Top 10 Power Forwards In NBA History as of 2011, Fox Sports

[rmt]

And imo, 2009 Dirk > 2011 Dirk, since he was CLEARLY more athletic back then. That was the year he was called out for his "lack of leadership" by ... *drumroll* Chris f*cking Webber. Hilarious, really. Especially considering Dirk's off-court problems back then and his total annihilation of the Nuggets.

Dirk was great last year, but I don't think that he was at his best. I've probably seen close to 95% of Dirk's career....I thought he was better in 06 and 09. Probably about as good in 10 as well.

There are certain things in Dirk's game that are better now...and things that are worse. Dirk has pretty much been the same player since 06 though. Its amazing what finally putting a quality center that fits well next to Dirk did.

You give 06 Dirk Tyson Chandler in the middle which allows him to focus more on offense and less on defense/rebounding...you'd get even better results.

I think that it's a natural progression of most players. You start off with the physical being strong and the mental/intangibles being weak and then go in opposite directions. He was more athletic/able to play longer minutes then. Now the intangibles like leadership, not getting discouraged/pushing through, smarter/better shot selection (seems like his percentage is on an upward trend) are better.

It's strange how perception is. Previous to this year's championship, a lot of people would call Dirk a "choker" and after this playoff, he's "clutch." Winning is the great eraser. Lucky for Dirk that Cuban's willing to spend whatever it takes. 87 million in payroll - no wonder Barkley and others are calling for parity. It took them a while to find the right fit in Chandler after Bradley, Damp, Diop.

[DMAVS41]

I think that it's a natural progression of most players. You start off with the physical being strong and the mental/intangibles being weak and then go in opposite directions. He was more athletic/able to play longer minutes then. Now the intangibles like leadership, not getting discouraged/pushing through, smarter/better shot selection (seems like his percentage is on an upward trend) are better.

It's strange how perception is. Previous to this year's championship, a lot of people would call Dirk a "choker" and after this playoff, he's "clutch." Winning is the great eraser. Lucky for Dirk that Cuban's willing to spend whatever it takes. 87 million in payroll - no wonder Barkley and others are calling for parity. It took them a while to find the right fit in Chandler after Bradley, Damp, Diop.

Just took getting in a quality and legit player at center.

Sure, Dirk does some things better now than he did in 06. Just like he did some things better in 06 than he does now. But if you really go back to 06, Dirk was amazing throughout the playoffs...especially in the Spurs series. He did everything.

In the finals, he struggled a bit, but that was just more basketball. He didn't have as good of a team or coach....and he was unfortunate to have to go up against Wade with those joke perimeter rules. In that series, especially games 5 and 6...Dirk was big time. He made so many clutch plays in game 5...including what could have been a game winner with 9 seconds left over Shaq...only to be answered by Wade's free throws. Its interesting how fragile that stuff can be. Put a player as good as Tyson Chandler next to Dirk in 06 and give him a quality coach like Rick Carlisle and I have no doubts the Mavs win the title.

These players don't play in a vacuum. Everything on the court impacts how they excel. Dirk went from pretty much having to do everything...to being able to focus more on scoring/offense. Give that luxury to 06 to 10 Dirk and I think you see similar or better results in terms of individual play.

I think trying to come up with intangible reasons for the Mavs winning this year complicates a simple issues. They had better coaching, better perimeter defense, and better interior defense....and Dirk had some teammates finally consistently step up when he needed them. Simple as that. Give the younger versions of Dirk all that same stuff and he's simply having more success.

That is why winning the title (especially as an underdog) is so hard. So much has to go your way and you need a little luck as well. I take issue with people that want to pretend like Dirk was holding the Mavs back each year. That is simply non sense in my opinion.

[rmt]

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Just took getting in a quality and legit player at center.

Sure, Dirk does some things better now than he did in 06. Just like he did some things better in 06 than he does now. But if you really go back to 06, Dirk was amazing throughout the playoffs...especially in the Spurs series. He did everything.

In the finals, he struggled a bit, but that was just more basketball. He didn't have as good of a team or coach....and he was unfortunate to have to go up against Wade with those joke perimeter rules. In that series, especially games 5 and 6...Dirk was big time. He made so many clutch plays in game 5...including what could have been a game winner with 9 seconds left over Shaq...only to be answered by Wade's free throws. Its interesting how fragile that stuff can be. Put a player as good as Tyson Chandler next to Dirk in 06 and give him a quality coach like Rick Carlisle and I have no doubts the Mavs win the title.

These players don't play in a vacuum. Everything on the court impacts how they excel. Dirk went from pretty much having to do everything...to being able to focus more on scoring/offense. Give that luxury to 06 to 10 Dirk and I think you see similar or better results in terms of individual play.

I think trying to come up with intangible reasons for the Mavs winning this year complicates a simple issues. They had better coaching, better perimeter defense, and better interior defense....and Dirk had some teammates finally consistently step up when he needed them. Simple as that. Give the younger versions of Dirk all that same stuff and he's simply having more success.

That is why winning the title (especially as an underdog) is so hard. So much has to go your way and you need a little luck as well. I take issue with people that want to pretend like Dirk was holding the Mavs back each year. That is simply non sense in my opinion.

I don't think it was just a matter of getting a Chandler back then. Damp/Diop were probably a better fit against Gasol/Duncan/Shaq (post offense). Shaq probably would have been licking his chops against Chandler. The Mavs this year didn't really play against elite post offense (Gasol played extremely poorly/below his standard).

As you say, it's hard to win - everything has to fall in place. The Mavs were extremely deep this year to survive injuries to Butler and eventually, Haywood. I thought that the role players stepped up especially Barea/Peja vs LA and Kidd/Marion/Chandler played great throughout.

But as much as the Mavs were an underdog this year, they were favored vs Heat in 06. They really should have won, but the refs gave them the shaft. As a Spurs fan, I saw it somewhat as payback for the DAL/SA series (as the games were soooooo close) but really it was Manu's stupid foul with 22 seconds left.

[DMAVS41]

I don't think it was just a matter of getting a Chandler back then. Damp/Diop were probably a better fit against Gasol/Duncan/Shaq (post offense). Shaq probably would have been licking his chops against Chandler. The Mavs this year didn't really play against elite post offense (Gasol played extremely poorly/below his standard).

As you say, it's hard to win - everything has to fall in place. The Mavs were extremely deep this year to survive injuries to Butler and eventually, Haywood. I thought that the role players stepped up especially Barea/Peja vs LA and Kidd/Marion/Chandler played great throughout.

But as much as the Mavs were an underdog this year, they were favored vs Heat in 06. They really should have won, but the refs gave them the shaft. As a Spurs fan, I saw it somewhat as payback for the DAL/SA series (as the games were soooooo close) but really it was Manu's stupid foul with 22 seconds left.

I agree with most of this. Although Chandler roaming the paint and playing help side defense might have been enough slow down Wade just enough for the Mavs to win.

I don't really blame the refs for 06...I blame Dirk and the Mavs a little...Avery a lot...and the stupid rules a lot. There was literally just no way to stop a player like Wade if he just continued to attack. Give Wade credit for doing it though....not easy to constantly and consistently attack a defense the way he did.

My point was that Dirk's team this year was easily the best team he's ever had. And Carlisle is a huge improvement over Avery as well. I can't change my tune on what it takes to win just because my favorite player won a title.

I think Dirk deserves a ton of credit, but nothing he did really changed. His supporting cast got better and Dirk had the great fortune of guys like Terry, Kidd, Marion, and Barea stepping up when it matters most.