We keep hearing how Dirk still has a few years of his prime left. I'm here to tell you all that his prime blew by us, and we're witnessing the decline right now.
His scoring is up - great. His scoring is up only because he's taking more shots. His jumper used to be consistently great and automatic. A 4 for 18 night was a blue moon shock. Nowadays, he's just another streaky shooter who from time to time can get dialed in and never miss. Nowadays, a 4 for 18 shooting night is "Dirk's stinker of the week".
He never drives anymore, and when he does, he's almost guaranteed to miss the layup. He never had much of a post game, but at least before he could get a low post hook shot or two in every game.
His rebounding is way down, and his defense is far worse. There was a point a couple year's ago when Dirk's defense was actually pretty decent, and anybody who actually watched him on D regularly would know this. But he's right back to being the piss-poor defender he used to be, only now it's not because he's not focused, it's because physically he can't do it anymore.
This isn't meant to on Dirk because he can't help that his body is deteriorating. I'm sure he's working just as hard, if not harder, on his game.
This is just a wakeup call to all Mavs fans that Dirk simply isn't the superhero he used to be, that he is past his prime, and that at this point he is best served being a secondary option. And that things are only going to get worse from here for Dirk. Hopefully Mark & Donnie pull their head out of their ass and see the same thing, and do something about it (yeah, right).
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