lol, yeah dirk's really turned this rag-tag bunch around. he's great, maybe even the mvp so far based on the stats (+/-, PER, production differential), but he's played on amazingly talented teams and is on an extremely talented, deep team right now. kg on this team would be just as ridiculous. tmac's had even less playoff success than kg and even lost to dirk but it's not because he doesn't make his team a winner. he abused dirk in their playoff marchup, maybe even more than hakeem over robinson, but dirk's team is just too talented to stop everyone. as for this thread, obviously being tall, being able to shoot, and being a 7 footer who doesn't trip all over himself when driving give him huge advantages over just about anybody guarding him and he knows how to use them. as we saw in the finals last year, though, he can't completely take over like a wade b/c he can't get to the basket or close to the basket at will (b/c you can guard him with shorter, quicker players, and if they're physical and the refs let them get away with it like posey and haslem, he can't just will his way to the basket).
I witnessed first hand Cat shutting down dirk when the clips played the mavs at the beginning of the season. dirk scored only 4 points on cat while the rest of the points he had came against other defenders. it was crazy as soon as cat when out he scored and was more aggressive and when cat was put back on him he stopped scoring. you can easily get into dirk's mind and contain him by being physical and playing good defense the first few possesions of the game against him. i have a friend who is a mavs fan and he even said that dirk is by far the easiest all-star he has seen to be able to get locked-down by a player.
look dirk is soft......if there was a charles oakley or someone of the sorts in the league right now they could shut him down......dirk plays euro ball and flopps everytime someone breathes on him.....all you have to do is put some one on him and play VERY physical.......he would be whinning and b!tching all night and you would get into his head.......the turd is 7 ft tall so there is no blocking him.....just rough him up a bit with someone like padgett who you dont care if they foul out......dirk plays soft and dsnt know how to deal with physical play....so i say smack him around a bit.......if you can shut down t-mac you can surely shut down that german flop machine
With all the flopping Dirk does, Avery Johnson still thinks Dirk deserves the benefit of the doubt "Johnson just wants Nowitzki to be treated like a star on the floor. "I'm not too overly excited in terms of respect because of a player of the week award," Johnson said. "It has more to do with in-game situations." That, of course, is a thinly veiled reference to referees. Johnson has expressed concern several times this season about Nowitzki getting the benefit of the doubt when he drives to the basket." However, he did mention that Tmac was on his list of worthy MVP candidates. "There's a lot of guys out there," Johnson said of the MVP candidates, mentioning Phoenix's Steve Nash, Washington's Gilbert Arenas and Houston's Tracy McGrady. "But what [Nowitzki] is doing night in and night out, I wouldn't take anybody else over him." http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...vs/stories/011706dnspomavsbriefs.2d8166d.html
play dirk with some muscle!!! look we all know dirk is a good player......he has a great shot and for someone of his size moves very well.....but i still think he would be quite easy to shut down if you use the correct defence on him.......dirk basically plays euro ball here in the nba ie he flopps everytime someone is even close to him......he plays soft especially for a 7 footer which brings me to my scheme.....when u have the starters out there deny him the ball...thats what they did to us with t-mac in the second half....tire him out he is 7 ft tall and if he is constantly running around just to get the ball it will make him use valuable energy.....second bring in someone like padgett who you dont care if he fouls out and tell him to play dirk ROUGH almost dirty.....dirty with out trying to hurt him just really body him up.....he would be whining all night and i feel we could get into his head with this style.....if anyone notcied the mavs complain alot so i feel gettin them whinnin that we are playin to physical would truly help us.....any thoughts?
While his height makes him especially problematic, Dirk is just plain and simple a phenomenal shooter. There's only a small handful of guys in this league that can shoot lights out from all over the court, while being heavily guarded, and with just a fleeting look at the basket. Tracy McGrady has this ability (sometimes it seems like he just jumps in the air, evaluates his position, and releases while 2 feet off the ground). Kobe Bryant has this gift, Michael Redd does, Lebron James too...They don't need to spot up or square themselves and can shoot off-balance and make split second adjustments...You just can't teach those skills... That said, I don't enjoy watching Dirk - He ALWAYS has as pained look on his face like he's playing with torn ACLs or getting clubbed in the knees...
Just because he doesn't have "mad handles" and perfect footwork on his shot doesn't mean he isn't good. The man is something the league has never seen. He's 7 feet, with a steady handle and a deadly jumpshot. He's quicker than most people his size, and those who have the speed just don't have the size to even bother him. It's somewhat like Yao. When a defender puts a hand up he doesn't even see it.
Easy to say it and read it. Not easily done. How many times has Ryan Bowen bodied him up only to get torched.
he has a great turn around fadeaway. hard to acknowledge and accept it but he does. at his height and where he releases the ball during his shot, it's pretty much unguardable.
Dirk has a chance to shoot over 50% overall, 40% from 3 point range, and 90% on free throws. That's amazing for a 7 footer. Hell, that's amazing for anybody, I don't know if anyone has done that since Larry Bird.
As others have mentioned, the secret to Dirk's success is the talent around him. No doubt, he's a great player but he isn't a top 10 player if he isn't surrounded by All-Star and near All-Star talent. He chokes in big time situations when the defense is focused on him. That's why Jason Terry takes (and makes) most of the big shots in big situations for the Mavs.
Mark Price did it once, in 1989, but he averaged 18.9 pts that year. Reggie Miller did it once, in 1993-1994, but he averaged 19.9 pts that year. Larry Bird managed to do it twice between 1986 and 1988, averaging almost 30 pts, too. I believe Dirk is the first player since Larry Bird who has a legitimate shot at averaging > .500 fg, .400 3-pt, .900 ft while scoring more than 25 ppg on average (even though he went out of a few games early, either due to injury or because they were blowouts). He is doing this while leading his team to the best record in the league. If that is not an MVP season, I don't know what is.
Who do you think you are? The post police? I made my point just fine, long list of players included. Speaking of unnecessary, just what the hell did you contribute to the thread?
Posey did a pretty good job on Dirk in the finals last year and Tmac the year before. An athletic, long-armed defender can contain him but no one can stop him. Even if his shot is not going down he will get enough ft attempts to score 20 pts.
Dirk is great, but you can stop him in the same manner that teams stopped Karla Malone. Just wait until it matters most, sit back, and watch him choke on his own (ala last year's Finals).
You guys are using the "shut down" words a bit too often in this thread. No guy can shut him down. There are guys like Bowen and KG who can/do give him problems, but he will still get his. His fadeaway might be predictable and slow, but it's unblockable when a 7 ft guy is going back. Olajuwon's dreamshake was quick, but it was unstoppable because no one was going to block it.
