The horrible lie and myth surrounding Dirk's defense...

[stalkerforlife]

The Mavs are a much better defensive team with Nowitzki in the lineup. His defensive rating (points per 100 possessions) of 101.8 this season is the second lowest on the roster among players who average at least 15 minutes per game, well below the Mavs

[stalkerforlife]

The numbers actually indicate that Nowitzki has been a very good individual defender this season.

According to Synergy Sports, Nowitzki has allowed 0.81 points per possession when his man attempts to score, ranking 92nd in the NBA in that category. Opponents are shooting only 38 percent against him. And those numbers dipped significantly after a rough outing in Saturday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns on the tail end of a back-to-back.

Synergy’s analytics ranks Nowitzki as the NBA’s sixth most successful defender on post-ups (0.53 points per possession, 33.3 field goal percentage) and four most successful isolation defender (0.44, 20.8). Granted, Nowitzki usually defends the lesser scoring threat of the opponent’s center and power forward, but those numbers are still impressive nonetheless.

“I like to think that I can hold my ground a little better now than when I first got in the league,” Nowitzki said. “When I first got in the league, I wasn’t strong enough in my upper body to hold my ground. But I feel like I can hold my ground better and stand in there and obviously use my length. I don’t need to jump for shots. I’m not going to block a lot of shots on the ball anyway, so I try to use my length. Sometimes if they present the ball to me, I try to swipe it and get some deflections.

“It is what it is.”

[Im so nba'd out]

[QUOTE=stalkerforlife]The numbers actually indicate that Nowitzki has been a very good individual defender this season.

According to Synergy Sports, Nowitzki has allowed 0.81 points per possession when his man attempts to score, ranking 92nd in the NBA in that category. Opponents are shooting only 38 percent against him. And those numbers dipped significantly after a rough outing in Saturday

[BoutPractice]

He hasn't been a "bad" defender for ages.

[pastis]

just wait for profmurder, pointguard, markmadsen, navy and dresta to get in here and start hating.

[OncePerMonth]

Dirk's D is underrated. I think it is common to assume jump shooting bigs are soft and terrible defenders (at least if their blocked shots aren't eye catching). Dirk is average to above average, when people seem to assume he is below average.

[kentatm]

He doesn't get a lot of blocks b/c he has become so good at dislodging/swiping the ball from away his man as they go up.

If those swipes and pokes were kept as a stat like blocks I think a lot of people would have a different opinion of Dirk's D.

[DMAVS41]

Lets not paint Dirk like a great defender though. He's never been that and never will be.

His inability to guard the pick and roll and recover to protect the rim is a real weakness that needs to be mentioned.

Looking at isolation defense is fine, but it's also far from the most important aspect of defense at the 4 and 5.

I totally agree that Dirk has actually been an above average defender really ever since like 01 and 02, but I also think we have to make sure we don't go too far the other way.

Also, Dirk is not really capable of playing center for long stretches...not that he should, but always needing a center to play next to him is something that impacts team building and reduces lineup flexibility.

But...Dirk knows where to go, was an excellent defensive rebounder most of his career, has good length, can guard the post very well (this is where he's absurdly under-rated), has mastered stripping driving guards, and actually is willing to take hard fouls.

And he's done all that hardly playing on defensive minded teams well suited around him (outside some Avery years and 2011)...

[navy]

Let me ask you this.

How many times last year or previously was Dirk asked to guard another player for defensive purposes?

[DMAVS41]

He doesn't get a lot of blocks b/c he has become so good at dislodging/swiping the ball from away his man as they go up.

If those swipes and pokes were kept as a stat like blocks I think a lot of people would have a different opinion of Dirk's D.

So true.

I bet he gets around 1.5 of those a game...and they serve the exact same purpose as blocks. He also knocks the ball of the opponents knee a decent number of times as well.

I said it in my post...he really has become a master at the clean strip.

[D-Rose]

OP sure is obsessed with Dirk the past couple days.

True Dirk and Mavericks fans don't give a shit about this rankings or validation crap. He's had an incredible career, just bloody appreciate the last few years of it. One of the greatest Metroplex figures of all time.

[JellyBean]

This is clearly a case of when stats are misleading. Dirk and defense..... Dirk can't play defense. Never had and never will.

[dubeta]

Just ask yourself, was Dirk a better defender than prime kobe??

If yes, then he was an above average defender

If no, then he was a below average defender

[Straight_Ballin]

Dirk > KG

Deal with it

[SCdac]

He's slow, not in his physical prime any more, not a shot blocker, and usually gets hidden on the weakest big man. Dallas' defense has been crap at various times and also the last two years, Dirk is a part of the weak defense.

Having said that, I think every player can be overrated or underrated by the right/wrong person.. happens to Dirk and his defense... but lets' be real, no player or team is scared of Dirk's defense... His redeeming qualities are that he's 7 foot tall and he's a smart player (on both offense and defense)

Either way, If I'm a coach nowadays, I'd say "go at him" kinda like in this youtube clip. Get him in foul trouble, tire him out, push him around, etc. More he works on defense less energy he has on the other end. Make him and teammates have to rotate and switch defenders. Defense isn't his or the Mavs forte... so exploit it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nTW1il3Big