to all the so-called mavs fans

[monosylab1k]

i've caught alot of for my "trade Dirk" comments here lately, been accused of being a traitor, a backstabber, and a "bandwagoner" although if you ing re s knew what a bandwagoner was you wouldn't call me that. and that's fine, call me what you want....but remember that when the totally hits the fan with this team in the future, whether next season or 3 seasons from now, i was the first one to say that drastic changes needed to be made.

these other so-called mavs fans want to pretend like nothing's wrong and that somehow being in a 3-1 hole to the 8 seed is to our benefit. they want to pretend like dirk's never played poorly in the playoffs until now, despite huge amounts of evidence to the contrary.

i'm being proactive about this . it's alot more likely that dirk was simply playing out of his mind for two series' last year and that he'll never repeat those performances ever again. it's alot more likely that dirk's already fragile psyche is going to be damaged beyond repair and he'll never be the player he was last season and parts of this season.

if these so-called mavs fans would rather hang onto Dirk and slowly fade away back into a 15 win team, then they can ing have that. me, i'd rather sell high and retool this team to be a true champion, or at least prolong their success. if that makes me a backstabber, then it whatever, the only backstabbing going on is what the Mavericks players are doing to their fans by performing horribly after all the promises and all the talk of a "mission".

if dallas comes back and wins this series and takes the le, i'll gladly eat crow on all this. but i just don't see it happening, and if they die like some pussies here against the Warriors, then I'd rather go in a different direction because Dirk's had 7 years now to show something and he's found a way to be a pussy every year.

Dirk's been given every tool he needs and it's ALWAYS been somebody else's fault. It was Nash's fault for not guarding Bibby. It was Finley's fault for having poor shooting nights and not being aggressive. It was Nellie's fault for not preaching defense. It was Dampier's fault for not catching passes. It was Terry's fault for not guarding Nash. It was the referee's fault for giving Wade every call. NEVER has Dirk been the one to shoulder the blame, he's ALWAYS gotten a pass, and I'm sorry but I'm not willing to give him that pass anymore. It's time to hold Dirk accountable and it's time to move on.

Is KG the answer? I dunno. Chances are that it's not. He could very well be labeled a "choker" himself. But I DO know that KG has more fire and intensity on the basketball court than Dirk could ever muster even against the most fierce of exercise bikes. He brings it like few others defensively, and he's still a pretty good offensive option. And he's desperate to win, something that Dirk apparently isn't or maybe he'd be fighting a little harder. It's a new look and a new at ude if someone like Garnett is brought in. And this team doesn't lack anything in talent. They lack EVERYTHING in the at ude and heart department. That's something that Garnett can change.

[Findog]

Calm down. If we lose this, it will be extremely sad, disappointing and frustrating, but the sun will rise tomorrow. It hurts right now to see a dominant regular season undone in the course of one week. I'm upset at the way Dirk has shrunk from the task, and in the offseason some decisions will need to be made about the immediate future. But we have at least made it to the level of perennial contenders. The Red Sox eventually broke through, so did the Indianapolis Colts, and the St. Louis Cardinals won a World Series as well after several dominant regular seasons in a row. I didn't write this but it's the only thing to comfort Mav fans at the moment:

I think right now all of this is overeaction because the Mavs are down 1-3. Even if we lose tomorrow night, what exactly does it accomplish to have a fire sale and dump our roster for pennys on the dollar? Maybe trading Dirk is the answer, but not when upset after losing a playoff series to our old coach. Once the playoffs end, whether that is tomorrow or a month from now, Cuban, Avery, and Donnie need to sit down together and take a hard look at this team. Does it have what it takes to legitimately compete for a le over the next 4 years. Is Dirk a superstar you can build a championship around? Maybe he is maybe he isn't.

Certainly I am not going to let one bad series convince me that I should dump a player who has brought this team back to respectibility and single handedly willed us past both Phoenix and San Antonio just 1 season ago.

Is this team a group of chokers? Or has Nellie been waiting for 4 seasons as a consultant watching every move, every practice, every film session to bide his time til he could come back and shove it down Cuban's gullett?

Noone in the world can get in Dirk's head like Nellie except for Holger. You think Nelson doesn't know the kryptonite for the Superman he created? Everyone needs to take a deep breath and pull yourselves back off the ledge. This series isn't over yet. More importantly, even if it ends tomorrow, this team is still very young. We have time to learn from our mistakes, retool our roster to address our weaknesses, and go at it again. Dirk is still only 29. The only key players over 30 on our roster are Damp and Stack. This team has at least a good 4-5 year window before they have to worry about the decline in it's top players skill due to age.

The one positive I think will come out of this, is that Dirk will have more reason than ever to develop an honest to God low post game to compliment the rest of his game. If you can teach a 12 year old how to post up with his back to the basket from 5 feet out, you can teach it to someone like Dirk.

Finally, don't throw one of the greatest players in franchise history under a bus. There is no reason for it. Dirk helped make this team one of the 2 or 3 best teams in basketball after we had sunken to the worst pro sports franchise in any sport during the 90's. Tomorrow is another day. Next year is another season. Dirk is far to valuable to throw out with the dirty dishwater. He is one of the 10 best basketball players in the world. He hasn't even turned 30 yet. There may come a day to trade him, and maybe that is even this offseason, but not in a firesale and not as a gut reaction to a series loss to Nellie. Take all this negative energy and focus on cheering on the guys and making the AAC so rowdy that Golden State has to face a game 6.

Peace to all

[Chr!s Childs]

hahahahahaha

[DOMINATOR]

IF mav's lose dirk will not recover mentally and it's all downhill from then on.
either find a defensive 5 and keep dirk or trade dirk for a younger low post player. KG is getting up there in age but would own on the mavs. also i just dont want to see one of my favorite players in a mavs uniform.
KG is nothing but heart. most consistent player for many years.

[monosylab1k]

Calm down. If we lose this, it will be extremely sad, disappointing and frustrating, but the sun will rise tomorrow. It hurts right now to see a dominant regular season undone in the course of one week. I'm upset at the way Dirk has shrunk from the task, and in the offseason some decisions will need to be made about the immediate future. But we have at least made it to the level of perennial contenders. The Red Sox eventually broke through, so did the Indianapolis Colts, and the St. Louis Cardinals won a World Series as well after several dominant regular seasons in a row. I didn't write this but it's the only thing to comfort Mav fans at the moment:

like i said, i'll glady eat crow on everything if the Mavericks pull this series out and win it all. but if they puss out and die right here and now, or even against Utah/Houston, then serious and drastic changes need to be made, IMO. and I don't think it makes me a bad mavs fan for saying it.

[DOMINATOR]

and I don't think it makes me a bad mavs fan for saying it.

nope, only homers say they are 100% happy with all the players/coach on their team.

[monosylab1k]

do you remember when dirk and garnett met in the playoffs.
i do because i was a mavs fan back then too.
it was back in the 5 game format i believe.
did dirk sweep garnett? can someone help me remember this?

do you remember back when the mavericks won 11 games? i do because i was a mavs fan back then too.

[Findog]

like i said, i'll glady eat crow on everything if the Mavericks pull this series out and win it all. but if they puss out and die right here and now, or even against Utah/Houston, then serious and drastic changes need to be made, IMO. and I don't think it makes me a bad mavs fan for saying it.

I didn't say it would make you a bad fan. Hey, I got the Roy Tarpley scars to prove my Mavs fan status, and I'll never "abandon" my team, but I am extremely PISSED at what I've watched the first four games, or , the last 8 playoff games. I just hope Cuban doesn't sell and I hope no rash decisions are made in the immediate aftermath of losing this series. It's tough to win a le in this league because you have to have the perimeter defenders for Wade, Bryant, TMac, LeBron, etc, and you need the interior defenders for Yao, Duncan, Amare, and so forth. Diop and Dampier defend Duncan as well as anybody but they're not nearly as useful against the Warriors because they don't have the offensive game to punish smallball.

I don't think we can win a le with Dirk as the #1 guy but he can still be an awesome #2. What this team is crying out for is a consistent low-post scoring threat. Zach Randolph minus the offcourt issues, or an Eddy Curry that could play defense, just somebody that can make a team like the Warriors pay for going small. At the same time, you have to be able to have the inside/out defenders against the studs I listed in the parent graf.

[schadenfreude52]

like i said, i'll glady eat crow on everything if the Mavericks pull this series out and win it all. but if they puss out and die right here and now, or even against Utah/Houston, then serious and drastic changes need to be made, IMO. and I don't think it makes me a bad mavs fan for saying it.

I genuinely believe that should we advance, we'd be in the clear for a while. I think our problem is just with Golden State. While other teams in later rounds might try to emulate their play to deal with us, I think we'd still get by. Simply put, no evidence suggests to me that we will have this much difficulty with any other team we may encounter should we advance.

BTW, I do appreciate that you want what is best for the Mavs. While we may disagree on a number of points, I'm sure your heart is in the right place.

[Findog]

I sincerely disagree...if we can't defend Andris Biedrins or Baron Davis, no chance of hanging with Yao/T-Mac, Duncan/Ginobili, or Amare/Nash. Just the way it is...as long as Dirk is having a nervous breakdown, we're done...I thought the game against Phoenix on March 14th was just a tough regular season loss, nothing more, but it seemed to be the start of something bad.

[schadenfreude52]

I sincerely disagree...if we can't defend Andris Biedrins or Baron Davis, no chance of hanging with Yao/T-Mac, Duncan/Ginobili, or Amare/Nash. Just the way it is...as long as Dirk is having a nervous breakdown, we're done...I thought the game against Phoenix on March 14th was just a tough regular season loss, nothing more, but it seemed to be the start of something bad.

Well, for all of our sake, I hope you're wrong.

Time will tell...

[Findog]

Well, I hope I'm wrong as well...one possession at a time, one quarter at a time, one game at a time. No margin for error. Other teams have been here and pulled it out. We'll see what happens. I just wish we could get Dirk a heart transplant...and Stack was the donor. If I'm gonna throw down with some dudes, I want him on my side.

[bulletedge]

Unfortunately Dirk is a 7 footer who plays like he is 6-5. How else to explain his utter inability to take advantage when other teams put a 6-5 to 6-7 guy on him? In all of his years in the league, Dirk has never developed even the semblance of a post up game.

Additionally, we have two post men who have a big bag of nothing on the offensive end of the floor. Damp? Stone hands...nuff said. Diop? Very athletic, decent hands but apparently unable to make a move towards the basket and finish with authority. The other night he got an offensive rebound about 4 feet from the basket and instead of going back up strong he immediately turned away and looked for somebody to dump the ball off to. Would some one please tell him that he is 7 feet tall, can jump and is strong as an ox!

The Mavs need (and for 27 years have lacked) an inside post up threat- or at least someone capable of finishing at the rim. Unfortunately, those type of guys aren't in great supply.

And as long as I am on a rant- Dirk plays zero defense. Not that he doesn't try. Frankly, he is just plain slow afoot and can't jump. He is really just a more productive, better shooting Mel Counts or Jack Sikma...two other 7 footers whose game was played 20 feet from the basket.

On top of that, admit it- Dirk is simply not mentally tough. When it is just one game out of 82 he comes through regularly- maybe because he knows that not much is at stake in that one game. But, put him in a "gotta deliver tonight" situation and...well, we've all seen what happens- most recently against G.S. Can you say airballs?

Last notes for today- where DOES Josh Howard go in the 4th quarter? Forget "the tough GS defense shut him down" BS. If he was truly an All Star he would find a way to deliver when his team needs him. The only mentally tough players on the Mavs are Terry and Stackhouse- and they aren't enough to turn this team into champions.

I would love to see the Mavs grow some balls, win three in a row and advance. But I seriously doubt that will happen. Losing tonight in the first round on their home court is a more realistic possibility.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I don't watch enough Memphis games , but is Pau Gasol that much bigger than Dirk? strength wise??

[bulletedge]

I don't watch enough Memphis games , but is Pau Gasol that much bigger than Dirk? strength wise??

I don't think he is any bigger than Dirk but he has much better footspeed and jumping ability than Dirk does.

People criticize Dirk for stumbling and falling down in an attempt to draw fouls when he goes to the hoop. If you look closely, you will see that he simply gets his feet tangled up whenever he tries to make a quick offensive move- and when he tries to finish at the end, he can't jump. So he falls one way or the other in an attempt to prevent his shot from being blocked.

Dirk isn't an offensive "flopper" he is just ackward. Great hand-eye coordination but horrible foot-eye coordination.

Watch Bargnani (sp?)...he may develop into the true 7 footer with both an outside game AND the ability to take it to the hole.

[Islymore]

Mono - I understand where you are coming from. I dont think you are wrong at all. I want a team that wants to win and I think it was Stack who said something like "if you aint hungry, move from the table bc someone else wants to eat" or some ish like that.... I dont think Dirk is hungry and I think thass sad. Whether you want to be a leader or not, you have been chosen to lead this team. The fans expect you to do so, the coaches expect you to do so... Dirk just doesnt even seem like he's trying to play better.

I feel you. I'm with the possibility of trading Dirk, if it can guarantee a LOB Trophy. But if its just to bring in someone else who will be the same caliber player as Dirk - I'd rather keep him and get some better arsenal around him than George, Buck, Cro.

[leemajors]

But I DO know that KG has more fire and intensity on the basketball court than Dirk could ever muster even against the most fierce of exercise bikes.

hahahahha

[Mavschick]

Dirk is a slightly better version of Keith Van Horn, Jason Kapono, and Kyle Korver. He's a one-dimensional force whose D is horrible. If he was a PG, he'd be Stephon Marbury. I'd definitely explore trading him for Garnett although even an idiot like McHale has to recognize Garnett is a much more complete player than Dirk. Jermaine O'Neal would be a nice consolation prize.

[Don Quixote]

This is all too funny.

Mavs Fan has made my day.

[LEONARD]

Wow...

Dirk is a slightly better version of Keith Van Horn, Jason Kapono, and Kyle Korver. He's a one-dimensional force whose D is horrible. If he was a PG, he'd be Stephon Marbury. I'd definitely explore trading him for Garnett although even an idiot like McHale has to recognize Garnett is a much more complete player than Dirk. Jermaine O'Neal would be a nice consolation prize.

Unbelievable...

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I don't think he is any bigger than Dirk but he has much better footspeed and jumping ability than Dirk does.

People criticize Dirk for stumbling and falling down in an attempt to draw fouls when he goes to the hoop. If you look closely, you will see that he simply gets his feet tangled up whenever he tries to make a quick offensive move- and when he tries to finish at the end, he can't jump. So he falls one way or the other in an attempt to prevent his shot from being blocked.

Dirk isn't an offensive "flopper" he is just ackward. Great hand-eye coordination but horrible foot-eye coordination.

Watch Bargnani (sp?)...he may develop into the true 7 footer with both an outside game AND the ability to take it to the hole.

Ah, ok, because I was wondering why Dirk still has no post game. He has developed somewhat of an inside game in terms of being able to drive and take his defender on off the dribble.

But his size as a seventh footer, should merit some sort of effort to develop a decent post-up game. Hence why I brought up Gasol. And I didn't really know what his excuse was for not developing it, but yeah, it could be his awkward foot-eye coordination. He DID fall down and trip all by himself in this series alone. And he lands on his own feet a lot. So you may be right about that, most definitely.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Dirk is a slightly better version of Keith Van Horn, Jason Kapono, and Kyle Korver. He's a one-dimensional force whose D is horrible. If he was a PG, he'd be Stephon Marbury. I'd definitely explore trading him for Garnett although even an idiot like McHale has to recognize Garnett is a much more complete player than Dirk. Jermaine O'Neal would be a nice consolation prize.

I don't think he's one-dimensional. He's just an offensive machine. Weren't you guys praising him this year, for elevating his passing game, and help D oh yeah, and don't forget the rebounding. Don't let what he lacks, blind you to what he DOES have.

[monosylab1k]

Wow...



Unbelievable...

i wouldn't say what mavschick said is too ridiculous. i know Dirk's way better than those guys, but when you look at it, Dirk is a shooter that can't create his own shot, can't post up, and can't pass out to save his life. He's also very questionable on the defensive end. Is that really all that different than Kapono or Korver? He's 7 feet tall which helps out, but how good would Dirk really be if he was 6-8? He's a better rebounder, but again, is that a product of ability or simply his size?

[monosylab1k]

why dont you come here and see how your campaigning goes.

http://www.dallas-mavs.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=4



i bet you wont.

do you post at any mavs boards? if so, which ones?

LOL you call me a backstabber and a traitor and now you're recruiting me for your ty little message board?

and i post at a different mavs forum anyways.

[RonMexico]

Dirk is good because he can shoot over people. Let's get real here. If he were 6-5, he'd still be playing in Europe and we'd see him every 4 years in the Olympics and be like, "Wow that little German guy can shoot."

(If you want further proof, take a look at Spanuolis on the Rockets... torched us in the World Championships, but ing sucks in the NBA.)