come out to guard him. If Garnett came out to guard him then Dirk would drive around KG like his feet were in cement. In game 3 KG spent a lot of time on the bench in the 1st half because he got himself into foul trouble trying to guard Dirk. Dirk did score most of his points with KG as the primary defender.
ROTFLMAO!! Thanks for the good laugh that was funny! Dirk is the Mavs 1st option. This is not even debatable. LMAO.
Wrong! You must have been watching this alternate Mav's-Wolves series that TexasG was talking about. Rasho and Joe Smith guarded Dirk most of the time, while Sam Mithchell, Garnett, and Wally guarded him the rest of the time.
Sorry but actually I am right. Joe Smith only got a few minutes playing time in game one. I watched all three games and saw Garnett attempt to guard Dirk when ever Rasho was not trying.
Actually KG was attempting to guard Dirk quite a bit. The Pups do run a lot of zone defenses however when Nellie isolated Dirk on the perimeter Flip put KG on Dirk because he is the only person on that team athletic enough to try and guard Dirk. Dirk was either shooting over him or taking him to the hole. Maybe you remember that foul KG had on Dirk in game two after Dirk drove right around him. Also remember the play in game 3 where KG was clapping his hands at Nash, KG was originally on Dirk on that play but Nash, and Dirk were able to switch off, and Billups ended up on Dirk and KG ended up on Nash (Dirk scored on the play by the way). KG is first team all NBA on defense yet he couldn't even come close to slowing Dirk down. I also agree that once he does the same (or worse) to Webber the whole world will realize just how special Dirk is.
