here are dirks stats for the first two games of the european championchip qualifying. 30,5 ppg 10 rpg 3,5 apg 4 spg! 33 mpg fg%: 15-23 65,2% 3pt%: 4-9 44,4% I watched both games and dirk seems to be a lot better then last nba season. Maybe because he played almost the full nba season with a painful ankle.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting German Baller:</div><div class="quote_post">of course he is. but he?s the main guy of the mavs,too.</div> May be the Mavs have a hell of a lot of scorers though with guys like Terry, Finely, there rookie first rounder, and more guys that can shoot lights out on the team. I think that Dirk will have a few less shots this season then he has in the past with Terry being a shoot first none pure point guard unlike Nash added with players like Dampier coming to the team less points will come to Dirk off of rebounds. I do not see him losing that many shots though considering players like Walker and Jamison are gone although the developement of players like Howard and Marques will have to make the ball go around to a whole lot of different people. Though I still see Dirk averaging roughly 23 this season. I m not sure how good all these tournements are for Dirk though he has been playing none stop this off season with the Olympics and now this. Added with the NBA regular season which is 82 games and the playoffs which it appears the Mavs will make this season his body may wear down on him, and cost the mavs big time this season. He may be in good shape, but alot of players are considering retiring from off season tournements because f this reason Ginobli says he will not play for Argentina next Olympics as well as Yao is considering retiring from international play and Tim Duncan. Hopefully it does not do the same to Dirk a rest could not hurt him do to the fact that NBA training camp will start soon followed by none stop basketball from the pre season until June.
^^^^Dirk even complained about the 82 game season being to long??? Well duh if your playing through this whole summer. But it doesnt look like he will be retiring any time soon cuz he wants to take his Germans to the Championship.
Germany wasn?t at the olympics. so he didn?t play that much. i think he worked a bit on his jumper cause his fg percentage went down last season. And now it seems like he hits every jumper he takes. Of course this is no nba game, but i think he will be a lot better than last season.
Dirk dominating european teams is expected, anything less would be a surprise. He's the best european player in the NBA right now and I doubt it changes for a while. Him destroying other countries is not a way of telling If he has improved that much but I'm sure he will be a better player than last season, a 26 and 10 season out of him would not surprise me this year.
This team is now built around Dirk. No more big three. The additions this offseason were oriented toward getting rid of guys that distracted from Dirk's role as the focal point of the offense (Walker) and addressing the defensive problems that has limitted the teams potential (add Terry, Dampier, MBenga, Booth, remove Nash, Jamison, Walker, Fortson). Should be a great year for Dirk. His shooting percentage was off, but is post season numbers were great. He lead the NBA in scoring in the post season, and shot almost 50% from three point range. And don't overlook the 2.6 blocks. If you look at any of Dirk's profiles, you'll see that he is an unstoppable player that needs to work on his defense. The tremendous improvements the Mavs had made this year in the perimeter defense should allow Dirk to concentrate on covering his man. Look for his man-to-man defensive skills to be his biggest area of improvement this year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Dirk dominating european teams is expected, anything less would be a surprise. He's the best european player in the NBA right now and I doubt it changes for a while. Him destroying other countries is not a way of telling If he has improved that much but I'm sure he will be a better player than last season, a 26 and 10 season out of him would not surprise me this year.</div> Dirk also dominated some of the best players in the USA during their exhibition game. 35pts,10+ boards, he had an amazing game. No one could guard him. I would say 26 and 10 would be a realistic stat line for him. I would say, for this upcoming year: 26.2 pts 9.5 rbs 3.1 ast 1.8 steals 1.5 blocks
dirk IS playing against european players right? IMO, european players play a less physical style of defense. dirk wont be as good against the people in the NBA. thats IMO
I agree with Allnet, and with jtam101 you gotta remember its European Basketball and Dirk has been playing that his whole life(inc omaprison, look @ the stats most of the US players put up). The game is different. He may look in good shape, but i dont see any huge improvement(but a good one indeed)
I agree with Allnet, jtam101 and nkwu because like they all said its European basketball, and the rules and stuff are different and so is the competition. NBA is a lot different from the Euro leagues, but Dirk has improved not as much as people are saying though.
I agree with Allnet, jtam101, nkwu and Buckets. Euro and Olympic basketball should not be used as a gauge of a players improvements. If you want to judge Dirk, look at his playoff performances. Last year, 26 PPG led all scorers. 11.9 Rebounds, 49% from 3 point range, 2.6 blocks per game (more than Wallace). I challenge anyone to find five players that have better playoff stats, and I'll spot you four (Shaq,Duncan,Garnett,Kobe). Dirk consistently takes his game to the next level when in counts.
Funny how Dirk is expected to dominate his fellow foreign competition, but Team USA couldn't... nevermind... I saw Dirk in the earlier games, and yes, he did look great. He was hitting clutch shots, just playing great overall ball, looked slimmer, and had a nice tan to top it all off!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Pure Skillz:</div><div class="quote_post">May be the Mavs have a hell of a lot of scorers though with guys like Terry, Finely, there rookie first rounder, and more guys that can shoot lights out on the team. I think that Dirk will have a few less shots this season then he has in the past with Terry being a shoot first none pure point guard unlike Nash added with players like Dampier coming to the team less points will come to Dirk off of rebounds. I do not see him losing that many shots though considering players like Walker and Jamison are gone although the developement of players like Howard and Marques will have to make the ball go around to a whole lot of different people. Though I still see Dirk averaging roughly 23 this season. I m not sure how good all these tournements are for Dirk though he has been playing none stop this off season with the Olympics and now this. Added with the NBA regular season which is 82 games and the playoffs which it appears the Mavs will make this season his body may wear down on him, and cost the mavs big time this season. He may be in good shape, but alot of players are considering retiring from off season tournements because f this reason Ginobli says he will not play for Argentina next Olympics as well as Yao is considering retiring from international play and Tim Duncan. Hopefully it does not do the same to Dirk a rest could not hurt him do to the fact that NBA training camp will start soon followed by none stop basketball from the pre season until June.</div> I don't want to be an ass, but since you are saying things that aren't true I have to correct you. First, Jason Terry is not a shoot first pg. You probobly haven't seen him play much. Second, Germany didn't even qualify for the olympics. So dirk didn't play in Athens. Then I just wanna say that participating in international events can only be helpful for the players. I mean what better way is there to stay in great shape other than playing basketball? it's not like the players just stay home and sleep all offseason. They work their butts off.
