Dirk is past his prime

[monosylab1k]

the music is depressingly appropriate

[SenorSpur]

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).

Strong stuff. Do you think his game has regreessed some under Carlisle's tutelege? However as far as the Mavs parting ways with Dirk, you know that as much affection as Cuban has for him, Cuban will probably NEVER, EVER trade him.

BTW, I listen to a lot of Dallas Sports talk radio, and I don't recall hearing that same sentiment expressed by callers. Is your opinion on Dirk shared by others in the Mavs faithful community?

[stretch]

Trade Bynum for Dirk and the Lakers defense becomes worse. Dirk is a volume shooter that needs the ball in his hands. I'd rather that ball be in Kobe's hand with him setting up Gasol and Bynum. On nights Dirk decides to go into choke mode and shoots 4-13 with putrid defense he brings nothing of value to the Lakers. Even on nights when Bynum sturggles offensively, at least he'll bring consistent interior defense.

You ing idiot. First off, the Lakers already got to the Finals without Bynum. Having Dirk, is basically having Radmonovic (their starter at the time), only 10000000X better. Do you have any idea what kind of damage Kobe would be able to do with Dirk at his side, and Gasol cleaning everything up down low? It would literally be impossible to double team anyone. Dirk and Kobe are pretty much impossible to guard unless you double them. Kobe would be able to set Dirk up for so many wide open shots, it would be insane. And then with Dirk standing around outside, it would allow Kobe a lot of open lanes to drive and dish to Gasol. And we arent even taking into account the way that it would open up guys like Fisher and Vujacic. If Dirk replaced Bynum, we would be talking about the greatest offense in NBA history, hands down. They would be a damn good rebounding team too with Gasol, Dirk, and Kobe (you can look at a couple of Dirks stats and think hes just a decent rebounder at best, but pull up his playoff averages... he averages around 12-13 boards a game for his career. damn good.). Their defense might not be as good, but fact is, their defense is still pretty mediocre, at times crappy, even with Bynum. This team is built to be an offensive juggernaut. Adding Dirk would only improve that to the point that they would actually be able to win a le, despite being an offensively based team.

[stretch]

Fail!

It's never a guarantee with the soft german on your team. I wouldn't trade anyone for Dirk either. Who in the needs a 7footer that plays on the perimeter. Who would he guard? That would give the Lakers a weakness, when they have none with the others. PASS

Que: Rocket Fan

Hmm... that 7 footer that plays on the perimeter that sucks, led a team to the Finals without a legit all-star on his team... something Kobe has never done.

And dont give me that Howard being a legit all-star crap as he was like a second or third alternate, while the only reason Gasol has had trouble making the all-star team is cuz he plays in an era with 3 of the greatest PFs to play the game in Duncan, Dirk, and Garnett. Gasol >>> Howard.

[stretch]

No disrespect Findog but when asked if the Lakers should trade for Dirk when Shaq left to play along side him, Kobe said, Dirk? I don't want to play with Dirk.

ing re . Shows how much you keep up with your team. Last year, when Kobe was whining for a trade, his goal was to play with Dirk, or for his team to make a major move and get him some help.

[GOUTSA]

You know you've gone overboard with being a re when you make a case for Pau Gasol is better than Dirk.

lol dirk

[jayman2582]

Dirk= good shooter, but absolute pudding in the post. A whine and cheese player fo sho!

[LakeShow]

ing re . Shows how much you keep up with your team. Last year, when Kobe was whining for a trade, his goal was to play with Dirk, or for his team to make a major move and get him some help.

Prove it, !

[stretch]

Prove it, !

i think the proof we need is your claim that kobe refused to play with dirk

obviously you wont be able to, especially since you are a rockets fan

[Spursdaone]

Dirk might be past his prime but he is still better then our supposed Franchise player. We actually have 3 players that could be considered our franchise player. lol

[LakeShow]

i think the proof we need is your claim that kobe refused to play with dirk

obviously you wont be able to, especially since you are a rockets fan

Thank you! That was some stupid you said. Kobe's goal is to play with Dirk. Who in the is Dirk? Kobe's said some dumb things but I doubt very seriously if he would say something as stupid as that. Get it right, !

[The Franchise]

Thank you! That was some stupid you said. Kobe's goal is to play with Dirk. Who in the is Dirk? Kobe's said some dumb things but I doubt very seriously if he would say something as stupid as that. Get it right, !

You dizzy it was common knowledge.

[dirk4mvp]

Dirk might be past his prime but he is still better then our supposed Franchise player. We actually have 3 players that could be considered our franchise player. lol

Besides Tim Duncan, who? Only in the mind of spur homers could ing Tony Park and Ginobili be considered franchise players.

[Spursdaone]

Besides Tim Duncan, who? Only in the mind of spur homers could ing Tony Park and Ginobili be considered franchise players.

You got a point. They aren't franchise players but they are definitely a crutch when Duncan lets us down.

[portpower_11]

stupid thread !

I still think that Dirk has one of his best seasons so far this year.

He did have some bad games, like the recent games against Lakers and Houstons.

But, what can you expect more from him, with such bad supporting casts.

In the recent games against Suns, he singlehandedly beat the opponent in the Q3.

In the Warrior games, he did everything to keep Mavs in the game. Once he was benched, the team just gave away some 10+ pts.

Like today games, we led by 14+. RC benched him. Once he came back, the lead was back to 3-5 pts.

If you have streaky players like Wright, Berea and Howard, what can you do? If you have teamates like Kidd and Dampier, they have nearly zero offenses. What can you do?

The only consistant help for Dirk is Terry.

This year, the Mavs used to have a lineup, only 2-3 players can score. That's why we lost to teams like Thunder, Clippers, Grizziles, Kings...

Mavs never have a team having bad or ordinary offense with good defence together. If we are bad at offense and allowed opponent to have easy score, we hardly to defend our paint well.

Someone just highly praised him for Blazers and Suns game, then blamed him for the lakers game. everybody has bad games, like Kobe's game against 76er. We can expect Dirk having 30+ pts and high shooting percentage for every games.

[Sportstudi]

You ing idiot. First off, the Lakers already got to the Finals without Bynum. Having Dirk, is basically having Radmonovic (their starter at the time), only 10000000X better. Do you have any idea what kind of damage Kobe would be able to do with Dirk at his side, and Gasol cleaning everything up down low? It would literally be impossible to double team anyone. Dirk and Kobe are pretty much impossible to guard unless you double them. Kobe would be able to set Dirk up for so many wide open shots, it would be insane. And then with Dirk standing around outside, it would allow Kobe a lot of open lanes to drive and dish to Gasol. And we arent even taking into account the way that it would open up guys like Fisher and Vujacic. If Dirk replaced Bynum, we would be talking about the greatest offense in NBA history, hands down. They would be a damn good rebounding team too with Gasol, Dirk, and Kobe (you can look at a couple of Dirks stats and think hes just a decent rebounder at best, but pull up his playoff averages... he averages around 12-13 boards a game for his career. damn good.). Their defense might not be as good, but fact is, their defense is still pretty mediocre, at times crappy, even with Bynum. This team is built to be an offensive juggernaut. Adding Dirk would only improve that to the point that they would actually be able to win a le, despite being an offensively based team.

I couldn't agree more. Yes, their defense wouldn't be the best then, that's right, but their offense would be impossible to stop. Kobe gets the lanes, Dirk the open shots and Pau everything down low. That would be simply insane!
Btw, Dirk's playoff stats: 25,3 ppg/11,1 rpg/2,5 apg. And he is still able to deliver despite his age. Last year against the Hornets the whole team besides him and Bass sucked. Yes, NO punched their guts out, but Dirk's stats were awesome: 26,8 ppg/12,0 rpg/4,0 apg.

Edit: Okay, but I still hope that Dallas gets a second star in 2009 or 2010 that Dirk hasn't to carry the team alone all the way.

[Spursfan092120]

Dirk had a prime?

[monosylab1k]

yeah

[Ghazi]

yeah

Gay

[monosylab1k]

Gay

homer

[Ghazi]

Your bump is gay is just what I'm saying.

[monosylab1k]

Your bump is gay is just what I'm saying.

15 points on 5-16 shooting. I'm sure you think that's super get your gay ass out of my thread.

[Ghazi]

9 points on 3-11 shooting. Lebron James is past his prime.

[sribb43]

9 points on 3-11 shooting. Lebron James is past his prime.

watch the 2nd half of this game and then try and post this bull

[j.dizzle]

why does dirk look so unbalanced when he runs & posts up? Does he have ankle problems still? I like Dirk but he can be so hot for 5 minutes then cant hit the side of a barn the rest of the game. I still think that he is a better shooter then gasol but atleast gasol is pretty damn consistent