So it’s a little belated, but it’s only fair that our most recent inductee into the NBAMate Wall of Fame has a proper welcoming ceremony.
It was on May 25 2011 when I made the above Tweet, just after the Mavs had pulled off a 112-105 OT win against Oklahoma in the Western Conference Finals. Dirk has just completed arguably his best game of his entire 2011 playoff campaign – 40 points including 12 during a 17-2 run late in the fourth quarter to dig the Mavs out of a 15 point hole. It was insane, it was historic, and probably marked the peak of Dirk-o-mania during the 2011 playoffs. There was no way on earth I thought Dirk could keep playing like this, but I knew one thing for sure – if he did, he’s earned a spot in our Wall of Fame. Without question.
So looking at him right now in the WoF, smiling proudly wearing his Championship cap, sandwiched between two Aussie legends in Bogut and Steve Carfino, it seems like the appropriate time to reminisce a little and savour the memories Dirk gave us during that incredible post-season run.
You might not remember, but before the 2011 Playoffs started the Mavs were given virtually no chance of hoisting the trophy in June. In fact, most “experts” didn’t give them a hope in hell of beating the Blazers in the first round – and everyone in NBAMate’s pre-season poll picked the Blazers. That just seems so silly now, but at the time it was a more than justifiable position. The Mavs finished the season in unconvincing fashion, giving up the 2nd seed to the Lakers after going 4-4 in their last 8 games. The Blazers on the other hand were storming home, having beaten the Spurs (twice), Thunder, Mavs, Lakers and Grizzlies over their last 11 games. They had split the season series 2-2 with the Mavs, and an upset seemed on the cards. There were just too many people questioning the Mavs mettle and resolve after so many playoff disappointments the last few years. Rightly so.
But no one expected Dirk to do what he then did. That being, one of the greatest post-season runs I’ve seen in my life. Against the Blazers he was sublime, against the Lakers and Thunder he was simply off-the-charts, and against the Heat in the Finals he was again brilliant, though admittedly couldn’t continue the blinding form he maintained through the previous two rounds. Game 6 of the Finals turned out to be a mini debacle for Dirk (9-27 from the field and 1-7 from downtown), but we shouldn’t let that take the shine off what was an astounding run, and he was a deserved Finals MVP in the end.
I already said everything I wanted to say about Dirk (and Lebron) in this post after Game 6, so I won’t repeat it all here. Six months later, what strikes me as most interesting is the lack of reverence he and the Mavs seem to have earned. I don’t think they are directly “disrespected”, to quote Shawn Marion. But I do find it odd how short our memories have become, how quickly we forgot about Dirk’s heroics, and how easily we have dismissed the Mavs again this season. I put this down to a few things… chiefly the lockout, partly because the Mavs lost their defensive anchor (Chandler), and partly because Dirk and Co. just aren’t as sexy a story as Lebron and the Heat, Kobe and the Lakers, Paul and the Clippers, etc.
And you know what? That pretty much sums up everything you need to know about the 2011 season for Dirk Nowitzki. “Low key”. Dirk waltzed through a 57-win regular season and then turned in a historic playoffs with about as little flair and fanfare as you can possibly imagine. He never imposed himself to satisfy his own ego. There wasn’t a single Jordan-esqe moment or game that will be replayed on ESPN Classic for the next 20 years. But stroll through the history books and trust me, you will find his 2011 postseason littered with incredible games and stunning moments. And you will then ask yourself, how did I forget about all this?
One more thing. I’m really curious to see how Dirk backs up the title this season, and how the Mavs will fare come April and May. Winning the 2011 Championship tore a King Kong-sized monkey off Dirk’s back that he was carrying for five years. With that huge weight off his shoulders, with his legacy now firmly intact as one of the greatest ever, and with those haunting playoff memories behind him and made irrelevant… how will Dirk Nowitzki respond? How hungry is he to do it all again? That to me is always the mark of the true greats. How they back it up.
Oh and if you’re wondering who Dirk replaced in the WoF? Normally we’d put it to the wider community to vote, but facing off against Wade in the Finals made it just too perfect. No hard feelings Dwyane.
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Last bit of news for the Wall of Fame. We know you gents have enjoyed staring at Megan Fox the last few years, but it’s time for a change in our token female spot. The candidates? You’ll just have to stay tuned for a series of posts coming your way from JT. And trust me, you won’t want to miss it.
Just enjoy Miss Fox while you can.
Tags: Dirk Nowitzki, Megan Fox, Wall of Fame
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6 Comments until now.
i know this might be an unpopular view, but is it possible Dirk’s playoff and finals performances were overrated?
the lakers bombed and barely put up a fight. kobe was injured and they were nowhere near full strength. the Thunder were still too raw and Westbrook self imploded a few times making it easy for the Mavs to capitalise in crunch time. And in the Finals Lebron was pathetic, and not because of anything Dirk did. Jason Terry closed the last few games any way and Dirk bombed in Game 6.
Dirk was great don’t get me wrong, but he wasn’t as amazing as most people made him out to be. He was never a defensive force, which to me puts him below anything Duncan or KG or Kobe did in the playoffs over the years.
Thoughts??
No.
Bringing up KG and Kobe doesn’t really help your case as KG only made the NBA Finals once he was surrounded by two other all-stars (Dirk made the finals with zero all-star teammates) and Kobe as a “defensive force” is very, very overrated. And more than half of his rings came as the result of playing with the eventual NBA Finals MVP, Shaq.
Also, you forget how happy Laker fans were before the start of the Mavs-Lakers series last season. The Mavs were underdogs in that series and it’s revisionist history that the Lakers were banged up and under-strength. My Laker fan friends were predicting a sweep before that series started, but not in the way it turned out.
You’re really picking nits here. You could make a case that everyone’s run to the Finals is overrated (most teams will play a team that’s young, a team that shoots itself in the foot, etc, while on their championship run) when you look at it under a microscope.
Interesting point. I don’t think Dirk was “overrated”, and Leon is right – no one gave the Mavs a chance before it all started.
Having said that, I think those low expectations are what made Dirk’s run so startling, and in that sense he may have been a tad overrated. When Kobe or Duncan came into the playoffs everyone expected great things of them. Winning a title was the only measure of their success (and KG also in ’08) – it was expected.
Whereas for Dirk, we had pretty low expectations and certainly didn’t hold him to those standards. If he had lost in the first round no one would have been surprised.
So if you think he was overrated after his playoff run, it’s probably because everyone was legitimately stunned he became a champion after letting us down so badly in ’06, ’07, ’08 and ’10.
Was he any better than Duncan or KG or Kobe? Tough question. But my gut feel is no, he wasn’t. People point to the “no All-Star teammate” thing, but he was playing with the second best defensive big man in the league, a Top 5 point guard of all time (albiet an older version), plus he had a very clutch teammate in Jet who could make up for his shortcomings down the stretch (though Dirk didn’t have many last playoffs). So it wasn’t as bad as most people think.
Leon, my point on KG is that he was a beast on both ends whereas Dirk is really only “great” on one end. So thats a little asterix for me. He didn’t dominate both ends, score, and shut down opposition players.
As for Kobe, you’re a bit harsh. He was an elite defensive wing when he won his first three titles while still putting up 25+ppg. who else has done that? and the fact you have to use the phrase “more than half his rings” is almost comical. Kobe had series just as impressive as any of Dirk’s series last playoffs, but because its Kobe we don’t fuss too much.
Rob, interesting point on Dirk’s expectations. The main reason why I think his efforts were overrated was because we couldn’t believe DIRK did it… key word being DIRK. So we talked up his postseason as being one of the best ever because it was against the odds, against Lebron and Wade, and against his previous choke jobs. but by statistical measures it wasn’t even amongst his top 3 postseasons!
genuinely enjoying this discussion
“i know this might be an unpopular view..”
Yes, very unpopular
My 2 cents: Dirk was universally loved during his playoff run and after winning the title. Especially as Miami were the villains. There was not one bit of anti-Dirk sentiment like there has been for Kobe or KG or Lebron. So it was a very one-sided Dirk love-fest because everyone was so happy to see him do it. No one hesitated in showering on the praise.
Dirk more than makes up for his defensive shortcomings (which I think are overrated to be honest, he more than holds his own defensively) with his all-world elite offence. I’d also argue that KG isn’t a beast on the offensive end – he’s not a scrub obviously, but he’s not creating a shot for anyone, drawing a double team, he has no “go to” move, etc. His offence is comparible to Dirk’s D and his D is comparible to Dirk’s O.
What do you mean, if it’s Kobe we don’t fuss too much? He won two Finals MVPs. That’s the definition of fussing. As much as I can’t stand Kobe I recognize his greatness. You’re trying to bring Dirk down by saying he didn’t do what Kobe did and that Kobe has the burden of expectations and Dirk didn’t. (Also: Kobe was hardly a defensive stopper their two Shaq-less titles, and in 2004 he was almost invisible on that end of the court. I could bash Kobe all day though so let me get back to Dirk.)
The main thing that people will look to in terms of Dirk’s run being overrated was how LeBron’s mental midget status contributed to the Heat losing/Dallas winning. Yeah that contributed to the result, but the fact is Dirk came through in every crucial moment of the post-season for the Mavs – from the first round to the Finals – and he did it with less margin of error than any superstar in recent memory (in terms of having a beastly second banana to lean on when things weren’t happening for him – see Shaq with Kobe, Kobe with Gasol, Jordan with Pippen, etc.)
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