An Unloved Superstar: Why Dirk Nowitzki Should Be Appreciated

erdana","sans-serif"; color: black;">Dirk still averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds, and displayed leadership abilities, but the Mavericks were in a state of shock after being defeated that first game by the Warriors that their confidence never really picked up again. 

Certainly, Dirk is dependable in any situation. He has amongst the league’s best players in fourth-quarter scoring, over plenty of other dominating big men such as Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard. He is also amongst the best free throw shooters in the fourth quarter also, hitting 90 percent of his shots from the line when it counts.

When the clock is running down, and is in "crunch" time, Dirk converts FGs at a strong 46 percent, which is extremely impressive considering the coverage and double teams thrown at Dirk.

In the entirety of his career, Dirk has lead the Mavericks to eight playoff visits, been amongst the top scorers in the league nearly every season, led the league in PER in two seasons, made an NBA Finals appearance, been named to three All-NBA First teams, and had been names the league’s Most Valuable Player for the 2006-07 season.

In his time with the Mavericks, the team has been behind the San Antonio Spurs as the second most successful regular season team in the NBA. A lot of that success can be attributed to Dirk Nowitzki. 

But, of course, statistics can only tell part of the story. You have to watch Dirk’s game to truly appreciate the talent and skill in the big man. There hasn’t been another seven-footer in the league that has had the ability to create a shot like Dirk Nowitzki can.

There hasn’t been another seven-footer who’s been able to be as agile as Dirk. He is a once in a generation player. Bigger forwards are too slow to stop him and smaller forwards are too weak to be able to contain him, or his high-arcing jumpshot.

In my opinion, he can be counted towards being one of the ten best players of this decade. His game is far from a lot of the other European players that come into the league and his style does not resemble the stereotypical "soft Euro" game.

 

Written By: ?uestlove and vanSHE

www.nbadimensions.net

 

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