Best Finals MVP since 2003

[scanry]

Against the Nets.

Dirk played against the best defense in the league.

Dirk was unstoppable against OKC, but he didn't have a great series against Miami. Dallas played great as a team.

IMO Dallas had the best defense last year. Amazing what a great defensive big man can do to your le prospects. That's why i think the Lakers will win it all this year (If Dwight is healthy).

[DAF86]

Against the Nets.


Dirk played against the best defense in the league.

And he shot 41%, being offense his only contribution. He's nowhere near the top among best performances in the finals since 2003.

It's between Duncan, Lebron or Wade.

[ffadicted]

Wade

[irishock]

And he shot 41%, being offense his only contribution. He's nowhere near the top among best performances in the finals since 2003.

It's between Duncan, Lebron or Wade.

10 rbs, highest avg in series

[DAF86]

10 rbs, highest avg in series

Yeah, I forgot that. But still, Lebron got more rebounds than him (while having more pts, efficiency, assists, etc) and Duncan got twice as many rebounds per game.

No way Dirk is the best finals performer in the last decade.

[irishock]

Dirk played with a torn tendon (same hand he used to win game 2), a 100+ degree fever and a sore knee.

[DAF86]

ok.

[irishock]

Gotta at least give him credit for that tho. James and Wade played well due to officiating in their favors and athleticism. I do agree no one tops 2003 tim.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Dirk's TS% was 55.8. Which is good.
Duncan's was 54.8% TS in '03.
Dirk was more efficient, against a much better defense too.

And before some got says "well his FG%..."
3 pointers are worth more and Freethrows are worth points too.

[scanry]

Gotta at least give him credit for that tho. James and Wade played well due to officiating in their favors and athleticism. I do agree no one tops 2003 tim.

Dirk was clutch as f@ck against OKC. That was the best i saw from Dirk in all his career.

I remember them Mavsfans back then, they were tearing those Laker a##holes pretty good. But they were nowhere to be found after the finals.

[Kidd K]

I thought this thread was excluding Duncan in 2003? Since that should clearly be the overwhelming pick.

Duncan in '03 Finals:

PPG: 24.1
RPG: 17.0
APG: 5.3
BPG: 5.3
SPG: 1.0
FG%: 49.5%

And with arguably the worst supporting cast of any Finals MVP that won the le in history. And the near quadruple double in the closeout game where he got 21/20/10/8.

Tim 2003 with LeBron 2012 a close second. Dirk 2011 is especially underrated.

Imo Dirk was great until the Finals, where he was average (by the standards he had set earlier). He really dropped off in terms of production once he got there. But prior to the Finals, Dirk was looking like the 7 foot, slow white version of Jordan for about a month.

[Latarian Milton]

Dirk played with a torn tendon (same hand he used to win game 2), a 100+ degree fever and a sore knee.

and ty supporting casts, despite all the disadvantages tho, dude played like a god and won the championship almost single handedly as if he was using steroid tbh

[racm]

Hey, he needed that ring. How else would he propose?

[Floyd Pacquiao]

03 duncan no doubt....dominated both ends of the court....and lets not forget tim had to go against kenyon martin & dikembe mutombo....

[monosylab1k]

Dirk's TS% was 55.8. Which is good.
Duncan's was 54.8% TS in '03.
Dirk was more efficient, against a much better defense too.

And before some got says "well his FG%..."
3 pointers are worth more and Freethrows are worth points too.

rofl and DAF disappears from the thread.

Ginobili upstaged by Duncan/Parker his entire career.
3rd banana in the world's top league

[Wild Cobra Kai]

Dirk's TS% was 55.8. Which is good.
Duncan's was 54.8% TS in '03.
Dirk was more efficient, against a much better defense too.

And before some got says "well his FG%..."
3 pointers are worth more and Freethrows are worth points too.

Yeah, but he needed Chandler to do his work for him on the other side of the court. Tim pulled double duty, and came within 2 blocks of a quad double, setting the Finals blocks record in the process. It's no more valid to compare Finals Dirk to Duncan than it would be to compare Finals Tyson Chandler to Duncan. They each did exactly one half of his masterpiece of 2003.

[Lincoln]

acting like that team Duncan played in the 03 finals had anything on the Heat. Dirks work was against the best perimeter defense in the league and he still managed to take over in the clutch and even hit a game winner with his left hand. The same left hand that had a in torn tendon.

Can't forget about him playing through a 103 degree fever

[Latarian Milton]

acting like that team Duncan played in the 03 finals had anything on the Heat. Dirks work was against the best perimeter defense in the league and he still managed to take over in the clutch and even hit a game winner with his left hand. The same left hand that had a in torn tendon.

Can't forget about him playing through a 103 degree fever

dirk put up what was probably the greatest personal effort in NBA finals history in that series and we got really lucky to deal with the german allah who was in god mode tbh. dude got the ring he deserved

the 03 spurs deserved some credits for taking down them lakers but the finals that year was hardly a good one worth remembering imho, the nets just lost the series meekly w/o putting up much fight

[monosylab1k]

Yeah, but he needed Chandler to do his work for him on the other side of the court. Tim pulled double duty, and came within 2 blocks of a quad double, setting the Finals blocks record in the process. It's no more valid to compare Finals Dirk to Duncan than it would be to compare Finals Tyson Chandler to Duncan. They each did exactly one half of his masterpiece of 2003.

against the Nets.

It's like saying my 84-0 drubbing of the Bengals on Madden on the Rookie difficulty setting last night was a masterpiece.

[Kidd K]

Dirk's TS% was 55.8. Which is good.
Duncan's was 54.8% TS in '03.
Dirk was more efficient, against a much better defense too.

And before some got says "well his FG%..."
3 pointers are worth more and Freethrows are worth points too.

You posted their playoff TS%, not their Finals TS%. The thread is about Finals MVP, not best playoff run. And even if it was about playoff run, Duncan s on him anyway because 1% difference in TS% doesn't make up for the massive difference in rebounding and defense.

Dirk's Finals TS% was 53.7% in the Finals, not 55.8%. He also shot just 41.6% from the field.

Duncan's Finals TS% was 54.6%, and his FG% was 49.5%.

So Duncan was more efficient, not Dirk.

And the Heat's defense wasn't better. Miami's team defensive rating was 103.5 that year. New Jersey's was 98.1. Which means they give up 5.4 less points per 100 possessions.

So you were literally wrong on both supposedly fact-based points due to not having your facts straight. Your opinion about FG% not being everything I agree with, but Dirk's TS% in the Finals was worse anyway even with the better FT shooting and the threes.

And of course, this doesn't even touch on Duncan's massive dominance everywhere else too.

Duncan in '03 Finals:

PPG: 24.1
RPG: 17.0
APG: 5.3
BPG: 5.3
SPG: 1.0
FG%: 49.5%
TS%: 54.6%


Dirk in '11 Finals:

PPG: 26.0
RPG: 9.3
APG: 2.0
BPG: 0.667
SPG: 0.667
FG%: 41.6%
TS%: 53.7%


And just for easier comparing:

Dirk's stats vs Duncan's:

PPG: + 1.9
RPG: - 7.7
APG: - 3.3
BPG: - 4.633
SPG: - 0.333
FG%: - 7.9%
TS%: - 0.9%


Duncan massively destroyed Dirk in overall performance in nearly every single category besides PPG, which he barely lost in (due to Dirk taking about 2 more shots per game to get the extra basket per game).

Meanwhile, Duncan with nearly 7.7 boards, 3.3 assists, and 4.6 blocks more per game. Gargantuan defensive presence, and more versetile and reliable on offense. Can't even compare tbh.

Like I said before, Dirk had a great playoff run BEFORE the Finals (he had some Jordan-esque scoring performances). . .but wasn't overly impressive once he got to the Finals. Was mostly just typical Dirk stats, only lower FG%/TS%. Duncan on the other hand, stepped his game up and performed well above his normal excellent standards.

I'm a fan of Dirk, but come on, those two perfomances aren't even close.

acting like that team Duncan played in the 03 finals had anything on the Heat. Dirks work was against the best perimeter defense in the league and he still managed to take over in the clutch and even hit a game winner with his left hand. The same left hand that had a in torn tendon.

Can't forget about him playing through a 103 degree fever

'03 Nets defensive rating: 98.1
'11 Heat defensive rating: 103.5

Clearly not even close either. The Nets blew the Heat away in defensive ability, but of course, ignorant dip s like yourself will just rant about how ty or great people/teams are, then lie about the facts to pretend they support your garbage ass opinions.

Dirk primarily scores within 15 feet of the hoop at with his back to the basket at some point, so perimeter defense doesn't mean much since he's, you know, a 7 foot high post player.

Dumb got. You don't know do you?

[FkLA]

but Dirk had a good TS% and a broken hand who cares about his 40% shooting

[TDfan2007]

against the Nets.

It's like saying my 84-0 drubbing of the Bengals on Madden on the Rookie difficulty setting last night was a masterpiece.

The Nets of 2003 had nothing on the 2012 Miami Heat, but you also need to consider matchups. Dirk was being defended by Chris Bosh ( ) for most of that series, while Tim had to face Kenyon Martin and Dikembe Mutombo. That 2003 New Jersey wasn't deep, and basically fed off of Kenyon Martin and Kidd's production. If I remember right, they actually swept through the east that postseason.

The reason why they looked so bad in the finals was because Tim basically made Kenyon Martin his . If you go back and watch, it was one of the most one-sided individual matchups in any series that I can recall. Martin averaged about 19 and 9 during the 2003 playoffs, and those numbers were probably even higher during the first 3 rounds before Duncan ate his lunch.

Dirk was great in 2011, but as other posters have stated, he played on one end. He literally drifted around defensively while Chandler was busy completely shutting Bosh down. Dirk's 2011 finals was no better than Tim's in 2005. A warrior effort against a great team, but not transcendentally dominant.

IMO Dirk's 2011 finals isn't even 2nd or 3rd best. 2nd goes to Lebron last year. That game 5 performance was some of the most beautiful basketball I've ever seen by any player.

edit: Wade's performance against the Mavs in 2006 (and the entire playoffs for that matter) comes in third imo.

[irishock]

against the Nets.

It's like saying my 84-0 drubbing of the Bengals on Madden on the Rookie difficulty setting last night was a masterpiece.

Thank you. That has been my point throughout.

[irishock]

The Nets of 2003 had nothing on the 2012 Miami Heat, but you also need to consider matchups. Dirk was being defended by Chris Bosh ( ) for most of that series, while Tim had to face Kenyon Martin and Dikembe Mutombo. That 2003 New Jersey wasn't deep, and basically fed off of Kenyon Martin and Kidd's production. If I remember right, they actually swept through the east that postseason.

The reason why they looked so bad in the finals was because Tim basically made Kenyon Martin his . If you go back and watch, it was one of the most one-sided individual matchups in any series that I can recall. Martin averaged about 19 and 9 during the 2003 playoffs, and those numbers were probably even higher during the first 3 rounds before Duncan ate his lunch.

Dirk was great in 2011, but as other posters have stated, he played on one end. He literally drifted around defensively while Chandler was busy completely shutting Bosh down. Dirk's 2011 finals was no better than Tim's in 2005. A warrior effort against a great team, but not transcendentally dominant.

IMO Dirk's 2011 finals isn't even 2nd or 3rd best. 2nd goes to Lebron last year. That game 5 performance was some of the most beautiful basketball I've ever seen by any player.

edit: Wade's performance against the Mavs in 2006 (and the entire playoffs for that matter) comes in third imo.

Bosh was put on Dirk for maybe 2 possessions the entire series. It was Haslem throughout.

[Latarian Milton]

but Dirk had a good TS% and a broken hand who cares about his 40% shooting

dirk played like god the whole series overall and in one game he only missed like 1 shot out of 13 IIRC. the 40% figure was the average of the series i suppose, dude couldn't hit in game 6 but thank god he had an on-fire JET who shot lights out that night and secured their win