sons IF Mavs win le this year Dirk will surpass Duncan as best PF of last 15 years

[DAF86]

Carrying his team to the finals in 2006 while having guys like Terry and Howard as his so called "sidekicks" is quite remarkable.

Didn't Mavsfans used to argue who was the "man" Dirk or Howard back in the days? As stupid as that may sound now, it proves that back then Howard was a legit second option for Nowitzki.

You also had Terry (who in a good run can be as good as any sidekick in the league), Harris, Marquis Daniels, a former top 3 scorer in the league coming off the bench in Stackhouse, and two solid defensive 7 footers in Dampier and Diop (both better than anything Duncan had on his side post Robinson).

[badfish22]

Didn't Mavsfans used to argue who was the "man" Dirk or Howard back in the days? As stupid as that may sound now, it proves that back then Howard was a legit second option for Nowitzki.

No. Maybe at the beginning of the 07 season when he was playing his best basketball there was a little talk, but that quickly went away. Terry is very good in stretches but a look at his playoff stats shows that he wasn't much help when it mattered.

Also at talking up every mav player. A "former top 3 scorer in the league coming off the bench in Stackhouse"? Really? And Harris, Daniels, and Diop really went on to have stellar careers.
I
n basketball its all about having those second options that can come through when you need them. Duncan had Manu (who according to you is basketball Jesus) and Parker. Both are much better than anyone Dirk played with since Finley/Nash.

[Kyle Orton]

If the Spurs signed Wilt Chamberlain's corpse to a contract I guess that would help Tim Duncan's supporting cast since he was a "former scoring champion"

[Ghazi]

Manu > Dirk
DAF 86
Pokemon

[BUMP's Comm. Teacher]

a former top 3 scorer in the league coming off the bench in Stackhouse

That's one ty take, even for you

[Ghazi]

Overrating Dirk's supporting casts to underrate Dirk is the cool thing to do..

Although Dirk's cast was fine in '06.. it was the whistles that cost us.

They've the bed the last 3 years.

This is the first time in 4 years the teammates have played worth a (especially Terry) and the results show..

[dunkman]

No. Maybe at the beginning of the 07 season when he was playing his best basketball there was a little talk, but that quickly went away. Terry is very good in stretches but a look at his playoff stats shows that he wasn't much help when it mattered.

Also at talking up every mav player. A "former top 3 scorer in the league coming off the bench in Stackhouse"? Really? And Harris, Daniels, and Diop really went on to have stellar careers.
I
n basketball its all about having those second options that can come through when you need them. Duncan had Manu (who according to you is basketball Jesus) and Parker. Both are much better than anyone Dirk played with since Finley/Nash.

Having for example Jamison to come from the bench was quite a luxury. He was the sixth man of the year that season, he would have been starter for any other NBA team. I remember that kind of tall tweener forwards used to cause a lot of problems to the Spurs.

[dirk4mvp]

I bet DAF really thought he had something by mentioning Stackhouse like that.

[Axe Murderer]

DAF makes some very solid points especially the Stackhouse one tbh imho

im curious tho, how the 2002-03 Spurs managed to win only 1 le.

After all Duncan had 4 all-stars next to him, the best defensive wing in the game, and a guy who averaged 20 ppg coming off the bench. what happened??????

[Axe Murderer]

*actually 5 all stars, I forgot about Kevin Willis' 1992 appearance. Damn what a loaded team!

[DAF86]

No. Maybe at the beginning of the 07 season when he was playing his best basketball there was a little talk, but that quickly went away. Terry is very good in stretches but a look at his playoff stats shows that he wasn't much help when it mattered.

Also at talking up every mav player. A "former top 3 scorer in the league coming off the bench in Stackhouse"? Really? And Harris, Daniels, and Diop really went on to have stellar careers.
I
n basketball its all about having those second options that can come through when you need them. Duncan had Manu (who according to you is basketball Jesus) and Parker. Both are much better than anyone Dirk played with since Finley/Nash.

Terry: 19 pts 4 assts in the playoffs, that's pretty good for a 2nd/3rd option.

Wasn't Stack a former top 3 scorer in the league? He averaged 13.7 pts coming off the bench in '06 that's also pretty good for a 6th player.

Basketball is all about the second options? I guess the Manu > Dirk thing is true then

[Kyle Orton]

I'm surprised Grant Hill didn't command more of a contract the last few years given that he's a former perennial all star

*I can't wait for DAF to make some comment about how he intentionally says really re ed stuff to troll

[Kyle Orton]

Wasn't Stack a former top 3 scorer in the league?

wow you actually think 2001 Stackhouse is relevant to 2006

[Ghazi]

bottom lines... Dirk hasn't played next to an all-NBA caliber player since Nash left..

Dirk hasn't played next to a real All-Star since Nash left...

Dirk didn't have an all-NBA defensive caliber player until this year w/ Chandler... while the Spurs has Bowen.

However... nobodys stopping Dirk this year...nobody

[DAF86]

I think Mavsfans are underating Dirk's supporting cast more than what I am overrating them. (I don't know if that sentence's grammatically correct).

[Sportstudi]

Didn't Mavsfans used to argue who was the "man" Dirk or Howard back in the days? As stupid as that may sound now, it proves that back then Howard was a legit second option for Nowitzki.

You also had Terry (who in a good run can be as good as any sidekick in the league), Harris, Marquis Daniels, a former top 3 scorer in the league coming off the bench in Stackhouse, and two solid defensive 7 footers in Dampier and Diop (both better than anything Duncan had on his side post Robinson).

Both Howard and Terry used to disappear when it really mattered. I can't recall a postseason in which they played well the whole time. They had one good game only to disappear completely for the next ones. Terry is playing well this postseason though. For the first time he's having a solid stretch without his usual up and downs.

Stackhouse? Seriously? He was just a dead corpse compared to that season in which he scored 29.3 ppg (which was 6 years earlier). Additionally, he was just a ballhog. In that season (00-01) he only scored because he was like Allen Iverson. Scoring because of ballhogging. He shot 40.2 % that season and averaged 10.1 FTA. That was the only reason for his high numbers.

Dampier and Diop? Interesting... suddenly they are two solid defensive 7 footers. It really seems you do everything to overrate Dirk's supporting cast in order to diminish his efficiency.

[badfish22]

Terry: 19 pts 4 assts in the playoffs, that's pretty good for a 2nd/3rd option.

Wasn't Stack a former top 3 scorer in the league? He averaged 13.7 pts coming off the bench in '06 that's also pretty good for a 6th player.

Basketball is all about the second options? I guess the Manu > Dirk thing is true then

So you have now changed Terry from he "can be as good as any sidekick in the league" to a "pretty good 2nd/3rd option". Alright we're getting somewhere.
And its easy to just get stats and say "thats good!". His shooting % has been horrible in key games (ex. 7-25 in 06 Finals game 6) and he himself has admitted that he has been awful these past two years in the PO's.

Stack was a solid player while he was here, but your attempts to overrate him are embarrassing.

[dunkman]

DAF makes some very solid points especially the Stackhouse one tbh imho

im curious tho, how the 2002-03 Spurs managed to win only 1 le.

After all Duncan had 4 all-stars next to him, the best defensive wing in the game, and a guy who averaged 20 ppg coming off the bench. what happened??????

The Lakers got Malone for almost nothing. The Spurs offered Malone $10M / season, but he declined. That was his market value. Payton would have gotten much more than the MLE he was offered by the Lakers. So, they "somehow" got more talent and were the favorites. Probably by some payments under the table. Still, the Spurs almost won game 5, the Lakers needed a miraculous 0.4s shot to win the pivotal game and they closed out in game 6 at home.

The '03 championship team had only 1 all-star, Duncan. DRob and T-Rex were on their last legs, Manu, Parker and S-Jax were too young.

The '03 team changed completely for the next season:
The Spurs low balled S-Jax, who was the starter SG and he signed with Atlanta. I think they should have offered a 3 yaer MLE with team option for another 2 years, but the FO offered around $10 for 3 years, concerned about his character.
DRob retired that year and the Spurs replaced him with Rasho, who wasn't a great talent.
They added Horry and Hedo, but in their first season, they didn't shot well wide open shots and they didn't defend well neither in the playoffs.
Manu was in his second season, he grew considerably from his second season, but he wasn't yet an all-star.
Parker was better than Manu then, but the Spurs wanted to sign Kidd for a reason. Speedy signed with another team and the Spurs were deficient with a backup PG.

The '03 team was very TO prone with young Parker and S-Jax. That team used to lose early leads easily.

IMO the '05 team with the '99 team were the best.

[DAF86]

So you have now changed Terry from he "can be as good as any sidekick in the league" to a "pretty good 2nd/3rd option". Alright we're getting somewhere.
And its easy to just get stats and say "thats good!". His shooting % has been horrible in key games (ex. 7-25 in 06 Finals game 6) and he himself has admitted that he has been awful these past two years in the PO's.

Stack was a solid player while he was here, but your attempts to overrate him are embarrassing.

Then Dirk is as much to blame as anyone, he shot 39% in the NBA finals. And 39% again the next season against the Warriors when the Mavs were the favorites to go all the way.

BTW I said 2nd/3rd option because of the arguability of Terry/Howard beign the second option. 19 is very good for a second option period.

And I didn't overate Stack I just said a thing he did, or didn't I say "former"? It's not much different from what Mavsfans do when they use these players current performances to try to disminish their play during that playoffs run.

[Ghazi]

Manu > Dirk

[DAF86]

Are these the ones you play with?

[DMC]

One of the classiest injuries in sports history

And the friendliest.

[joshdaboss]

Malone, who defined playing hot potato with the ball in the 4th quarter before KG, that Malone?

Yeah, he's got nothing on Dirk except longevity.

lol @ thinking Dirk would even sniff the finals against Malone's Jazz. lol Michael Jordan. lol @ nothing on Dirk as if he played a lick of defense.

[joshdaboss]

unfortunately he also treats his bas children that way.

I'll take Garnett or Dirk any day over Malone.

Explains why you are a Mav fan, it's in your blood to back a loser.

[BRHornet45]

lol @ thinking Dirk would even sniff the finals against Malone's Jazz. lol Michael Jordan. lol @ nothing on Dirk as if he played a lick of defense.

lol as if that ass giraffe re Duncan could either? Malone OWNS Duncan and you know it. just shut up