Western Conference Finals: Dallas Mavericks vs Oklahoma City Thunder

What happens when Dirk will actually HAVE to play defense on Bosh and Haslem? Paul Gasol had a mental breakdown and was pretty much a nonfactor and Ibaka couldn't stay on the court due to foul trouble. If Dirk gets into foul trouble guarding Bosh/Haslem, that could be potentially fatal for the Mavericks.

"Well that's when you switch Chandler over!"

Then you just took your best rebounder out 18 ft away from the basket and replaced him with a player who averaged a scant 5 rebounds per game against the Thunder against Joel Anthony.

 

I agree with the both of you that Dirk is playing absolutely unreal basketball right now but he's not exactly gasping for air on the defensive end this postseason

 

true on the defensive side

but lets be real he's never been good defensively and never will be

 

He's not that bad of a defender. No one has really gone off on him in any series. Seems like guys like Dirk & Nash just get the "he's white so he must suck" card played on them by default.

 

Same goes for haslem/bosh

what will happen when they have to waste so much energy guarding dirk?

bosh is garbage on defense just looks good cause boozer is playing like p***y

 

Yeah let's completely ignore the fact that Dirk averages 8.4 rebounds a game for his career. Let's also ignore the fact that he averaged 8 rebounds a game against the Blazers who have Aldridge and Camby and 9 against the Lakers who have Bynum and Gasol.

 

Miami can throw more defenders at Dirk though. LeBron can guard Dirk. He has the height, length, speed, and strength to do it with no problem, IMO.

 

He doesn't have the height, but what he can do is deny Dirk the ball in his sweet spots, which is really the best way of defending him anyway. But LeBron will only be on Dirk in very spot minutes-- it'll be mostly Anthony/Haslem/Bosh.

 

not sure if srs

its like me saying marion will guard lebron no problem

they are the best players on the floor they will get what they want

 

To say he can do it with no problem is quite the statement. The only thing Lebron can do to stop Dirk is use his strength to try and keep him from getting good post position. If Dirk establishes himself against Lebron in the post with his 4 inch height advantage it is all over.

 

srs

I know. Pretty bold statement from me, but I think he can. We'll probably only see James on Dirk in the final minutes of the game anyway.

 

Oh don't get me wrong--I'm not expecting any more defense out of Dirk than what he has shown in his career. I'm just stating that players like Bosh and Haslem can/should keep expending enough energy on the defensive end (i.e. actually making him work) that those 4th quarter beast-mode events won't happen as much in the Finals because, lets be honest, Dirk hasn't had to guard anyone in this postseason.

Good point

I'm not advocating Bosh for DPOY any time soon. All I'm saying is your best bet at even trying to bring Dirk back to Earth is by forcing him to expend energy on both ends of the floor.

 

u just went full r****d

 

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/3693/r****doo0.jpg

 

As I mentioned in another post, I wouldn't expect to see many of those 40 point on 50% shooting nights from Dirk against Miami. He's gonna have to hold somebody and the Lakers/Thunder really didn't have anyone to defend him. I expect to see the type of numbers that he put up in the Portland series, which was in the 25-30 range in the mid 40's shooting.

I do think folks are underestimating what Bosh can do against Dallas. If you go through Brand, KG and Noah then I think you breathe a sign of relief when you see Chandler and Dirk.

 

Of course Dirk is playing better, or really scoring better. He's being checked by freaking Nick Collison and Ibaka (weak man defender). LeBron had to deal with Iggy, the Celtics defense and the Bulls defense. He's gonna have a big ass smile on his face when he looks at Marion, Kidd and whoever....and when he drives to be met at the rim by Chandler and Dirk.

But when you look at everything LeBron is doing I can't conclude Dirk is playing better. Dirk is putting up 28, 7 and 2. LeBron is putting up 26, 9 and 5, all while being a primary defender. And this is against hard defenses, while having to guard Iggy, Pierce and Rose. How is Dirk playing better?

 

as long as dirk is taking jumpshots, i don't think the heat cares. the heat will let him go 1-on-1 as much as he wants.

 

holy ****

lmao

thats it ignore list

 

So you think they just man him up and say "beat us", and stay home on everyone else?

 

If you need to ignore me for stating something obvious, like Chandler/Dirk isn't the defender that Garnett or Noah are, then you probably don't have much to add to a basketball convo so go right ahead.