I'm not sure why you would post such a question, esp placing the Rockets last? 1. Rockets 2. Spurs 3. Mavs =)
Reality: 1, Spurs, 2 Rockets, 3 mavs Expectation: 1, Rockets 2 Spurs ( or whatever) 3, Mavs, or whatever. I think GermanRoxFan's arguements make sense to me, although we all favor Yao of course. I would say right now, Dirk is a little better than Yao when talking about the points. But, by the end of this season, they might be even, and in 2005-2006 season, Yao will dominate even Shaq
Sorry, I'm a little late here. I see you've been getting some heat for the Dirk vs. Yao arguments in this thread. The only thing I have to say about that is, if you trade Yao for Dirk, will the Rockets be better or worse? Will the Mavs be better or worse? I think the answer is pretty clear. What I really wanted to ask about was your overall WC rankings (see quote). I'm not sure I'm reading that right, but it looks to me like you say San Antonio is number 3 in the west, mavs are number 7, and the Rockets are #10. Because it looks like you're saying (for instance) spurs are #1 in Texas, #3 overall. Am I reading that correctly? So are you predicting the Rockets will be significantly worse than last year, and will miss the playoffs by a decent margin? And not only that, you have two teams above the Spurs? I really want to see your complete Western Conference rankings if this is the case. Or is it that you're saying the spurs will be somewhere between 1-3, mavs between 2-7, and Rockets between 3-10? That makes a little more sense, but I'd still suggest that you're pretty pessimistic if you think that the Rockets will miss the playoffs (barring injury of course). And I'd still like to see your overall WC rankings. By the way, 1. spurs 1a. Rockets 3. mavs
Rox is built around Yao. If you trade Yao for Dirk, of course Rox is gonna suck. Duh? I like Dirk for his ability to shoot the 3, and he's very clutch. Yao on the other hand, is already dominant in the low post and can nail the 20 footer. I think given the right combination of players around them, both can achieve MVP status and guide their team to a championship. Comparing their individual skills is pretty hard because they're very different, how do you rate Kobe vs. Shaq? Yes Shaq sux the defense in and Kobe's more free, but Kobe also commands double team therefore freeing Shaq or anyone else on the team. MJ proved that given a superior supporting cast then a guard can win a championship, I dont see why this can't be true for a shooting PF like Dirk.
MJ had the complete game. Great Offense Great Defense Great Passing Great Leadership Great Clutch player. Dirk is basically a one trick poney. Great offense - Can shoot the lights out - OK but not great post game - runs exceptionally well for a 7 footer does not pass the ball well not a great leader average clutch player (he has stepped up in some big play off games and fanished in others) Zero defense but rebounds good. These observations are my own and made after watching him a lot from right here in Dallas since the day he entered the league. I have always thought that the Dirk and Larry Bird comparisons were ludicrous because Dirks game is nothing like Larry's. KG's game resembles Larry's game a hell of a lot more than Dirks IMO. Any team would be lucky to have Dirk and he could even be the best player on a championship team IMO but he would have to have a hell of a lot better supporting cast than MJ ever did. I basically think that the Mavericks of the last few years minus Dirk is far better than the Bulls championship teams minus MJ.
Yeah, that's how I see it. The Spurs are real contenders, my personal favourites overall. The Mavs could be contenders, you have to wait for the answers to the 2 important questions: 1. Can Terry replace Nash or will the offense be much weaker? 2. Does Dampier fit into the Mavs' style of play? I tend to answer both questions with yes. That's why I rank them so high (#2). But even if the answers are no, they still have a lot of good players (Daniels, Stackhouse, Finley, ...) and one mvp candidate in Dirk. They have so much talent, I just don't think they won't make the playoffs. I rank the Rockets as high as #3 overall. Obviously that only can be achieved if Yao plays a 20-9-2 Season and McGrady buying into Van Gundy's coaching philosophies. And of course everybody has to stay healthy. I don't see everybody staying healthy. Of course I'm no future teller, but with McGrady, Mo, Sura, Mutombo and co. there is a good chance that there will be injuries. And then this team consists of lots of new players. They will need some time. The west is loaded, there are about 10 teams that can make the playoffs. That's why I think that if things go not so well we might end up in the lottery. That being said I still think that the Rockets are a playoff team. The style and the philosophies of Van Gundy, the defense, the halfcourt offense with Yao and T-Mac. I think that all predestinates the Rockets as a difficult to beat playoff team. If the Rockets make the playoffs they will at least make the second round. That's my analysis. @ crash5179: I don't think that Dirk is an awfull passer, but he is not great, that's right. His post game is ok, I agree. Dirk scores more points in or from the post than one might think. When it comes to clutchness I think Dirk is at least at Yaos level. He can basically shoot over any defender from everywhere. He is a deadly free throw shooter. And he can make the clutch shots. He even can take the ball up court all by himself, he does that a lot when he plays for our national team. And from watching the games of our national team alone I can assure you that he has leading abilities. You're right with the defense. He is simply not good there, but he got better every year. Still he is average at best. Yao is a better one on one defender in the post. But he is not a great defender. He is slow on transition (of course), often a step to late on help defense, not a good shot blocker, an awfull stealer and just a normal defensive rebounder. I don't think you can say Yao might be worse on offense, but his defense puts him in front of Dirk. Just remember 2002/03 when the mavs where not that loaded with good forwards. Dirk scored more than 25 ppg and grabbed nearly 10 rpg. I expect him to have at least a 23 and 9 season if he stays healthy. But I also think we should stop the discussion about Dirk. He is not playing for the Rockets and so this is a little bit off topic.
Sorry, but I think that does not make too much sense because KG is all about athleticism. Would you say the same thing about Bird? Don't forget Poland...ahem...Dirk's blocks and steals. He might not be the greatest one-on-one defender, but check the stats. There are VERY few players in the league who average as many blocks and steals combined as Dirk does. He had some games last season where he would have like 6 steals and 2 blocks. Dirk is also a very good rebounder - defensive rebounding is also part of playing defense. Again, I'd love to see Yao and Dirk play together...they would be a perfect match...
