Dirk, Mavs Blast C’s At Home 99-90
January 18, 2010 by Lee Herman
Boston continues to find new ways to aggravate fans during their losses. Tonight it was allowing Dalla to shoot 74 percent from the floor in the second half. That is a ludicrous rate. Among other shortcomings, leaving Dirk Nowitzki wide open for half the game was probably not conducive to a winning formula since Dirk went 13-20 for 34 PTS ( 22 in the second half).
Rasheed scored 11 PTS (seven when the game was already out of hand) in his return from his foot injury and didn’t really do the defensive job on Nowitzki I thought he could do. Sheed was worked on both ends of the floor and only showed up in spurts during the night.
Jason Kidd piled up the assists feeding Novitzki who was knocking down everything. Kidd finished with a double double 13 and 17. Rajon Rondo had a decent amount of assists with 12 but his seven points weren’t enough offense since the Celtics bench was again outscored 19-13.
Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were the only consistent offense for the C’s. Pierce went for 24 PTS on 9-17 shooting with some muggings mixed in when Boston couldn’t get a call in the paint. Allen had a nice game with 21 PTS on 9-15 from the floor but only shot one free throw courtesy of a technical foul assessed to the Mavs coach.
Kendrick Perkins compiled my predicted double double with 14 and 12. Perk got into it with Dirk a little bit at the end of the half after taking an elbow below his right eye that required bandages. Kendrick did miss both of his free throws, though, helping drag down the FFT percentage to 50 for the game.
Things are looking bleak since KG went down and Boston has fallen to the .500 mark with him out of the line up and are giving up nine more points per game without number five on the floor. If I was Doc I wouldn’t rush him back before the all star break against Portland like he wants, I would just let him rest up the extra days until the season starts again. One thing has become very clear in Kage’s absence and it’s that the Celtics have no shot of hanging another banner without Garnett in the line up.
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January 19, 2010 at 8:21 am | James
Dirk is my leader.
January 19, 2010 at 9:56 am | Nick Gelso
Dirk is my favorite (non-celtic) player. I didn’t like him very much last night though! lol. Thanks for reading and commenting.
January 19, 2010 at 10:28 am | Calvin
What is up with all the dirk love? He is a seven foot german dude with horrible hair who spends most of his time shooting midrange jumpers and cannot defend to save his life. He is a good player without question but I don’t know anyone outside of Dallas who would claim to be a “Dirk fan”.
January 19, 2010 at 11:14 am | Shawn McGrath
I’m not sure what possible relevance Nowtizki’s ethnicity or hair (and he’s cut the mullet) have in evaluating him as a player.
His size and ability to hit the 3 make him virtually impossible to defend: very few defenders have the size or range to guard a player who can spread the floor the way Dirk does. KG was one of the few, but I have my doubts as to whether he’s that guy anymore. Sure, he’s not a great defender, but he’s not an utter liability as he once was. And when you’ve got guys like Dampier and Marion around you, that can be enough.
In case you didn’t notice, the player who turned the C’s franchise around, Kevin Garnett, is another 7 footer who spends most of his time shooting midrange jumpers, and he doesn’t get criticized for that aspect of his game nearly as much as Dirk does.
Dirk has a large number of fans: MVP winners who are perennially near the league lead in scoring usually do.
January 19, 2010 at 3:04 pm | Calvin
Ethnicity and hair have nothing to do with evaluating Dirk as a player, and everything to do with evaluating his likeability to some random guys in Boston. In fact, I said nothing about evaluating him as a player. My comment about the midrange jumper is in reference, once again, to likeability and not production. Of course it is an effective shot. I don’t have a problem with it, other than the fact that it isn’t exactly exciting. And the fact that he doesn’t always seem to put forth complete effort defensively also factors into his likeability.
Your counterargument to that is what? Hey, Dirk is a good player and his midrange shots go in. Well, that is super-fantastic and wonderful, but that doesn’t make him likeable. Kevin Garnett is likeable not for his midrange shots but for his intensity and the fact that he is almost certainly insane. Nick claimed Dirk was his favorite player outside of Boston and being that he does not seem to be that likeable to me, I asked why. If the answer is “just because he is good at basketball”, fair enough, but it is not like Dirk is Kobe or LeBron.
January 19, 2010 at 3:06 pm | Calvin
By the way, shorter or not, his hair is still ridiculous.
January 19, 2010 at 7:02 pm | Shawn McGrath
Kevin Garnett is liked for his “insanity” only by a certain contingent of Celtics fans: not everyone who cheers for Boston likes every aspect of what KG does when he’s on the court. Furthermore, basketball fans in general have done a significant about-face since he came to the Celtics: whereas once, he was a sympathetic character toiling in Minnesota, he’s more and more often characterized as a bully, braggart, and front-runner, not just by the fans of the C’s main rivals, but even impartial hoops fans.
You’re vastly overrating the current incarnation of Kevin Garnett, while unfairly disparaging one of the elite players in the NBA today. I’m a Celtics fan too, and I can say with certainty that Dirk is one of the handful of players whose games I make a point of catching when they’re on TNT regardless of match up.
The fact that you don’t like him because he just piled on the points against your hometown team in tough loss in no way reflects what basketball fans in general feel.
January 19, 2010 at 8:51 pm | Calvin
You seem to have a bit of a problem with overreaching. You’ve made ridiculous assumptions in reaction to both of the comments I’ve left. Lets address them.
First of all, my statement about Kevin Garnett was a generalization about the attribute that the majority of his fans find appealing. Nowhere did I reference how much of a KG fan I was or wasnt. Nevertheless, his personality (unlike Dirk) is divisive enough to produce passionate fans as well as haters, as you stated yourself. In fact, for the NSS article I wrote criticizing Ray Allen’s all-star comments, I mentioned the fact that the fans have voted Garnett as a starter despite the fact that he isnt close to deserving a spot. Clearly this is some measure of his popularity. Sure, you’ll counter with Dirk is slated to start as well, but he is far and away one of the two best forwards this season, yet has the equally bland Tim Duncan on his heels, and trails Garnett by more than 600,000 votes.
Also, you seem to be defending Dirk’s honor as if he is your prom date. I referenced the fact that he is a good player in my first comment. I would probably rate him somewhere around the 10th best player in the NBA currently. Certainly he is more valuable as a player than KG at this point. But again, that is beside the point, because the question was in regards to likeability. The question is whether or not he is more interesting or exciting than KG, and the answer is no.
In your smug attempt to prove how much more of an equitable and unbiased fan than I am you mistakenly assume I am a fan of the Boston Celtics and I am being ruled by my heartbreak over last night’s loss, when neither in fact is true. You should spend less time on trying to read too much into statements and just respond directly to them.
January 19, 2010 at 9:04 pm | Lee Herman
Nice. I enjoy bitchy debates. I will say this, Calvin is a Laker homer and sees Dirk a lot more than I do, but I also am not a fan of Nowitzki. Sure, he can shoot over 6′ 8″ PF and the like but what happens when he makes it to the playoffs? Choke city. He doesn’t have the killer instinct and his Germaness might contribute to that, contrary to world history.
I’m not trying to incite a civil war among NSS contributers but I will say, the back and forth has been fun for me. Also, I’m sick as a dog and my head feels like it’s going to explode with snot. Maybe I should sneeze on Rodney Stuckey.
January 19, 2010 at 9:53 pm | Nick Gelso
I enjoy Dirk because I like his style of play. I like the way he can produce w limited jumping and speed abilities, generally he is not as athletic as LeBron or Kobe. Sound like some one else we know or knew?
I do enjoy watching Dirk post up, shoot the fade-away and pass the ball. Defense is really his only weak spot. However, I do feel he does possess an instinctive ability to play D thru anticipation and intelligence.
Overall, I just like to watch Dirk play– I always have…
January 19, 2010 at 10:49 pm | Shawn McGrath
Calvin, I didn’t say anything about how much of a KG fan you are or aren’t, either: I spoke of him in exactly the same way: as a polarizing player. No need to get agitated, as I thought this was a reasonable discussion up until this point.
I spoke up for Dirk because I like him as a player, and saw your post asking why people were speaking about him in a positive manner. I simply illustrated why I, for one, enjoy him and his game. Whether you do or don’t like KG is of little interest to me, as we’re both speaking generally about why people find him compelling (or irritating). My point is that there’s room for both kinds of players, and both kinds of fans – sometimes, you can like a player for being down to earth, rather than constantly over the top.
It’s nice for you to rank Dirk in your top 10: that’s a far cry from calling him a “good” player, as you did in your first post.
I’m sorry you felt the need to call me smug, and my opinions ridiculous. I had been enjoying the discussion up until this point.
January 19, 2010 at 10:59 pm | Nick Gelso
Easy fellas…. LOL.
January 19, 2010 at 11:08 pm | Calvin
In regards to Dirk: fair enough. Personally I dont find his game particularly enjoyable. He is not a good enough passer for my tastes or rebounder for a 7 footer. I’ve always found him a bit soft and I suppose that is a bias I hold against many of the european players. His fadeaway jumper is basically unblockable, but I don’t find that endearing either, as he is simply taking advantage of his height and the length of his arms to generate a not particularly exciting play which at times stagnates the offense. But again, it is unblockable, so he can use it to score anytime. In that sense I think of Dirk similar to that of a late-career Kareem.
As far as Garnett is concerned, I never actually offered an opinion as to whether I like him or not because I also found it to be irrelevant. I only commented on the traits that make him liked (and conversely, hated) in a comparison to Dirk because you brought his name up in your comparison of their jump shooting style. I was trying to say that Garnett’s persona is part of what creates the passion towards him one way or the other. That is not even taking into account that the bulk of Garnett’s career has also brought thunderous dunks and vicious rejections.
By the way, I never said your opinions were ridiculous, but rather your assumptions about me. At one time the discussion was perfectly reasonable, but you have to admit it is a bit condescending to say that I “don’t like him because he just piled on the points against your hometown team”.
January 19, 2010 at 11:12 pm | Shawn McGrath
Yeah man, I’m calling it quits on this argument after this.
I think the whole thing stemmed from two different definitions of “likable,” or at least, a fundamental difference in the way two people watch basketball.
Calvin says Dirk’s quality as a player “is super-fantastic and wonderful, but that doesn’t make him likeable.” I disagree completely: a player’s on-court skill is exactly what makes me enjoy, or for our purposes, “like,” watching him.
Other aspects of a guy’s personality, or, maybe more accurately, his public persona, are just frosting on the cake, or the opposite in the case of guys like Kobe and Kidd, where I find what I know of them to detract from my enjoyment of their game. I don’t particularly like what I know about Bryant, but I love watching him play.
Dirk is a guy whose game I really enjoy, and who I find to be likable based on what I’ve read about him. If that makes me a fan, or his “prom date,” so be it.
Again, sorry Calvin that you felt the need to move this into the realm of personal attacks. That wasn’t my intent.
January 19, 2010 at 11:26 pm | Calvin
You’re taking the “super-fantastic and wonderful” statement a bit out of context. Look, it is simple. I explained to you in basketball terms why I dont feel Nowitski is a particularly enjoyable player to watch. Originally I made a vague reference to his style, but the preceeding comment broke it down in greater detail. That being said, there are aspects to basketball greater than what is happening on the court. Most people (and I would venture to guess not even you) watch the game with complete tunnel vision. And there is nothing wrong with that. Obviously Nick himself factors in things besides pure basketball ability, or his favorite player in the league would align itself with his view of the best player in the league. I got the answer to the question I was looking for regarding Dirk. His style reminds him of Larry Bird. There is an emotional connection there that, once again, extends beyond simple basketball. I dont have that connection, which is why my original comment was a half-joke, disaparaging Dirk not for his offensive game but his general unlikeability.
And my intent was not to make it personal either. My criticism of you was a direct consequence of what I felt to be a brushing off of my statements because of some false idea of my motivations.
January 20, 2010 at 8:32 am | Nick Gelso
“Obviously Nick himself factors in things besides pure basketball ability, or his favorite player in the league would align itself with his view of the best player in the league. I got the answer to the question I was looking for regarding Dirk. His style reminds him of Larry Bird. There is an emotional connection there that, once again, extends beyond simple basketball.”
This would be an accurate assessment.
During the year’s following Bird’s retirement, I searched very hard to find a player that possessed SOME of Larry’s qualities on the floor. Though I do not put dirk in the same category as Larry, I can find some similarities. I enjoy that and that’s my right to do so…
This was an excellent debate gentlemen. I like an emotional response to postings as long as no one gets hurt or belittled. This was mild compared to some of the commentary that goes on at B/R. Of course, we are not B/R though and we like to keep in “polite” here. lol.
Now make up and post a response to this commentary in the form of a full article. Keep it nice though. No personal attacks.
Oh… and Lee, nice job with this game recap, who would’ve thought that a recap would start such a fierce debate! lol.
Thanks guys.