Reply With Quote
He'll never even come close to one again, unless he wins a ring before.
So Far, Dirk is the MVP
SportingNews
Over at Basketball-Reference.com, there’s a day-old article suggesting, almost timorously, that on numbers alone Steve Nash deserves MVP consideration. I’m of the school that questions his 2005-06 award, and believes Nash was denied the 2006-07 trophy simply because three straight would’ve been too much. This year, though, would be as outrageous to me as some found his 2004-05 MVP (weird to recall that Shaq was the other major candidate).
Who got the 2006-07 MVP? Steve’s old pal Dirk, who had to accept the award under a cloud of humiliation after the Mavs were sent home early in the playoffs. The Mavs had been a regular season powerhouse, Dirk had become a tougher, more complete player and unlike the Suns—who started to unravel late in the year—Dallas seemed destined for a championship after making the Finals the previous season. Without discounting Nowitzki’s award, it seems like the voters made a concerted effort to go safe, rather than make a bold choice that would open them up to believing someone else’s hype.
I don’t want to get into a discussion of how these decisions are made or what the award means, if anything. However, if there is an unlikely player who now belongs at the top of anyone’s MVP list, it’s Nowitzki, not Nash.
The safe choices, of course, would be Kobe, LeBron or Wade; even "Nash, once again on top of the Suns offense" would at this point be more predictable. Chris Paul, injuries aside, is going to need to walk on water in the coming months to qualify as even a longshot candidate. Dirk, on the other hand, is having a better season so far than in 2006-07 and leading a far less loaded Mavs team to a really, really strong start in the West.
No one doubted that Dirk was one of the league’s best, or that the Mavs could potentially be a factor in the West. But he’s elevated them from intriguing to legit and asserted that a player who can make his presence felt league-wide, not just a perennial all-star.
He'll never even come close to one again, unless he wins a ring before.
Only way he gets it is if the Mavs finish #1 in the west, and the Cavs don't finish Number #1 or #2 in the East.
I'm of the thought that it's Wade's turn.
He'll never win it again, but for what it's worth, he's a better player now than he was in 2007 when he did win it.
I think so too, he has added quite a few tricks in the post area, spin moves and hooks once in a while, a down and under which he never had.
His midrange, especially at the top of the key, is about as perfect as this league is ever gonna see.
His passing is one large improvement, he wasn't great at passing out of double teams before, now it seems like they never bother him.
He has become quite a solid defender, never gets lost on rotations, helps out quite nicely in the pick and roll defense.
But I think he has really toughened up quite a bit, he knows when he should take over and how to much more than he used to in 06 and 07. In a way these last couple of years with a lot less talent around than what he was used to have really toughened him. It would be nice if the Mavs can put one more great team around him.
Solid post, pretty much encapsulates the evolution in his game. I get so irritated when people say he plays no defense. He'll never be confused with Bill Russell or Dikembe Motumbo, but he has really improved that aspect of his game. Very solid indeed.
We can only hope that the salary cap flexibility the Mavs have built for themselves with Dampier's expiring will yield them another All Star next summer.
Dumcan228 come over to the dark side you know you love Dirk and I can tell your a closet Maverick fan jump aboard mate!
+1
Wade is playin out of his mind right now. I'd hand him the trophy merely for the poster he starred in w/ Varejao...
I hate to be a downer here, but who have the Mavs beaten? They got the Lakers, which was a great win, but besides that, who have they really beaten?
Get back to me when they get more quality wins. Dirk has been great but not MVP great.
Who have they lost to? A ty Wiz team that they didn't take seriously enough, a short-handed Spurs team that they didn't take seriously enough, and they choked away at the FT line in a loss on the road against a ty 121-63 team.
You cannot on their start. They play who is on their schedule.
People said the same thing about the Broncos. Just sayin.
This start beats going 2-7 again, but knee jerking into "Dirk is an MVP candidate and the Mavs are an elite team" is a bit much.
They've had a lot of injuries and have the second-best record in the league. I'll take it. They also have a number of attractive contracts to trade and there are veteran buyouts in February. I doubt you were penciling them in for a Finals trip in November 2005. I'm not saying they're going to win a le this year, but they look as sharp as anybody right now.
As for the MVP award, that almost always goes to the best player on the team with the best regular-season record. Dirk is one of the top 5-10 players in the League right now. That's MVP caliber, for what it's worth. Whether he wins it or not, I don't care. He means as much to his team as Kobe does to his, Paul does to the Hornets, LeBron to the Cavs, etc.
I dont know if this is the best thing to say right now. He has been struggling lately.
November championship thread...
well Lebron won the mvp coz he was the best in november-december. Kobe was better after that.
I dunno about MVP but nobody's had more MVP "moments" so far this year than Dirk... the 29 pt 4th quarter against the Jazz, the game winner against the Bucks, and the 4th quarter/OT against the Spurs.
He is shooting under 45% from the field though, although I'd expect that to go up.
Dirk's playing at a very high level, he's the best big man in the NBA right now..it's mid-November though, come on..
what part of "so far" don't you get? :-P
Obviously I get it LOL..but MVP talk in November?..it's been like 10 games..
let's talk about how the Hawks are the favorites to win the NBA le right now..
League MVP after 10 games...add that to his long resume...2005 Western Conf Champ, 2006 NBA MVP...now 2009-10 ten games in MVP to go along w/ his we beat the Spurs in 08-09 playoffs trophy. Way to go Dirk! Set your expectations low b/c if you don't you'll just end up kicking another exercise bike and getting bltch slapped by D West.
That's what Mavs fans thrive on....racking up stats and rings in November! GO MAVS!
4-1
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
