As a Mavericks fan, I am used to seeing people criticize Dirk Nowitzki whenever he has a poor game.
Never mind the fact that he puts up performances like he did in Game Three of the Mavs-Hornets series on Friday (32 points, 19 rebounds, six assists).
You have to look all the way back to 2003 to find a player that has accomplished that feat in the playoffs. Oh, by the way, that player is Tim Duncan.
Anyway, after Steve Nash and his Phoenix Suns fell to down 3-0 to the San Antonio Spurs, one has to wonder, where are the critics of Steve Nash?
He has Amare Stoudemire. He has Shaquille O'Neal. He even has Grant Hill. Those are three perennial All-Star caliber players, yet Steve Nash gets no criticism?
So who does get criticism on the Suns? It seems like the ESPNs of this world are just in shock that the Suns are down 3-0. It's almost like it's a tragedy, something that the whole world is supposed to be disappointed about.
Steve Nash had seven points, nine assists, and two rebounds last night.
What is that?
As fellow columnist Robert Cenzon (see: The Decline of the Dallas Mavericks) points out, if Dirk Nowitzki were to have a night like that (maybe switch rebounds with assists), he would be labeled a huge choker.
I'm getting tired of this. Compare Dirk Nowitzki's playoff resume with that of Kevin Garnett, or really any other power forward of this era. It boils down to one simple fact that can't be disputed.
Dirk Nowitzki is the second-best power forward of this era, behind Tim Duncan.
To further back up this fact, Dirk Nowitzki has actually beaten Tim Duncan in a series! Do people think Dirk Nowitzki is a lame MVP and Steve Nash is a cool MVP?
Steve Nash hasn't even beaten the Spurs in a playoff series! In fact, they get ousted in embarrassing, scarring fashion every single time.
Winning or losing this Hornets series is irrelevant in proving Dirk Nowitzki's worth. This guy is a true professional. Critics will focus on his shortcomings and ignore his obvious success.
Meanwhile, they will focus on the obvious success of players like Steve Nash and Kevin Garnett instead of focusing on their shortcomings.
Nowitzki is averaging 30 points per game in this series, but does anyone notice that? What are people's response to that?
They're simply just waiting for Dirk to actually have a bad game, and then they will begin to criticize him again as if it was the only thing that had ever happened.
Listen, critics, you know this is true. And honestly, you can continue to do it, because it really means absolutely nothing.
Perhaps you can focus on criticizing Steve Nash instead of Dirk Nowitzki this year, because quite frankly, the Suns are about to be swept in a shorter series than Dirk Nowitzki will ever see in his career.
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5 months ago
Forget criticizing Nash, what about Kobe? People say this guy is the best player in the league. Yet look at what he has done without Shaq? Very little. And without Shaq and Phil Jackson he did nothing. He couldn't even make the playoffs.
People always say Dirk is just lucky to have such a great team compared to other stars. This is completely backwards. Dirk has no second stars.. and a lot of overrated names around him. I think people believe Dirk's supporting cast elevates him because Dirk doesn't look like your typical superstar and because people doin't understand what makes Dirk's game so special.
But this is nothing new. when finley was on the team people said he was the heart and soul of the team carrying Dirk and Nash. Then they said it was Van Exel who was carrying Dirk.
When are people going to realize Dirk makes the players around him look so good? Better than Kobe believe it or not.
I truly believe Dirk's impact on the game offensively is on par with Shaq in his prime. Dirk wreaks havoc on teams defenses and creates mismatches all over the court for inefficient scorers like Terry, Stack and Howard to exploit.
Dirk is also highly underrated as a defender. People don't notice though because is Dirk's versatility on defense that makes him so good there. He may not be able to shutdown bigs or small but because of his tremendous agility and, yes, quickness, for a player his size, he can hold his own against big and small players.
from 5 months ago
U sound like a fan, especially where u mention Dirk as a Defender.
5 months ago
I love how you pointed out how unsuccessful KG was. Has any player been more hyped for doing less in a career than Garnett?
5 months ago
The Mavs have been very successful over the the years. The only team more successful than the Mavs over the past few years is the Spurs. It's funny that people say you can't win without defense, but then say Dirk is a bad defender, yet his team is successful every year and has been the second most successful team over the last several years. Even beating the Spurs, which guys like Kobe, Amare, Brand and KG couldn't do.
5 months ago
If you say Dirk isn't a defender, you are merely sticking to his stereotype and clearly haven't seen him play much. He is an average defender at worst now.
25 days ago
Very good article!! Dirk is unfairly targeted......because he lost in the NBA Finals to the Heat (well at least he got there) and for losing in the first round after a 67-15 season (at least he won 67 games)
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