Dallas media RIPPING Dirk a new one

[SpursWoman]

That's rich -- a Suns fan calling the Spurs "soft."

I don't think English is this person's first language.

[bdictjames]

I'd have Nellie as the assistant coach. Spurs would be unstoppable in offense and defense.

[StylisticS]

I agree with what Steve Kerr said last night - he said he talked with Flip Saunders about what was happening with Dallas and Flip said the same thing happened to the Pistons last year.

They were on such a roll that they didn't have to play any meaningful games for about the last 6 weeks of the regular season. They lost their hunger and their edge and it cost both the Pistons last year and the Mavs this year.

It was interesting when he said it and it made alot of sense. The Pistons in the playoffs last year did not look good whatsoever. They didn't even look good in the first round. If they played a team that matched up well with them, they would have given them problems like GS did to Dallas.

[LakerLanny]

It's one thing to get outplayed. It's quite another to give up.

I don't think he gave up. Warriors had guys shadowing him the whole series, the Mavs guards did not do a good job getting him the ball in his usual scoring positions.

The refs also let Stephen Jackson in particular get away with a lot of hands and holding on him, very surprising as I have seen fouls called for a lot less.

When you are a forward or center, you are somewhat dependent on your guards to get you the ball to do your thing. The media sheep always spew drivel like "Dirk needs to step up" but there isn't a whole of a lot you can do when you are being fronted and your teammates won't reverse the ball.

The Mav who fell off most sharply from last year playoffs and the regular season this year was NOT Dirk Nowitzki.

Anyone want to guess who it was? I'll give you a hint, his last name rhymes with Fairy.

[LakerLanny]

Strangely enough, I absolutely agree with Laker Lanny.

I never thought I'd see this day.

Isn't it nuts?

Now that my team is no longer a threat to win les, I am back to just being a regular basketball fan instead of a foaming at the mouth, ref hating homer.

But I still do hate the refs!

[bigfan]

Though Im no Mavs fan, Dirk didnt give up. The Mavs got out played and out coached by a hungrier team. Yes, a horrible series by the Mavs, obviously, but there is alot of piling on Dirk right now. Where is the piling on of Jason Terry? Man, he sucked during this series. Anyway, the better team won and Houston or the Jazz better look out.

[dallaskd]

good article. awesome.

[LakerLanny]

Wanna trade Dirk for Kobe?

Kobe for Dirk, Howard and Brass Balls Stackhouse and I'll drive to Dallas in the Yugo and pick up those guys personally!

[confined]

Kobe for Dirk, Howard and Brass Balls Stackhouse and I'll drive to Dallas in the Yugo and pick up those guys personally!

throw in the Yugo and you got yourself a deal

[baseline bum]

Nowitzki deserves every bit of criticism. Lots of great players have bad series. Duncan laid an egg in letting his team get completely destroyed the last two games in 2001. Magic choked the '84 Finals in spectacular fashion. Jordan blew the Orlando series in '95. Bird got swept by Milwaukee in '83. Shaq got destroyed in games 1-3 of a Spurs sweep in '99.

* Duncan came back and put up 29 and 17 against the Lakers the next playoffs (2002), including 34 and 25 in the closeout game. They still got beat 4-1, but he played his heart out and led them past LA in winning a le in 2003.

* Magic lead his team to a championship in Boston Garden the next season.
* Jordan won 72 games and beat a 64-win team in 6 to win a le in '96.
* Bird led his team to a le over a favored Lakers team the next year in '84.
* Shaq carried the Lakers to three in a row after getting destroyed.

Where is Dirk Nowitzki's compe ive response? When a player gets to the MVP level, he better show that response or he's going to rightfully catch heat. Dirk has to prove a ty series is the exception, and not the rule. He's shown it's most likely the other way around, and that the Spurs series in 2006 was most likely the aberration.

[ShoogarBear]

I'm not going to say that Stern would fix things to avoid embarrassment, but I'll be highly su ious if the league announces Monday that Baron Davis is the surprise winner of the MVP.

[50 cent]

They need to trade him to the Spurs for Scola and Oberto.

No thanks. We can only handle one (BENO) on our team.

[Obstructed_View]

Though Im no Mavs fan, Dirk didnt give up.

Dirk took three shots in the second half. What exactly would you call that??

[Tek_XX]

The Spurs were completely outmatched in the WCF in 2001. Heart or no heart we lose that series.

[TampaDude]

Dirk should look on the bright side...he's got more time to go fishing now...

[TampaDude]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...r.3dda6d5.html

Wow...what a smackdown...harsh...

[Brutalis]

Seriously so tragic even though it's Dirk and the Mavs.

I mean damn they were getting better than we've ever seen. And poop.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

2007-2008 Mavericks:

Devin Harris
Jason Terry
Josh Howard
Lamar Odom
Andrew Bynum

That would be an intriguing team.

There's also O'Neal, Garnett and Gasol as possible trades.

If I'm the Mavs, only one player is safe, and that's Howard.

[Fillmoe]

This team, as it's currently constructed, doesn't have the intestinal for ude to win a championship.

[mavsfan1000]

Golden State averaged over 104 PPG in this series, including almost 109 PPG in the last 3 games, so maybe the "D" has once again left Dallas (er, _allas)?

Dallas has no problems guarding a traditional lineup but Golden State played small. They exposed Dallas's 4's and 5's on defense while Dallas didn't have a post player to go back at them. Avery should've let the Clippers win and tried against the Warriors.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I know I posted this on the Dallas Mavs in 9 Forum, but I thought this was relevant to this thread as well

http://youtube.com/watch?v=21HbX_uK62w

[dbreiden83080]

Dirk took three shots in the second half. What exactly would you call that??

Dirk mentally checked out of that game in the 2nd half. Look at Duncan in the 2005 finals. He struggled at times due to both injury and the great defense of the Pistons. Game 7 there was so much pressure on him to perform. While stat wise he needed a lot of shots to get his 25 pts he gave everything he had and then some in that game. Diving for loose balls and demanding the ball in every key situation, thereby getting his teamates key open shots to help the Spurs to victory. Timmy was not at his best but his FIRE and LEADERSHIP was there the whole game. There is a fine line between a great player in a big game just not playing well and a great player not giving his all when his team needs him the most. Dirk quit on his team in the 2nd half of that game and there is no excuse for that.

[~Sweetmelody~]

I wonder if they ran out of steam by the time they hit the playoffs. Did they peak too soon?

I honestly think they did. Emotionally they got drained.

[mavsfan1000]

Dirk mentally checked out of that game in the 2nd half. Look at Duncan in the 2005 finals. He struggled at times due to both injury and the great defense of the Pistons. Game 7 there was so much pressure on him to perform. While stat wise he needed a lot of shots to get his 25 pts he gave everything he had and then some in that game. Diving for loose balls and demanding the ball in every key situation, thereby getting his teamates key open shots to help the Spurs to victory. Timmy was not at his best but his FIRE and LEADERSHIP was there the whole game. There is a fine line between a great player in a big game just not playing well and a great player not giving his all when his team needs him the most. Dirk quit on his team in the 2nd half of that game and there is no excuse for that.

Dirk just couldn't keep up with the speed of the game. Running teams give Dirk problems. His jump shot doesn't fall as much because of that. I knew before the playoffs that the Warriors and Suns are the teams that Dallas wants to avoid because of this. Dirk still got 10 rebounds though.

[dbreiden83080]

Dirk just couldn't keep up with the speed of the game. Running teams give Dirk problems. His jump shot doesn't fall as much because of that. I knew before the playoffs that the Warriors and Suns are the teams that Dallas wants to avoid because of this. Dirk still got 10 rebounds though.

Oh come on he was aggressive in game 5 where the was that in game 6? He took the ball to the hoop against the Spurs like crazy in the 06 playoffs. That 3rd Qtr was a disaster for the Mavs and Dirk basically stood there and watched it all crumbling down around him. An all time great player even in defeat goes down fighting and Dirk went down as a ing spectator.