Has Dirk overtaken Duncan as the best power forward in the NBA?

[The_Game]

http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/dirk_nowitzki.jpg

PPG-23.3
RPG-9.6
APG-3.3

FG%-49.4%

http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/tim_duncan.jpg

PPG-20.4
RPG-9.9
APG-3.5

FG%-56%

[Solid D]

When Dirk makes an NBA All-Defensive Team to show his all-around abilities more, then popular opinion might swing more in his favor.

[GrandeDavid]

No, he hasn't. Tim's still got a few more years of dominance left.

[PM5K]

I'm not sure that's even enough, I think some rings will be necessary...

[mavsfan1000]

I think Dirk has. Duncan gets a ton of help from Manu and Tony Parker and Duncan's defense is a little overrated. Dallas scored more against San Antonio than any other team in last years playoffs. Harris penetrated at will.

[Fillmoe]

I think Dirk has. Duncan gets a ton of help from Manu and Tony Parker and Duncan's defense is a little overrated. Dallas scored more against San Antonio than any other team in last years playoffs. Harris penetrated at will.


as opposed to dirk getting no help from josh howard, jason terry, devin harris?

[bdictjames]

Judging by stats, no.

[SenorSpur]

When Dirk leads the Mavs to a championship - then let's talk.

[Bob Lanier]

Dirk is a 3 playing 4 and Duncan is a 5 playing 4.

I'll take Duncan.

[v2freak]

^In other words, we won't be talking, ever

[dknights411]

I always thought KG had a slight edge over Duncan talent-wise. But neither KG nor Dirk has Duncan's leadership skills, which is just as important as talent IMO. Put that into the equation, then Dirk hasn't passed Duncan yet. He's close, but not quite there.

[MrChug]

Dirk Nowitzki is a fine player. A perennial All-Star, unstoppable offensive force. Even has started to be a leader. But can he change the game on both ends of the court when it counts. When it counts are the important games. The great players have another "gear". Duncan has that gear. Dirk, on the other hand NOT ONLY does NOT have that other gear, he actually goes into shut-down mode when it counts the most. See the NBA Finals 2006, oh yeah---and every other series the Mavs got eliminated in in the Dirk Era. Victory Duncan.

[jmard5]

http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/dirk_nowitzki.jpg

PPG-23.3
RPG-9.6
APG-3.3

FG%-49.4%

http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/tim_duncan.jpg

PPG-20.4
RPG-9.9
APG-3.5

FG%-56%

Funny. Judging by your stats, Duncan is better than Dirk 3:1. :lol

[Solid D]

There may be a perception by some that since the Mavs outlasted the Spurs in 7 games last year, Dirk outplayed Tim Duncan. In the series, the two seldom defended each other.

Their numbers in the series:

Duncan 32.3 ppg and 11.7 rpg
Nowitzki 27.1 ppg and 13.3 rpg.

[George Gervin's Afro]

No :nope

[BUMP]

these guys are two completely different type of players. but if i had to take one or the other im taking Duncan. mainly because his reboudning and ability to pass out of th edouble team.

look who my fav. team is, that should end this discussion

[Amarelooms]

Duncan is the man but father time is fast approaching....

[dirk4mvp]

Duncan is the man but father time is fast approaching....


wtf? Isn't Duncan only 2 years older than Dirk.


Dirk's PPG will rise before the season is over probably.

[anonymous coward]

this is the best:

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nba/players/2005/3007.jpg

PPG-22.1
RPG-12.2
APG-4
FG%-49.9%
EFF-29.58

duncan's EFF-24.71
_irk's EFF-26.41

[dirk4mvp]

T-Wolve's record........... :reading

[anonymous coward]

what about supporting casts?

[SequSpur]

this needs to be merged with the recycle bin.

[leemajors]

what about supporting casts?

you mean it's easier to put up flashy stats without good teammates?

[td4mvp21]

I think Duncan is still OVERALL better but Dirk has been performing much better and showcasing his talent better over the last two years. I've been unfortunately impressed by it yet I resent it at the same time. :lol

[himat]

I think Duncan is better than Dirk. I think Dirk will be a top 3 PF for a while, but I don't think he will ever be the top PF. By the time Duncan is not the best Bosh, or Dwight Howard will be.

Even though I think Duncan is better, I might not take him on my team because of his recent injury problems.

[anonymous coward]

you mean it's easier to put up flashy stats without good teammates?

you think its easier?

[anonymous coward]

i will ask him after carmelo's comeback

[Texas_Ranger]

No.

[Axl Van Dam]

:reading Let me see Tim has 3 NBA Championships, 3 Finals MVP's, 2 regular Season MVP's and never lost an NBA Finals as oppossed to Dirk Nowitzki who has 0 championships, 0 MVP awards, 1 Finals appearance in which he choked bigtime...... You do the math..............

:reading And about how Tim gets abundant help from Tony and Manu that's exactly what great players do. They make their team mates better and don't complain when his other colleagues perform better than him. Sure Dirk was able to coax the best from his team mates during the playoffs and unto the first 2 games of the finals. But did they sustain it? As soon as The Heat started hitting back they lost their killer instinct. Dirk reverted back to his jumpshooting brand of play. Unlike Tim who assumed the role of leader especially during crunchtime in their 3 finals appearance. In the Finals versus Detoit the leadership was evident as he lead S.A roaring back in the 4th quarter eventually winning the 'chip. Until Dirk can duplicate or surpass that he'll always end up 2nd to Timmy.

[SAGambler]

Dirk is probably right on par with Duncan in most categories right now. But, until Dirk leads his team to a couple of Championships, he will still be seen as not quite as great as Duncan.

The big difference I see is in big post season games, Duncan seems to be able to turn it up a notch or two, while Dirk seems to shrink away, like he is afraid to step up and lead the team.

[SAGambler]

The last time they met, dirk is the one that stepped it up enough to go to the next round, and until that is reversed, dirk is on top of him.

That win, was more of a Spurs failure down the final couple of minutes, than Dirk leading the team. Didn't the Mavs have them down 3 - 1, and then manage to falter until it became a 7 game series...

Same thing with Miami.....Dirk disappeared when it counted the most.....Mavs should have cruised to the Title....Instead, they handed it to Miami. And since Dirk is supposed to be the leader of that team, a lot of that falls on his shoulders.

He is going to have to do more than "just beat the Spurs", to become greater than Duncan. That's a start. But until Dirk leads the team to Championships, he will always be known as less of a player and leader than Tim.

[diego]

all dirk has on duncan is shooting, thats it (by a significant margin, and yet duncan has the better FG%- try and figure this one out mav fans).

anyways if you want to answer yes to the question, you need to remove the word "power" from it, because dirk will never overpower duncan, or any other player over 200lbs for that matter. but he is an amazing shooter, with decent ability everywhere else. duncan isnt amazing at anything, but he is great at just about everything, at least everything important. although going by this season we will now have to qualify that statement with the dreaded "when he wants to" BS.

[dirk4mvp]

all dirk has on duncan is shooting, thats it (by a significant margin, and yet duncan has the better FG%- try and figure this one out mav fans).




Do ya think lay-ups go have a higher percentage of going in than 15 ft. fade-aways? Try and figure that one out Spur fan.

[polandprzem]

I say - if Tim won't pick it up this season he will be overtaken forever.

Dirk
KG
Howard
Oden
Amare

[shelshor]

:rolleyes NO

[THE SIXTH MAN]

until tim knocks dirk out of the playoffs, it will stand as it is, dirk is on top (at least of duncan).
Just a question, are you just talking about from here on out? Or are you basing this on what it stands as of now? Because a Duncan lead Spurs team did knock off a Dirk lead Mavs team during the WCF in 03'. So then it would be Duncan=1, Dirk=1.

[ponky]

the guys have different styles of play, i don't they should be compared to each other but rather admired for their separate unique abilities

as for the silly generic ring comment, lots of great ballers don't have rings...dominique wilkins, charles barkley, elgin baylor, karl malone...who knows if guys like AI/KG/LBJ will win rings but they are still some of the best in the league right now and will no doubt be hall of famers regardless of their ring totals at the end of the day

anyway, i just think it's stupid to compare duncan to dirk when the two have very different games despite the fact that they play the same position...rings aside, because obviously bird has them and dirk doesn't, i think dirk has a closer game to bird than duncan

btw, i'm not being a mavs homer, i think duncan is one of the great ballers in the league but i also think dirk is too...i do however think duncan hasn't played quite the same since the semis when he scared the shit out of me with his domination, he seems just a tad bit complacent with the rebounding and blocks this season but maybe he's just a bit bored or saving it for the playoffs, who knows

[shelshor]

:downspin:
...anyway, i just think it's stupid to compare duncan to dirk when the two have very different games despite the fact that they play the same position...rings aside, because obviously bird has them and dirk doesn't, i think dirk has a closer game to bird than duncan... :dizzy
Except that Bird could and would pass the ball upon occasion; Bird was willing to play defense and did; and Bird stepped up to take on challenges---didn't always win, but he did accept the challange, instead of crumpling like a used Kleenex
And I don't recall Bird ever attacking a stationary bike

[ChumpDumper]

If Dirk played less like a pussy I would respect him more.

[td4mvp21]

Do ya think lay-ups go have a higher percentage of going in than 15 ft. fade-aways? Try and figure that one out Spur fan.

Actually some of Duncans shots are very tough shots. But yeah you are right most of his work is in the paint, his jumper needs a ton of work.

[dg7md]

It's hard to say. Apples and oranges.

[bosgezen]

how about boozer for this year?
PPG 22.0
RPG 11.80
APG 3.1
EFF + 26.66
.546 FG
And a winning team
not bad?

[phxspurfan]

I think Dirk, after coming back so quickly from this ankle sprain, is now more durable than Tim. And it's probably because he's younger, plain and simple.

[ponky]

:downspin: :dizzy
Except that Bird could and would pass the ball upon occasion; Bird was willing to play defense and did; and Bird stepped up to take on challenges---didn't always win, but he did accept the challange, instead of crumpling like a used Kleenex
And I don't recall Bird ever attacking a stationary bike


haha crumpling like a kleenex, that's cute...dirk rolls his ankle badly and comes back the next game, what a wuss...only a pu$$y would come back against the suns in a 2-2 series when the suns were up in game five in phoenix...nah, dirk didn't score 50 to get his team a much needed win that the suns were getting ready to take away...dirk doesn't pass the ball? guess you haven't been following the mavs much this season. you can accuse him of being a not so great defender and i'll give you that, but a ballhog? hahahahahahaha, put the pipe down...stationary bike? i guess jordan's a pu$$y too for breaking shit in the lockerroom when he was frustrated after losses :rolleyes

[leemajors]

haha crumpling like a kleenex, that's cute...dirk rolls his ankle badly and comes back the next game, what a wuss...only a pu$$y would come back against the suns in a 2-2 series when the suns were up in game five in phoenix...nah, dirk didn't score 50 to get his team a much needed win that the suns were getting ready to take away...dirk doesn't pass the ball? guess you haven't been following the mavs much this season. you can accuse him of being a not so great defender and i'll give you that, but a ballhog? hahahahahahaha, put the pipe down...stationary bike? i guess jordan's a pu$$y too for breaking shit in the lockerroom when he was frustrated after losses :rolleyes

i imagine jordan actually broke what he was trying to break. dirk looked like he was throwing a hissy fit.

[AFBlue]

I think Duncan is better than Dirk. I think Dirk will be a top 3 PF for a while, but I don't think he will ever be the top PF. By the time Duncan is not the best Bosh, or Dwight Howard will be.

Even though I think Duncan is better, I might not take him on my team because of his recent injury problems.


Or Amare...a 4 playing the 5.

[shelshor]

...hahahahahahaha, put the pipe down....:rolleyes
Pipe??? No, I prefer cigars, usually Dominican in origin