Dude, didn't you hear, Damp is the 2nd best center in league? How could No-win-ski not pass it to such a dominant player?
I think the most embarrasing thing, is that all these media types were just about ready to crown him as one of the next great ones. And then he goes and passes up a game winning shot attempt to Dampier. Hero to Zero. Coffee is for closers. We Rocket fans knew the truth from the beginning obviously
dirk didn't have a good finals, but all this he nevers steps up or is just a regular season guy is a little silly after the first 3 rounds he had. he put up 27 and 13 against SA and then 28 and 13 against phoenix. and he had 2 huge sets of free throws late in games against SA and then of course the huge 3 point play to save game 7, which was part of a 37 and 15 performance. and he hit 2 big shots at the end of game 5 against miami and squeezed in that great pass to dampier for the easy dunk. if wade doesn't keep topping him or get that call, maybe we're talking about him stepping up. if being huge on the road to the finals and then having a down series makes you a choker, then lets hope tmac and yao start choking like that.
Plain and simple, Dirk doesnt have the killer instinct to be a legend. He is a perenial allstar,but at this point thats all he is.
He showed a killer instinct against the Spurs and Suns but, for the most part, he didn't against the Heat (especially in game 6).
Dirk choked worse than Karla Malone in the Finals. How can anyone say he played well when he shot 37%? Superstars are supposed to lead...not dissapear.
No way. Nowitzki totally dissapeared when it mattered most. Except maybe game 5 before overtime. He supplied points, that is it. With the Heat, you KNEW the ball was going to be in Wade's hands in the 4th qrt. When it was time for Dallas, you weren't too sure.
Also, I think his scoring average has been severely skewed the entire playoffs. Until the finals when they were finally ticked off, the refs were afraid to not give him foul shots whenever that 7 foot wienerschnitzel akwardly barreled his way towards the basket in a poor-excuse for a drive. Does anyone really believe that Dirk legitimately set the new post-season free throw attempt record? And that he drove and drew more contact than Michael Jordan? Cuz all I saw was a whole lot of jumpshot bricklaying and a whole lot of whining about being breathed on by the opposing defense. Nuck Fowitski.
no, b/c he shot 229 ft's in the playoffs and wade shot 250 ft's in the playoffs. it doesn't appear dirk is the one with the record. and while his 229 did tie jordan's high of 229, a) way more free throws can now be shot by stars under the new rules and b) jordan's best fta/gm in the playoffs was 13.5 in 1989. dirk was right at 10 per game in these playoffs, wade right at 11. so even under the old rules neither touches jordan's peak.
Lets not forget the foul shots either. Game 3...Nowitski misses a foul shot, Shaq makes his late in the game. Dallas loses by a point. Game 5...Nowitski misses a foul shot, Wade makes his late in the game and in overtime. Dallas loses by two points in overtime. In crunch time, your star player is supposed to come through for you in all facets of the game. Miami's star players came through for them in the end. Dirk didnt deliver the same results for Dallas, ultimately costing them a championship that was in their grasps. If I was a Mavs fan, the blame falls squarely on the leader (or lack thereof) of this team. Dirk didnt step up....again.
That was the play that was called- as a fake. If Dampier screwed up- and it would have been a wide open dunk- how is his Dirk's fault. Leadership is not established by one-liners, Body gestures or "give me the balll" stuff that people write about- Dirk is a jump shooter- a damn good one at that. Comparing players of different era is both senile and silly- if you win you are the hero and Mark Cuban would have been a genius- if you lose Pat riley become the Master and Shaq orchestrates a ring for Zo and GP! Fans are fickle to say the least. If you call Dirk a Has-been, what is Kevin Garnett? In my opinion both are great players- they will be in top 20-30 players of past 2 decades- which is saying a lot
