PTI: Kornheiser said Dirk had a top 3-4 playoff run of all-time in all of sports

[guy]

I've disagreed with everyone that has said Dirk has been overrated as a result of his playoff run. But thats a little insane.

[Theoo's Daddy]

jordan's first 3 peat are all in the top 3.. So where does this leave dirk ? We haven't counted shaq yet. he needs to lay off the crack pipe.

[AlphaWolf24]

jordan's first 3 peat are in the top 3.. So where does this leave dirk ?


Jordan getting past Ewing and bunch of CBA players only to face a Hurt Laker team/Drexler and Keving Duckworth:lol /Charles barkley and cokehead Richard Dumas is nowhere near...well I will say MJ's 91 run is close...but

Dirk getting past OKC , LA, and then a Heat team with WADE , LJ , and Bosh is a better acomplishment then every Post season run MJ had outside of maybe 91'




why do Jordan stans riun every thread...MJ was great but come on....be real.

[Kblaze8855]

Hakeem and Duncan alone probably knock Dirk out of the top 3 playoff runs in texas NBA history. Forget about it if you include all sports.

[Droid101]

PTI: Kornheiser is a dumb idiot.

[Sarcastic]

Isiah beat Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson in his first title run. That is definitely up there for best of all time.

[Fatal9]

Isiah beat Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson in his first title run. That is definitely up there for best of all time.
Not sure if serious.

[SCdac]

Nobody would say his playoff run wasn't great, it was def one of the better ones of the past 10 or so years... but to call it a top 3 run ever... you'd pretty much have to wildly underrate his supporting cast and wildly overrate his competition to do that. Many of the players that made his competition what it was (Kobe, Durant, Lebron, etcP), were being guarded by Marion, Kidd, Stevenson, etc, so got to give them credit as well in that playoff run.
*In b4 DMavs turns this into a 10 page thread

[AngelEyes]

Isiah beat Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson in his first title run. That is definitely up there for best of all time.

Isiah Thomas beat Larry Bird? Larry Bird played 6 games that entire year and missed the entire playoffs, so how did he beat Larry Bird. Isiah Thomas is a great player but he didn't have the responsibility of those other players and just plain isn't on their level. The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston celtics, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, not Isiah Thomas. Thomas, frankly wasn't that extraordinary in the 89 playoffs.

[Rekindled]

Isiah beat Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson in his first title run. That is definitely up there for best of all time.

:hammerhead: :hammerhead: :hammerhead:

fail

[Carbine]

Fact - he did go through much, much tougher competition than Duncan did in '03, and was on the same level as Hakeem.

Fact - Over half the people in the world thought the Mavs were going out in the 1st round, so they had almost zero expectations of winning...yet they still won.

Fact - Dirk outplayed all of his contemporaries in each round of the playoffs, some of which include a top 10 player of all time currently, two other top 15 all time guys playing in their prime on the same team...and Durant, who some believe will be a top 15 player of all time when it's all said and done.

Fact - No All-NBA'ers on Dirks team



Look, you can slice it however which way you want to, you can point out Dirk not being a dominating force on defense....but the fact remains that he went through as tough of opposition as any superstar has ever went through in the playoffs in the modern era.....and he did it with a team of which half the experts thought were 1st round exits.

What Dirk helped his team accomplish was amazing. His name deserves to be in any conversation with best playoff runs.

[Kblaze8855]

I have to ask why I keep hearing about how the Mavs were supposed to lose in round one.

Where does that come from? I dont remember it even really being discussed. Was that a series of great interest to people or something?

One of the 4 series a year people say ESPN experts got wrong?

What?

What were the reasons to believe the Mavs were losing in the first round this year?

[Boston C's]

Jordan getting past Ewing and bunch of CBA players only to face a Hurt Laker team/Drexler and Keving Duckworth:lol /Charles barkley and cokehead Richard Dumas is nowhere near...well I will say MJ's 91 run is close...but

Dirk getting past OKC , LA, and then a Heat team with WADE , LJ , and Bosh is a better acomplishment then every Post season run MJ had outside of maybe 91'




why do Jordan stans riun every thread...MJ was great but come on....be real.

your ignorance is unbelievable... your such a jordan hater its not even funny...
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html

you could argue damn near everyone of his playoff runs were better then dirks... not saying they all are but you saying just one is really shows how much of a hater you are

[Arroyo8]

idk about that

[SCdac]

some other facts:

- Brandon Roy was a shell of himself in the playoffs, and averaged a sad 23 minutes a game in the PO's ... Portland was basically a one man team, surrounded by good role players.

- Lakers and Mavs had the exact same record going into the PO's, and Mavs had a better record than the Thunder despite losing Dirk for 9 games...

- Gasol averaged a whopping 13.5 ppg (.42 FG%) and 6.8 rpg going into the LA/DAL series and looked way out of it in both series.

- Dirk's team beat teams with big men consisting of Bosh, Gasol (30), Ibaka, and Aldridge... not exactly prime Shaq, Duncan, Ewing, Robinson, Garnett, etc.

- Thunder were a good team, enough to make the PO's, but they're also lead by two 22 year olds, and basically no one on the team has veteran experience (Perkins was coming off serious injury, wasn't even averaging close to 1 bpg or .50 FG% going into the WCF)

- expectations and predictions of a team don't equal how good a team is. how good the team turns out to be equals how good the team is.

- Lebron had one of the biggest disappearing acts of the last 10 years, and alot of credit should go to the Mavs perimeter D, sometimes it seemed liked Marion was in his head... who knows.

- Mavericks had a good 8-9 guys with playoff experience... and in the playoffs, Kidd lead the Mavs in Assists/Steals/Threes, Chandler lead in Blocks/Rebounding... had alot of help in all areas - Dirk had a lesser PER and Win Share than both Duncan (03) and Hakeem (94)

[rmt]

Ridiculous - not even top 3 in NBA much less all sports.

[Micku]

Was it better than Wade's 06 run I wonder?

But I think Jordan, Hakeem, Magic, and Bird had better playoff runs. Dirk's run is great, but I think those guys had a better run in the playoffs. And all of them had multiple good runs when they won championship.

Not to mention all of sports. They are a lot of great runs and more legendary.

[Go Getter]

Jordan getting past Ewing and bunch of CBA players only to face a Hurt Laker team/Drexler and Keving Duckworth:lol /Charles barkley and cokehead Richard Dumas is nowhere near...well I will say MJ's 91 run is close...but

Dirk getting past OKC , LA, and then a Heat team with WADE , LJ , and Bosh is a better acomplishment then every Post season run MJ had outside of maybe 91'




why do Jordan stans riun every thread...MJ was great but come on....be real.
The Heat were not and are not a TEAM.

The Mavs got lucky that everyone was off their game or old...basically they just hung around long enough for the Lakers and Spurs to get old.

[Go Getter]

some other facts:



- Mavericks had a good 8-9 guys with playoff experience... and in the playoffs, Kidd lead the Mavs in Assists/Steals/Threes, Chandler lead in Blocks/Rebounding... had alot of help in all areas - Dirk had a lesser PER and Win Share than both Duncan (03) and Hakeem (94)


Dirk fans seem to forget this.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

I have to ask why I keep hearing about how the Mavs were supposed to lose in round one.

Where does that come from? I dont remember it even really being discussed. Was that a series of great interest to people or something?

One of the 4 series a year people say ESPN experts got wrong?

What?

What were the reasons to believe the Mavs were losing in the first round this year?

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2011/matchup/_/teams/trailblazers-mavericks

6 out of the 12 ESPN analysts thought Portland would win the series.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-8298937

And out of the 6 Yahoo Sports journalists... 5 picked the Blazers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-nba_playoff_predictions_2011_041511

Out of 4 Sports Illustrated analysts, half picked the Blazers to win.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/nba/04/13/experts.picks.playoffs/index.html


Blaze, you must be trolling if you didn't realize that most analysts predicted the Mavs to lose in the first round.

[Kblaze8855]

No. I just didnt think we took such things serious. Every year we see screenshots of whaever experts picked something wrong. Lakers over celtics or cavs over celtics. Cavs over magic. Celtics over magic. Pistons to lose to the lakers. Mavs over warriors the experts picked wrong. Whatever it is. Ive heard many times that everyone thought they would lose and had yet to see the customary gifs and screenshots.

Personally i never heard anyone make predictions on the series. And i keep seeing people on here act like it was an upset them against the world thing.

Si and espn being split and yahoo going blazers? Eh. Not note worthy no matter who wins.

Mavs lakers is more of a "they said we couldnt do it" situation

[Miller for 3]

Dirk fans seem to forget this.

Dirk haters seem to forget the Mavs are awful when he's not on the floor

[kentatm]

I have to ask why I keep hearing about how the Mavs were supposed to lose in round one.

Where does that come from? I dont remember it even really being discussed. Was that a series of great interest to people or something?

One of the 4 series a year people say ESPN experts got wrong?

What?

What were the reasons to believe the Mavs were losing in the first round this year?

Do you live under a rock?

Damn near everyone had the Mavs going out in the first round. They had played like shit for most of the second half of the year. They were missing their second best player in Caron Butler. Media experts and players players alike were saying they were going to fall apart. The Dallas media was picking against them and was calling for the team to be blown up in the summer. Hell, even George Karl openly said he wanted the Mavs in the first round.

[Kblaze8855]

Do I live under a rock?

This isnt that major a story. You act like it was on the forefront of the minds of the basketball world or something. Its like a...what...3-6 matchup? 2-7?

And dallas was the...5th or 6th biggest story going into the playoffs?

This wasnt a heavily discussed issue far as I can tell. I cant even find a prediction topic on it. I wanted to see if I had made one either way.

Someone may have said they would lose but its not like the world was waiting to see the likely upset like in 07.

[Dizzle-2k7]

maybe Dirk doesnt have the numbers or didnt play the best teams (though im sure he did)...

but as far as THEATRICS, he put on a mythical performance throughout the playoffs. i remember being at the bar throed as *** getting crunk on Dirk and his ridiculousness. one of the greatest things ive witnessed in sports, alongside greats like tom brady, michael jordan, etc

::bowdown::

[Haymaker]

His performance was very very impressive. I don't care about rating it in terms of top 5 or whatever. What Dirk did will be remembered for a long time.

[TMacsOneGoodEye]

It was pretty amazing considering the competition he went up against with the team he went to war with.

Portland was an up and coming team, hungry for an upset, and they thought they could get it over Dallas. They didn't. Then Dallas beat the Lakers on course for a 3 peat. They swept them in brutal fashion; straight left them looking simple. Then they went to play OKC who had a lot to prove and is a definite team of the future and Dirk had one of the most epic games ever in that series. Then came Miami. We all know about that. Miami the anointed best team ever before they had been crowned and Dirk went and did work.

Dirks performance in the 2011 playoffs is up there for sure. Where it is is subjective, but it's up there, no doubt.

[Yung D-Will]

I have to ask why I keep hearing about how the Mavs were supposed to lose in round one.

Where does that come from? I dont remember it even really being discussed. Was that a series of great interest to people or something?

One of the 4 series a year people say ESPN experts got wrong?

What?

What were the reasons to believe the Mavs were losing in the first round this year?

I remember everyone was predicting Portland would beat Dallas

[dirkdiggler41]

Do I live under a rock?

This isnt that major a story. You act like it was on the forefront of the minds of the basketball world or something. Its like a...what...3-6 matchup? 2-7?

And dallas was the...5th or 6th biggest story going into the playoffs?

This wasnt a heavily discussed issue far as I can tell. I cant even find a prediction topic on it. I wanted to see if I had made one either way.

Someone may have said they would lose but its not like the world was waiting to see the likely upset like in 07.

[quote]Most NBA analysts, and fans around the country, see the Mavs as being the higher seeded team most likely to fall in the first round. It sure wouldn

[greensborohill]

People still mad. . . .
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a76/crazygravy/black3d190.jpg

Get over it!!!

[greensborohill]

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff515/CT625/NBA/Dirk-Heat.png

This is what the Heat should done. ..

[DMAVS41]

definitely not top 3-4 in sports....definitely not top 3 all time in nba.

though it depends on how you define "playoff run"....is it factoring things in like upsets and unlikely performances?

i think we can all agree that duncan was a better player than dirk was for his legendary run in 03. but which run was better is a different discussion in the eyes of someone like kornheiser.

regardless of where it ranks, dirk's playoff run and the mavs title is legendary and an extremely rare happening in the nba. winning 2 series without home court as huge underdogs playing better teams is remarkable enough. but getting through both the blazers and thunder is hugely impressive as well.

as is the the players the mavs/dirk went through. kobe/gasol, durant/westbrook, lebron/wade....amazing. one of the toughest roads to the title i can remember. no easy series. playing some of the best players in the league on some of the best teams all the way through.

and the mavs did it with only one all nba player. again, an extremely rare happening in the nba.

[guy]

definitely not top 3-4 in sports....definitely not top 3 all time in nba.

though it depends on how you define "playoff run"....is it factoring things in like upsets and unlikely performances?

i think we can all agree that duncan was a better player than dirk was for his legendary run in 03. but which run was better is a different discussion in the eyes of someone like kornheiser.

regardless of where it ranks, dirk's playoff run and the mavs title is legendary and an extremely rare happening in the nba. winning 2 series without home court as huge underdogs playing better teams is remarkable enough. but getting through both the blazers and thunder is hugely impressive as well.

as is the the players the mavs/dirk went through. kobe/gasol, durant/westbrook, lebron/wade....amazing. one of the toughest roads to the title i can remember. no easy series. playing some of the best players in the league on some of the best teams all the way through.

and the mavs did it with only one all nba player. again, an extremely rare happening in the nba.

If you factor in "unlikely performances" too much then you are judging them more relative to their expectations, which isn't really fair to greater players who had great playoff runs that they were EXPECTED to have. For example, I'd easily say all of Jordan's 6 title runs (at least the first 5, maybe you can argue against 98) and Shaq's 3 title runs were better then Dirk's even though Dirk's was easily more unexpected.

I really doubt Kornheiser said it in a literal sense, or at least it was just an off-hand comment that he didn't really think about (probably why Wilbon didn't really argue about it). I just wanted to discuss cause it was a bizarre comment regardless.

[DMAVS41]

If you factor in "unlikely performances" too much then you are judging them more relative to their expectations, which isn't really fair to greater players who had great playoff runs that they were EXPECTED to have. For example, I'd easily say all of Jordan's 6 title runs (at least the first 5, maybe you can argue against 98) and Shaq's 3 title runs were better then Dirk's even though Dirk's was easily more unexpected.

I really doubt Kornheiser said it in a literal sense, or at least it was just an off-hand comment that he didn't really think about (probably why Wilbon didn't really argue about it). I just wanted to discuss cause it was a bizarre comment regardless.

That is why I said it depends on the definition of "playoff run"....I personally think a lot of that stuff above matters in this sense.

[Scoooter]

Hype factors in. Gravity. No one gives a shit about the '03 Nets. This Heat team though? That's a big deal. That's a factor.

[guy]

That is why I said it depends on the definition of "playoff run"....I personally think a lot of that stuff above matters in this sense.

What stuff?

[NugzHeat3]

What stuff?
I think he's talking about shock value because that's the only way you can justify it. Sort of.

Its no more shocking than Russell in 1969, Moses in 1981 (though he didn't win) or Hakeem in 1995 though. Maybe look at Rick Barry in 1975 but I don't know anything about the circumstances of his run.

And this is just looking in the NBA. If you go by beyond basketball, it won't even be close.

If you look at who played better and exclude the expectations, then it drops further down the list. All 6 of Jordan's runs except 1996 maybe, 3 peat Shaq, Wilt 1967, Bird, Magic ect.

[DMAVS41]

What stuff?

expectations, competition, iconic moments...etc. i think that all factors into a playoff run. that is why hakeem and duncan have two of the best ever...along with level of play of course.

[guy]

expectations, competition, iconic moments...etc. i think that all factors into a playoff run. that is why hakeem and duncan have two of the best ever...along with level of play of course.

I really don't think expectations should really matter much. If two players play the exact same way under the exact same circumstances and lead there team to a title, and the only difference was one was expected to win a title and the other was expected to lose in the first round, one shouldn't be considered greater then the other. The player with lower expectations had lower expectations because he wasn't as great beforehand, so its not really fair to the other guy who was playing that great beforehand. From an entertainment standpoint its different, but not greatness.

[Doctor Rivers]

PTI: Kornheiser is a dumb idiot.

this. what about that time he was on MNF? hahahaha

[SCdac]

All the analysts have been burned in the past by picking the Mavs, and some of the NBA fan base as well. The Mavs just weren't the "sexy" pick, it's not surprising really?... They were however the best team in the NBA, that much is evident. The Mavs from top to bottom, were better than every other team.

If anything, it's the immense emotion that comes with "upsets" and "surprises" that's causing people to overly sensationalize his playoff run. It's pretty obvious, and not entirely unnatural, however exaggerated. Emotions are part of the game. When it comes to analysis though, and the dust settles, I don't factor them in too much. I would't say, "Rose came waaay out of left field and won MVP, and because of the shock he's one of the greatest MVP's ever".

When you say Dirk's playoff run is top-3 in all of basketball, football, baseball, soccer, etc... that's clearly an emotional, loaded statement and not very well thought out when you digest what it really infers. It's a perfect example of somebody living only in the moment, and why it's hard to take some of these sports-show people seriously.

[R.I.P.]

Who cares Mavs are certainly a great bunch.

Chandler

[EricForman]

I've disagreed with everyone that has said Dirk has been overrated as a result of his playoff run. But thats a little insane.


i don't know enough about other sports to comment on that, but if we're talking strictly basketball, it's debatable but not a ridiculous comment. we forget how no one thought they had a chance to beat the Lakers, let alone the Heat. If you asked 1000 fans, at least 995 woulda picked Lakers to win that series. It's not some disrespect to Dirk, but the Lakers, when Bynum was healthy and rolling in parts of the season, looked unbeatable. And then there's Miami with two of the top three (or top five, whatever) players IN THE GAME TOGETHER.

when you throw in the comebacks (down 15 in 5 minutes to OKC, down 15 in 8 mins to Miami), AND arguably the most efficient game ever (game 1 vs OKC), it's not too outrageous to say his run was the greatest in all of basketball.

Again, it's definitely up for debate, and I think this debate can never have a clear winner because 20 other runs must have a good argument... I just think Dirk could be in that discussion.

[EricForman]

whether or not Dirk's 2011 run was the greatest in NBA history is definitely debatable (but again, i dont feel it's ridiculous to say it is so), but i believe it is undoubtedly, at the very least, a top 10 run all time in NBA history. where do the rest of you rank it?

i feel like some of the ones in the "Dirk's run was overrated" camp are dissing Dirk a little too much. Like, to say Dirk's run wouldn't even be a top three run in Texas? Of everyone Hakeem played in the 94 playoffs, only Barkley was equal to Kobe, Durant, Lebron, or Wade. And THE LATTER TWO PLAYED TOGETHER.

[GOBB]

definitely not top 3-4 in sports....definitely not top 3 all time in nba.

though it depends on how you define "playoff run"....is it factoring things in like upsets and unlikely performances?

i think we can all agree that duncan was a better player than dirk was for his legendary run in 03. but which run was better is a different discussion in the eyes of someone like kornheiser.

regardless of where it ranks, dirk's playoff run and the mavs title is legendary and an extremely rare happening in the nba. winning 2 series without home court as huge underdogs playing better teams is remarkable enough. but getting through both the blazers and thunder is hugely impressive as well.

as is the the players the mavs/dirk went through. kobe/gasol, durant/westbrook, lebron/wade....amazing. one of the toughest roads to the title i can remember. no easy series. playing some of the best players in the league on some of the best teams all the way through.

and the mavs did it with only one all nba player. again, an extremely rare happening in the nba.

I dont (didnt at the time) see the Mavs as underdogs vs OKC or Miami. Dallas was favorites in my book. One all NBA player I look at differently as well. If we asked what Miami needs in order to win a title or titles? It revolves around constructing a better team/cast around its stars. Dallas had that, they also had more experience than the OKC Thunder. Guys have war wounds and stripes.

Still a great run for Dirk and the Mavs. I think defeating Miami was big just given the hype and who played on the team.

[Jacks3]

Not even close. Not even top 10 for this decade.

[EricForman]

Not even close. Not even top 10 for this decade.

let me guess, all five of Kobe's title runs makes up top five of your ten right?

"Dirk's 2011 playoff run wasn't even top ten this past decade" isn't an opinion, it's just a false statement, a lie, period.

[guy]

i don't know enough about other sports to comment on that, but if we're talking strictly basketball, it's debatable but not a ridiculous comment. we forget how no one thought they had a chance to beat the Lakers, let alone the Heat. If you asked 1000 fans, at least 995 woulda picked Lakers to win that series. It's not some disrespect to Dirk, but the Lakers, when Bynum was healthy and rolling in parts of the season, looked unbeatable. And then there's Miami with two of the top three (or top five, whatever) players IN THE GAME TOGETHER.

when you throw in the comebacks (down 15 in 5 minutes to OKC, down 15 in 8 mins to Miami), AND arguably the most efficient game ever (game 1 vs OKC), it's not too outrageous to say his run was the greatest in all of basketball.

Again, it's definitely up for debate, and I think this debate can never have a clear winner because 20 other runs must have a good argument... I just think Dirk could be in that discussion.

No, it is outrageous. Because of the comebacks, upsets, and the unlikelihood of what happened, it may have been the most ENTERTAINING, but to say it was the greatest is ridiculous. Jordan, Shaq, and Hakeem have easily had greater runs. Dirk was dominant, but not THAT dominant. To say he was is also really underrating the contributions of his teammates.

[NugzHeat3]

No, it is outrageous. Because of the comebacks, upsets, and the unlikelihood of what happened, it may have been the most ENTERTAINING, but to say it was the greatest is ridiculous. Jordan, Shaq, and Hakeem have easily had greater runs. Dirk was dominant, but not THAT dominant. To say he was is also really underrating the contributions of his teammates.
I understand what you're saying and what you're saying is the truth.

But people love drama and excitement.

What's dramatic about Jordan's 1996 playoff or Shaq's 2002 playoff run when everybody was accustomed to them dominating? It becomes an expectation. If Jordan doesn't dominate, he gets flamed by the media. If he plays at roughly the same level, then it's something he was supposed to do.

This is just the sentiment fans have and always had. Anything that's unexpected will catch people's eye. Just the way it is.

Its wrong but its always been like that.

[Balla_Status]

To quote Magic Johnson on Dirk, "I haven't seen this since the Michael Jordan daaaays."

[guy]

I understand what you're saying and what you're saying is the truth.

But people love drama and excitement.

What's dramatic about Jordan's 1996 playoff or Shaq's 2002 playoff run when everybody was accustomed to them dominating? It becomes an expectation. If Jordan doesn't dominate, he gets flamed by the media. If he plays at roughly the same level, then it's something he was supposed to do.

This is just the sentiment fans have and always had. Anything that's unexpected will catch people's eye. Just the way it is.

Its wrong but its always been like that.

Exactly. If Dirk had won the previous 10 championships, no one would've considered this run to be that great.

[Balla_Status]

Exactly. If Dirk had won the previous 10 championships, no one would've considered this run to be that great.

You're right. He'd be considered the best player of all time.

[Pointguard]

Do I live under a rock?

This isnt that major a story. You act like it was on the forefront of the minds of the basketball world or something. Its like a...what...3-6 matchup? 2-7?

And dallas was the...5th or 6th biggest story going into the playoffs?

This wasnt a heavily discussed issue far as I can tell. I cant even find a prediction topic on it. I wanted to see if I had made one either way.

Someone may have said they would lose but its not like the world was waiting to see the likely upset like in 07.

I think Dallas was picked to loose by a lot of writers who were thoroughly convinced that Dirk wouldn't perform at a high level or that he was past his prime. I think a lot of dramatic value was added because it was one of those "WOW, I thought he was a mummy!" People were looking past the vetern leadership and good chemistry. But Dallas was a good team all year long.

[Kyle_korver]

If this title run isn't one of the best in nba history than your just ignorant.. Most people here still considered dirk a choker because of 06 finals lost n 07 first round lost .. I was rooting for the mavs since before the playoffs n when I seen they were facing Portland I felt the mavs might lose .. We all seem to forget they lost their second best player in Caron butler n were facing Andre miller ( who dropped 50+ on the mavs before) Gerald Wallace who is like shawn Marion of the suns .. Aldridge who was playing out his mind n great role players like Mathews.. Batum and Brandon Roy had a game where he took over n won .. But still mavs won.. Then everyone expected the lakers to do what they always do n turn it up when the doubter came like they did the last 2 year .. N this is with everyone healthy n playing ... Sweep .. Okc . Scoring champ .. One of the best scoring pg in the league .. Athletic ibaka was suppose to be the dirk stopper .. Mavs .. Finals .. 06 finals MVP 2 time MVP .. Allstar power toward .. N mavs won again .. Each series everyone thought mavs would lose.. You can say dirk had great help but you know your lying ... Why didn't they win last year????.. Only person who really surprised everyone was dirk .. No other current allstars no all nba .. Just dirk.. They had 4th quarter comeback against every team just feeding the guy n people here are claiming they wasnt surprised Smh .. I never seen someone carry their team like that :bowdown:

[Pointguard]

some other facts:

- Brandon Roy was a shell of himself in the playoffs, and averaged a sad 23 minutes a game in the PO's ... Portland was basically a one man team, surrounded by good role players.

- Lakers and Mavs had the exact same record going into the PO's, and Mavs had a better record than the Thunder despite losing Dirk for 9 games...

- Gasol averaged a whopping 13.5 ppg (.42 FG%) and 6.8 rpg going into the LA/DAL series and looked way out of it in both series.

- Dirk's team beat teams with big men consisting of Bosh, Gasol (30), Ibaka, and Aldridge... not exactly prime Shaq, Duncan, Ewing, Robinson, Garnett, etc.

- Thunder were a good team, enough to make the PO's, but they're also lead by two 22 year olds, and basically no one on the team has veteran experience (Perkins was coming off serious injury, wasn't even averaging close to 1 bpg or .50 FG% going into the WCF)

- expectations and predictions of a team don't equal how good a team is. how good the team turns out to be equals how good the team is.

- Lebron had one of the biggest disappearing acts of the last 10 years, and alot of credit should go to the Mavs perimeter D, sometimes it seemed liked Marion was in his head... who knows.

- Mavericks had a good 8-9 guys with playoff experience... and in the playoffs, Kidd lead the Mavs in Assists/Steals/Threes, Chandler lead in Blocks/Rebounding... had alot of help in all areas - Dirk had a lesser PER and Win Share than both Duncan (03) and Hakeem (94)

The bad play of Gasol, Kobe and Lebron gave it a pretty bad look. And as you said, the insistent looking beyond Kidd who was their defensive star/assist & steals leader as well as three point star - nevermind the fact he's been one of the greatest leaders in the sport and keeps all of his teams on the same page. The overlooking of how the team was, at one point, one of the best three point shooting teams in playoff history, the perimeter lockdown of perimeter stars, the manning of the middle by Chandler, and Jason Terry shot a lot better than Dirk the last three games and was only 3 baskets behind him in points (Terry shot 58% while Dirk shot 37.5% in the last three games, which according to these boards is horrific).

Dirk did indeed keep hitting clutch shots tho - almost on automatic. But I do think the team got a bad rap.

[guy]

some other facts:

- Brandon Roy was a shell of himself in the playoffs, and averaged a sad 23 minutes a game in the PO's ... Portland was basically a one man team, surrounded by good role players.

- Lakers and Mavs had the exact same record going into the PO's, and Mavs had a better record than the Thunder despite losing Dirk for 9 games...

- Gasol averaged a whopping 13.5 ppg (.42 FG%) and 6.8 rpg going into the LA/DAL series and looked way out of it in both series.

- Dirk's team beat teams with big men consisting of Bosh, Gasol (30), Ibaka, and Aldridge... not exactly prime Shaq, Duncan, Ewing, Robinson, Garnett, etc.

- Thunder were a good team, enough to make the PO's, but they're also lead by two 22 year olds, and basically no one on the team has veteran experience (Perkins was coming off serious injury, wasn't even averaging close to 1 bpg or .50 FG% going into the WCF)

- expectations and predictions of a team don't equal how good a team is. how good the team turns out to be equals how good the team is.

- Lebron had one of the biggest disappearing acts of the last 10 years, and alot of credit should go to the Mavs perimeter D, sometimes it seemed liked Marion was in his head... who knows.

- Mavericks had a good 8-9 guys with playoff experience... and in the playoffs, Kidd lead the Mavs in Assists/Steals/Threes, Chandler lead in Blocks/Rebounding... had alot of help in all areas - Dirk had a lesser PER and Win Share than both Duncan (03) and Hakeem (94)

The last 10 years? Lebron's disappearing act was arguably the biggest in history.

[Kurosawa0]

Of the modern era Dirk's is definitely up there. You can't play much better than this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tktg1wtY4pU

[guy]

You're right. He'd be considered the best player of all time.

Most likely would. Doesn't change my point though.

[Jacks3]

some other facts:

- Brandon Roy was a shell of himself in the playoffs, and averaged a sad 23 minutes a game in the PO's ... Portland was basically a one man team, surrounded by good role players.

- Lakers and Mavs had the exact same record going into the PO's, and Mavs had a better record than the Thunder despite losing Dirk for 9 games...

- Gasol averaged a whopping 13.5 ppg (.42 FG%) and 6.8 rpg going into the LA/DAL series and looked way out of it in both series.

- Dirk's team beat teams with big men consisting of Bosh, Gasol (30), Ibaka, and Aldridge... not exactly prime Shaq, Duncan, Ewing, Robinson, Garnett, etc.

- Thunder were a good team, enough to make the PO's, but they're also lead by two 22 year olds, and basically no one on the team has veteran experience (Perkins was coming off serious injury, wasn't even averaging close to 1 bpg or .50 FG% going into the WCF)

- expectations and predictions of a team don't equal how good a team is. how good the team turns out to be equals how good the team is.

- Lebron had one of the biggest disappearing acts of the last 10 years, and alot of credit should go to the Mavs perimeter D, sometimes it seemed liked Marion was in his head... who knows.

- Mavericks had a good 8-9 guys with playoff experience... and in the playoffs, Kidd lead the Mavs in Assists/Steals/Threes, Chandler lead in Blocks/Rebounding... had alot of help in all areas - Dirk had a lesser PER and Win Share than both Duncan (03) and Hakeem (94)
:applause:

[RRR3]

Jacks what are your ten better for this decade?

[Jacks3]

let me guess, all five of Kobe's title runs makes up top five of your ten right?

"Dirk's 2011 playoff run wasn't even top ten this past decade" isn't an opinion, it's just a false statement, a lie, period.
Shaq 01/02
Kobe 01//09. Maybe 2010 and 2008.
LeBron 2009
Wade 2006
Duncan 2003/Maybe 2005

I'll give him top 10. Definitely not top 5. Nope.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

Of course his run is Top 10 this decade. Use math, people.

[brisbaneman]

Shaq 01/02
Kobe 01//09. Maybe 2010 and 2008.
LeBron 2009
Wade 2006
Duncan 2003/Maybe 2005

I'll give him top 10. Definitely not top 5. Nope.

None of those runs were better at LOL at Duncan in 2006

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

"The Mavericks are just the fourth team with one current All-Star to win a Finals series against a team with three current All-Stars (the 1994 Rockets, 1989 Pistons, 1975 Warriors and 1951 Royals are the other teams whose lone star outdueled an opposing trio of stars)."

[PowerGlove]

whether or not Dirk's 2011 run was the greatest in NBA history is definitely debatable (but again, i dont feel it's ridiculous to say it is so), but i believe it is undoubtedly, at the very least, a top 10 run all time in NBA history. where do the rest of you rank it?

i feel like some of the ones in the "Dirk's run was overrated" camp are dissing Dirk a little too much. Like, to say Dirk's run wouldn't even be a top three run in Texas? Of everyone Hakeem played in the 94 playoffs, only Barkley was equal to Kobe, Durant, Lebron, or Wade. And THE LATTER TWO PLAYED TOGETHER.
Its not debatable at all. I wish people would stop throwing that word around.

The fact that people even think it can be debatable shocks me.

I dont even have it in my top ten of all time.

Maybe top 20??? I dont even know about that.