<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW YORK -- Coach Avery Johnson was asked before the Mavericks' 92-77 victory Tuesday night over New York if the season would be a disappointment if his team didn't win the championship. "I don't think we're the only team in that situation," he said. "If you talk to Detroit and Miami and Phoenix and San Antonio and Houston, a lot ballclubs feel that way. A lot of teams are eyeing the prize." As Johnson is fond of saying, the designation of title favorite changes daily. In the last week, the Mavs had supposedly fallen behind the Suns and Spurs in various "power" rankings. Phoenix and San Antonio have since dropped a couple of spots, putting the Mavs back on top of the meaningless lists. "We can't really worry about what the critics think, anyway," Dirk Nowitzki said. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen in June. There are a lot of guys speculating on stuff, but nobody knows. Nobody would have said last year in March that Miami would win the championship." But would it be a disappointment if the Mavs aren't the last team standing? "The only goal now is to win a championship," Nowitzki said. "It doesn't matter if you [lose in the] first round, second round, third round. All that doesn't matter. If we lose, it's a disappointing season."</div> Source
I think if Dallas did not win the championship it would be the biggest disappointment for them just because they worked so hard in the regular season to get home court advantage against any team they play. They need to top off their great season with a championship!
Nowitziki is probably going to go into deep depression if they get knocked out in the 1st round by the Warriors. (If warriors get that spot). I personally want to see that upset.
<div class="quote_poster">Kobe24bryant Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Nowitziki is probably going to go into deep depression if they get knocked out in the 1st round by the Warriors. (If warriors get that spot). I personally want to see that upset.</div> i would love to see that, not the depression part, but to see nellie beat his old team which he built
<div class="quote_poster">Kobe24bryant Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Nowitziki is probably going to go into deep depression if they get knocked out in the 1st round by the Warriors. (If warriors get that spot). I personally want to see that upset.</div> Whatever happens I just hope they could trade this guy for a legit superstar like KG. There is absolutely no way the Mavs are going to win the title with Dirk as the #1 option. It'll be a disgrace to the MVP award if he wins it.
<div class="quote_poster">dallasdude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Whatever happens I just hope they could trade this guy for a legit superstar like KG. There is absolutely no way the Mavs are going to win the title with Dirk as the #1 option. It'll be a disgrace to the MVP award if he wins it.</div> You're a disgrace. You pull stuff out of the air to discredit him. Dirk's on/off court numbers are the best in the league this year. The Mavs are still +4.9 when Josh Howard is off the court, he's not in Dirk's league.
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You're a disgrace. You pull stuff out of the air to discredit him. Dirk's on/off court numbers are the best in the league this year. The Mavs are still +4.9 when Josh Howard is off the court, he's not in Dirk's league.</div> Amen to that.
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You're a disgrace. You pull stuff out of the air to discredit him. Dirk's on/off court numbers are the best in the league this year. The Mavs are still +4.9 when Josh Howard is off the court, he's not in Dirk's league.</div> No I'm not and I sure watch more Mavs games than you do. The guy has been in the league for 9 years and is clueless on what needs to be done on the defensive end. Without Avery and Josh Howard the Mavs would not be having the success they are having. Plug in Duncan or KG instead of Dirk and this team will be even better and will win the title. Oh..And none of the intelligent fans who go the the mavs game even chant his name for MVP. Cuban has to spend his money to endorse this guy. What a joke!
<div class="quote_poster">dallasdude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">No I'm not and I sure watch more Mavs games than you do. The guy has been in the league for 9 years and is clueless on what needs to be done on the defensive end. Without Avery and Josh Howard the Mavs would not be having the success they are having. Plug in Duncan or KG instead of Dirk and this team will be even better and will win the title. Oh..And none of the intelligent fans who go the the mavs game even chant his name for MVP. Cuban has to spend his money to endorse this guy. What a joke!</div> Not chanting MVP proves your case? Those chants are stupid in every arena. Dirk is second in PER, and KG/Duncan are pretty good players aren't they, so of course you would have a shot at winning a title. He actually isn't clueless on defense and is underrated on that end. The Mavs are -2.7 when he is off the court, which would indicate that he has a bigger defensive impact than Howard. You don't have a clue what you're talking about, you can't track Dirk's on court production with your naked eye alone. I would just like to know who the hell agrees that Josh Howard is better than Dirk, or that he isn't an MVP candidate?
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Not chanting MVP proves your case? Those chants are stupid in every arena. Dirk is second in PER, and KG/Duncan are pretty good players aren't they, so of course you would have a shot at winning a title. He actually isn't clueless on defense and is underrated on that end. The Mavs are -2.7 when he is off the court, which would indicate that he has a bigger defensive impact than Howard. You don't have a clue what you're talking about, you can't track Dirk's on court production with your naked eye alone. I would just like to know who the hell agrees that Josh Howard is better than Dirk, or that he isn't an MVP candidate?</div> I never said Josh Howard is better than Dirk. Josh Howard playing at an all star level is helping the team win this year. My point is Dirk is not a superstar as everyone thinks and is not an MVP candidate. Josh Howard, Terry and the rest of the crew will be playing better or about the same if Dirk was on the team or not. Avery is the one driving these guys - not Dirk.
<div class="quote_poster">dallasdude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I never said Josh Howard is better than Dirk. Josh Howard playing at an all star level is helping the team win this year. My point is Dirk is not a superstar as everyone thinks and is not an MVP candidate. Josh Howard, Terry and the rest of the crew will be playing better or about the same if Dirk was on the team or not. Avery is the one driving these guys - not Dirk.</div> How is Dirk not a superstar? Can you explain why his net production on the offensive and defensive side combined is ridiculous? How would the cast win nearly as many games without Dirk?
<div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How is Dirk not a superstar? How would the cast win nearly as many games without Dirk? His defense isn't as nearly as bad as you claim.</div> I'm not saying Dirk is having a 0 PER either. He's a good player, but not a great player. He knows his role and makes sure he does his job. But he cant help the team when the rest of the role players are struggling. I'm not a stat whiz or anything, but when looking at the PER for a player, the main thing that needs to be analyzed is what's his PER based on the team's situation. 1. Team up by 5+ 2. Team is tied or up by 4 3. Team is tied or down by 4 4. Team down by 5+ Great players should have a PER of 20+ when their team is down to prove their worth. Dirk is probably at his best when the team is up by 5+ and when there is no pressure on him. I doubt if his PER would be nearly as good when the team is down by 5.
<div class="quote_poster">dallasdude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not saying Dirk is having a 0 PER either. He's a good player, but not a great player. He knows his role and makes sure he does his job. But he cant help the team when the rest of the role players are struggling. I'm not a stat whiz or anything, but when looking at the PER for a player, the main thing that needs to be analyzed is what's his PER based on the team's situation. 1. Team up by 5+ 2. Team is tied or up by 4 3. Team is tied or down by 4 4. Team down by 5+ Great players should have a PER of 20+ when their team is down to prove their worth. Dirk is probably at his best when the team is up by 5+ and when there is no pressure on him. I doubt if his PER would be nearly as good when the team is down by 5.</div> That's funny, how the hell did you figure that out? For the record, this is Dirk's clutch stats: http://www.82games.com/0607/06DAL12E.HTM They're pretty good actually. You've already determined that Dirk doesn't play defense or isn't clutch, but you take no time to update your opinion or become informed.
<div class="quote_poster">dallasdude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The stats just show Terry is a better clutch player than Dirk.</div> And Dirk has about 18 more points per 48 and is more integral for each win. His clutch play is still great.
<div class="quote_poster">dallasdude Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not saying Dirk is having a 0 PER either. He's a good player, but not a great player. He knows his role and makes sure he does his job. But he cant help the team when the rest of the role players are struggling. I'm not a stat whiz or anything, but when looking at the PER for a player, the main thing that needs to be analyzed is what's his PER based on the team's situation. 1. Team up by 5+ 2. Team is tied or up by 4 3. Team is tied or down by 4 4. Team down by 5+ Great players should have a PER of 20+ when their team is down to prove their worth. Dirk is probably at his best when the team is up by 5+ and when there is no pressure on him. I doubt if his PER would be nearly as good when the team is down by 5.</div> It would be pretty cool if those type of stats were around. If I ever see something like that, I'll let you know. I can tell you how the Mavs as a team play depending on point differential, but I don't know about individual player performance.
Clutchness is one of the most overrated things imo. Especially the way people define it, which is at the last 2 seconds of the game. Crunch time starts WAAY earlier, at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Dirk sometimes has mental lapses and can get rattled in pressure situations. usually last minute type of situations. However, his overall 4th quarter numbers are huge. If the game is tied going into the fourth, and you score 10 points yourself in the 4th on the road, you're clutch, i don't care if you lose the game on a free throw with 2 seconds left. Crunch time starts in the 4th quarter. Some players have a unique knack for blocking out pressure in the last 2 seconds. Wade, Billups, Kobe. Ummm.... that's kind of it right there. To not appreciate everything else a player might have just cause they aren't in the 5% of players that have that "thing" is stupid. Without those 10 fourth quarter points, nobody gets to make that play at 2 seconds anyway. Avery is the biggest reason for the Mav's success, I agree with you on that one. He has imposed himself on this team. However, Dirk is a superstar and his numbers say he delivers in the clutch. It must suck being a Dallas fan and hating Dirk. And to think that KG would be a huge improvement is a joke...
