you got to respect the guy's loyalty to his team as well as playing in adverse conditions. Also admire how he keeps improving his game.
What I like about Dirk is he knows the limits of his game and always plays the game at his own pace. That's a trademark of greatness. His patented step back j, that he practices to death (first to arrive last to leave); the over and under pump fake; the shimmy to the left then sweeping layup on the right. His footwork is extremely underrated. No one on the planet looks more awkward attacking the basket but Dirk still manages to do it effectively. He's just a dangerous gangster who shows you that greatness comes in many forms and attitudes.
I am just surprised to see that compared to Dirk, LeBron looks like a total marshmallow in the Finals.
Dirk's departure from this league will make the game less skilled. I will probably not watch NBA too much anymore.
Idiot homer <a href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/son i am derp/LewStool/SonIamDerp.jpg?o=0" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b77/LewStool/SonIamDerp.jpg" border="0"></a>
I started respecting Dirk during the 2006 WCFs against the Suns. He was on another planet and the Mavs would have lost if he hadn't played out of his mind. Everyone forgets that series because of what happened in the Finals. I don't agree he is more humble. He's just older, more mature, more no-nonsense and only cares about winning a championship. As far as I can remember, he has always been a good interview who says what's on his mind.
Everyone forgets the series before that. He was better in the San Antonio series. That says a lot considering how much he's improved since 07 vs GSW. The San Antonio series in 06, the Nuggets series in 09 were two of his top 3 playoff series in terms of his perfomance.
Hate the Mavs, but I give Dirk props for staying loyal to team and fighting through the criticism. He may not have another chance at a ring and prolly won't win it this year (my prediction), but I will give him my respect as a fan of basketball.
Yup, that was when I began to respect Dirk too. Though the interesting thing about those playoffs for me - none of the latter stuff in the WCF/Finals, for better or worse, happens without Ginobili committing probably the dumbest foul in NBA history on Dirk's "and 1" to tie Game 7. Otherwise, SA had Dallas beaten after the Mavs were up 3-1 in the series and by 20 in Game 7. It's interesting to think how differently things might have played out, had that been the result. If the Mavs had suffered a second-round collapse, followed by the GSW meltdown the next year and subsequent regression... I'm guessing Cuban would've likely blown it up at some point. Irrelevant to the thread, of course, but interesting to ponder.
My sentiment on Dirk was shared by many after witnessing the 05 series. But my opinion of the guy drastically changed after reading the ESPN piece on him a while back. http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=4820406&type=story Pretty atypical for an NBA star.
