Game 1: 7-18 (bad game) Game 2: 10-22 (ok game) Game 3: 11-21 (good game) Game 4: 6-19 (bad game) Game 5: 9-18 (good game) Game 6: 9-27 (terrible game) It looks pretty mediocre to me for Dirk standards. You can count 4th quarter points more important if you want, but I maintain that if your 1st quarter shots go in, the 4th quarter shot never has to be taken.
You know, field goal percentage isn't the only indicator of efficiency. Anyone want to calculate his TS? I'm pretty confident it's high due to his FT shooting. I'm sorry, there is more to the game than blunt statistics. At the end of the day, Dirk stepped up when his team needed him. He took over in the fourth throughout the series, and dominated the two best players in the league when it mattered. There is no way you can say Dirk had a bad series without any bias.
Looked up Hakeem's stats just for the fun of it. 93-94 Season AVG: .528 Rebs: 11.9 Blks/Stls: 3.7 / 1.6 Finals AVG: .503 Rebs: 9.19 blks/stls: 3.85 / 1.57 94-95 Season AVG: .517 Rebs: 10.8 Blks/Stls: 3.4 / 1.8 Finals AVG: .484 Rebs: 11.5 Blks/Stls: 2 / 2 Dream kept up with his standards pretty well!
LOL, ok dude. Virtually all of his stats (FT%, TO, AST, REBS, STL, BLKS) line up with either what he had been doing throughout the season, or through the playoffs up to that point. The one glaring failboat is his FG/3P percentages. And like I said, the majority of Dirk's game and contribution is through efficient scoring. If you want to hang your hat on his free throws, then go ahead, but I'm not going to stand beside you on that one.
Its really sad that the collective masses end up writting history because this thread is filled with some insane lists. Kg is easily better than dirk. Duncan, barkley, malone... Dirk plays no D.
TS is a better standard for efficiency. It takes into account 2p/3p/FT shooting. If you're only looking at FG% you're doing it wrong. If someone shoots 50% from midrange, is that the same as someone else shooting 40% from 3? Dirk -http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nowitdi01/gamelog/2011/ (Click on the "Advanced game log" option Dream - http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olajuha01/gamelog/1994/ Compare them. There's a reason why everyone is lauding Dirk's performance.
If Dirk plays no D, how come that three max players didn't manage to get huge numbers against him? If Dirk plays no D, how come the opposing forwards Bosh and Lebron didn't outscore him?
because bosh plays like a 2 guard minus the ball handling...plus dont undervalue the effects of a good defensive center
Dream: 56% Dirk: 54% Why did you point this out to me, exactly? Isn't Dirk supposed to be the shooting ace in this comparison? Isn't Dirk's game more heavily based on his scoring ability, as opposed to the greatest defensive center of all time? (and master rebounder, etc) Wouldn't a more apt comparison be Dirk's TS in the Finals vs his TS in the regular season? Dirk Finals TS: 54% Dirk Season TS: 61% Obviously it's bouyed a little bit by his FT% (remember, his FG% was about 10% less... and his 3P% was bad too), but it's still a fairly large dip. I'm sorry guys, I'm not a Nowitness.
So you think 4 players are enough to play defense? For that zone defense that was so crucial in shutting down the Heat in the 4th quarters, you need 5 players who "get it" and participate in it. Rick Carlisle said after the game that Dirk is actually a very underrated defender. I would agree, simply because there are still people saying he plays no defense. Is he a great invidual defender? No. Is he a good team defender? I would say yes.
Who did Dirk guard the majority of the time? Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony? (Not hating; just pointing it out. If I were the coach, I wouldn't let him guard a scorer and risk getting in foul trouble)
I completely despise Malone, too, but I have to agree. IMO the only reason why Malone is #2 is because he couldn't win a championship. Dirk is a great player and the best 7 foot shooter I've ever seen but his overall game isn't as great as Malone, Barkley, Garnett or Hayes in their primes.
I'm just saying, Dirk was within 2% of one of the greatest scoring bigs in NBA history (that was including a game where he went 9-27). That was considered to be a great finals for Hakeem - yet you're turning around and saying Dirk was horrible. Something doesn't fly.
1) Hakeem stayed near his season TS% 2) Hakeem played defense and rebounded like a boss You're comparing apples and oranges, bro.
Mostly Haslem, Anthony, Bosh, sometimes Wade, sometimes Lebron. Seems like Dallas switched a lot. But Bosh wasn't guarding Dirk most of the time either.
