Believe it or not, Dirk Nowitzki plays good D

[ILLsmak]

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/maver...k-plays-good-d

Good article by MacMahon.

People like to quickly assume Dirk is a terrible defender, but it should be clear as day to people that watch him, that he is actually decent on that end, and not the liability people make him out to be.

For someone who has his athletic limitations, he holds his own pretty nicely.

Too bad your name is DIRKNOWITZKI41. Might have a valid point otherwise.

-Smak

[HomieWeMajor]

Too bad your name is DIRKNOWITZKI41. Might have a valid point otherwise.

-Smak

Lol

-HomieWeMajor

[DMAVS41]

nah....and I haven't forgotten the thread about Dirk and alltime pfs either



who would you say is an AVERAGE defender at the pf position since you say that Dirk is above average?

Dirk's "numbers" defensively coincide with defensive rule changes (zone)


Why is Dirk mentioning "upper body strength and blocking shots" when the talk is of defending 4s and 5s where lower body strength, footwork, length comes into play more?

Why are similarly built players better defenders than Dirk....like super athlete muscleman high jumper Kevin Mchale?

Nah...they coincide with his team actually trying to play defense after Nellie ball early on in his career. You can't only look at one part of a players' career.

Dirk was a subpar defender from his rookie year through at least the 02 season...probably 03. He then started to focus more on defense...really starting when Avery took over.

I really don't care what you call him. Average, above average, good, alright...okay. Doesn't matter.

The point is that the narrative on Dirk playing bad defense is false. That's all. If anyone watched him night in night out...you'd know that from about 05 on. He's great at stripping driving players and bigs around the basket, he's been an excellent defensive rebounder most of his career, he almost never makes defensive errors...and his man to man defense in the post is quite good actually. Like I said above...what really hurts Dirk on defense is weak side help (not quick enough to get to the right spot often), hedging and recovering on pick and rolls, and of course rim protection. But it's not like Dirk is a center either though. Just because he's tall doesn't mean he has to play a certain way. He's a sf/pf in style...not a center. Just because guys like Duncan and KG protect the rim...doesn't mean you have to do that...Malone didn't. Barkley didn't. McHale really didn't either for much of his career.

Look...it's the same thing about everyone saying Dirk was a choker and could never win. He then proves everyone wrong...and wins with weak help historically as huge underdogs. Does the narrative change with stubborn people? Of course not...the narrative just evolved into the "help argument" of Kidd, Chandler, Terry...etc. Which is laughable considering what other players have needed to win. It's a similar thing to when Kobe won without Shaq...except at least then Kobe actually did have a stacked team with a consistently great 2nd option and the GOAT coach etc.

Shit...just look at what Lebron has needed to win...LOL.

It's all the same shit. You brought up the best pf's ever thread. You may not like it, but after Duncan...and maybe Pettit if you go by resume...Dirk has a case then as the 2nd or 3rd best pf ever. It's a debate between the likes of Pettit, Malone, Barkley, KG, Dirk...and I guess you could throw in McHale...but I wouldn't. The only way you get Dirk not being on that tier is by being horribly biased.

Look what he's doing this year so far for example...just 21/6/3 on 60% TS and is leading his team along with Ellis to a playoff berth at this point. All while probably playing the best defense on our team outside of Marion to date.

[Pointguard]

Not fulltime, no. During the series, the broadcast showed a stat sheet comparing LMA's shot chart when Dirk defended him 1on1 versus when Chandler defended him 1on1. With Dirk on him, LMA shot significantly worse, and that's something you could notice when watching the actual games, too. Naturally, Chandler was the defensive anchor of the Mavs team, however, his big strength was his team defense/rotations. His post defense was inferior to Haywood's, and, at times (those when Dirk chose to/was put on the opponent's better big man), worse than Dirk's.

Good stuff.

While Tyson earned his DPOY award the next year he had two problems: Mobile centers and real huge centers (Baragani and Hibbert). LMA compromised Tyson's duties under the rim and gets around with the rock as mobile as any PF. It defeats Tyson's strong suite to put him on a mobile PF. You can't really think about defending the paint and guard LMA.

I will say I thought Dirk's defense, in the games I saw in that run, was above average.