Western Conference Finals: Dallas Mavericks vs Oklahoma City Thunder

Dirk has 3-9 inches on all those players you named and is also a better shooter than all of them.

Dirk doesn't have to get to the FT line to be effective. He only took 4 a game against the Lakers and did just fine.

If Boston's big three was 2-3 years younger they would have beat the Heat with relative ease.

 

what lebron has done so far is easily more impressive than what dirk has done. he scores, defends, rebounds, create plays, and having to play 44 mpg.

but i think the reason dirk has been so impressive also is his clutchness. he's been easily the most clutch player in the playoffs, and sometimes clutchness goes a long way. he's been averaging 11ppg in the 4th quarter vs the thunder, and that's the 2nd highest in the past decade. that's very remarkable.

 

again, all you're describing is that dirk is still a jumpshooter. the heat will gladly allow dirk to take jumpshots all game.

well, then i can argue if the heat's big 3 have more experience together.... well you get the point.

 

well, he's been shooting 57% the past 2 series, which is a huge reason why dallas has been winning.

they had more struggles vs the blazers, and dirk shot 45%. none of the teams he faced have been great defensive teams per se.

 

I have no idea what the point is that you are trying to get across. Dirk is the best jump shooter in the league and has a good post game. You make it sound like he is a one dimensional offensive player. Would teams gladly allow Hakeem to post them up and dream shake all day if he is feeling it?

The whole point of my response was that I can make up hypothetical what ifs too. Fact is Kobe isn't Kobe anymore so saying they would have won with a younger one is pointless because you can say stuff like that for a lot of teams. If Kobe was 2-3 years younger they would probably beat the Heat too.

 

The Lakers had one of the best defenses in the league this year

 

all i'm saying is the heat will allow dirk to take those tough jumpshots he's been taking all playoffs. the heat believe in their defense, which is a top 3 defense in the L, will make his fg% drop a little bit if he keeps taking those shots.

dirk is not on hakeem's level. hakeem did his thing vs the best defensive players at his position (patrick ewing, david robinson...). dirk has been doing this vs nick collison, ibaka, pau gasol... let's be serious.

let's see what dirk can do vs a top 3 defense. like i said, if he can continue his offensive pace vs the heat, his reputation will grow by leaps and bounds.

i'm really looking forward to how dirk does vs the heat actually. hopefuly he does play well b/c it will make the series much more interesting to watch.

lakers were 8th in points allowed. that was top 10, but not one of the best defenses in the L. why do you think the lakers wanted a defensive-minded coach this offseason? they knew they had to improve defensively b/c that killed them in the playoffs (they didn't know how to guard chris paul and the pick and roll, and they didn't know how to guard barea and the pic kand roll).

 

He's making over half his shots this postseason, and the last two postseasons as well. So to respond to your smart ass comment with a smart ass answer, I'll go out on a limb and say he won't make half his shots against Miami. If you need a translation, that's basically saying the hot streak that everyone is going nuts about, covering the last 2 rounds, is about to end and the Mavs title hopes will end with it.

 

I can't think of the last time I saw one of the best defenses give up so many wide open shots!!! And you can be a good defense but still have matchup issues with certain players. Gasol isn't built to defend on the perimiter (similar to the years Yao was chasing Boozer and Okur around out there).

 

Ranking team defense is usually decided by opponents fg%. The Heat were tied for 2nd with 43.4%. The Lakers were 5th with 43.7% so the difference is very small.

Dirk has been a top 5 player in this league for years now and has done his thing against everybody for a long time. Collison and Ibaka are both solid defenders. Good offense beats good defense in one on one basketball especially when a player is as hot as Dirk.

Already discussed the very small difference in the Lakers vs. Heat defense this season above.

 

no, dirk has NOT been a top 5 player for years now. i don't know where you got that from. he wasn't even a top 5 player this year (lebron/howard/wade/rose/durant were all better than him this year).

again, this is why we play the games. i expect dirk to struggle vs the heat. you may think otherwise, but we will know soon next week when the finals start.

 

Rose and Durant are not better than Dirk at this point in their careers. Three or four years ago Duncan was on that list but Howard wasn't. So over the past 6 years you have 1.Lebron 2.Wade 3.Howard/Duncan 4. Kobe. Can you name a 5th player that has been a hands down better player than Dirk over that 6 year stretch?

 

Dirk's true shooting percentage this postseason is 64%. Lebron's is 56.7%.

That's a huge difference.

 

Rebounding and defense makes a huge difference as well, right?

 

Dirk has had more clutch moments than Lebron.

 

Of course, but Dirk rebounds and plays defense too. Overall, Dirk has clearly been the best player this postseason, and he's doing it with incredible efficiency.

That's why everyone is going ga-ga for him.

 

Dirk was also THE only double team threat in Dallas. They have to rely on running the offense to win, unlike Miami Heat who rely on isolations to draw double teams to get open shots.

The Miami Heat has 2 (and once in a while 3) double team threats. That makes each and every one of their game much easier.

If you give Dirk Lebron and Wade, then make Dirk the primary offensive threat. Dirk's statistics will fly up.

 

the guy is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game as a PF. and i haven't heard one single analyst talk about his defense all playoffs.

people are going ga-ga over him b/c he's been extremely clutch. and this is over-emphasized b/c of his choke jobs in the past playoffs. this is like an unexpected transformation, and people are wowed by that.