Dark Horse to Win the East....TORONTO

[QUOTE=i seen hippos]Dirk only became an MVP candidate last year.:roll:

And as someone else said, there trophy cases look pretty similar.

I was joking previously, but you're dillusional if you think a guy that has never won **** can be placed on some sort of pedestal.[/QUOTE]

Thats a funny statement, considering that Raptor fans put Bosh on a pedestal when hes done much less than Dirk.

Mavs in 02-03 won 60 games including their first 14.

Dirk averaged 25 and 10, I'd say he was an MVP Candidate that year.

In 04-05 he was 3rd, and was 3rd in 05-06.

So last year was the wrong answer sorry.

[QUOTE=Howard5Dirk41]Thats a funny statement, considering that Raptor fans put Bosh on a pedestal when hes done much less than Dirk.

Mavs in 02-03 won 60 games including their first 14.


So last year was the wrong answer sorry.[/QUOTE]

Here's a look at the 2002-03 team. I think it was more than just dirk who gave them 60. They had a good team, and a fellow all-star named Steve Nash.

[B]Raja Bell #11[/B]
Shawn Bradley #44
Evan Eschmeyer #42
[B]Nick Van Exel #31[/B]
[B]Michael Finley #4[/B]Adrian Griffin #7
Avery Johnson #5
Popeye Jones #54
Raef LaFrentz #45
[B]Dirk Nowitzki #41[/B]
Eduardo Najera #14
[B]Steve Nash #13[/B]
Antoine Rigaudeau #17
Tariq Abdul-Wahad #9
Walt Williams #43


And of course Dirk has done more than Bosh.. how can you compare them. They don't have the same game types... and Dirk has been in the league a lot longer.

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]Here's a look at the 2002-03 team. I think it was more than just dirk who gave them 60. They had a good team, and a fellow all-star named Steve Nash.

[B]Raja Bell #11[/B]
Shawn Bradley #44
Evan Eschmeyer #42
[B]Nick Van Exel #31[/B]
[B]Michael Finley #4[/B]Adrian Griffin #7
Avery Johnson #5
Popeye Jones #54
Raef LaFrentz #45
[B]Dirk Nowitzki #41[/B]
Eduardo Najera #14
[B]Steve Nash #13[/B]
Antoine Rigaudeau #17
Tariq Abdul-Wahad #9
Walt Williams #43


And of course Dirk has done more than Bosh.. how can you compare them. They don't have the same game types... and Dirk has been in the league a lot longer.[/QUOTE]

Very similar to Steve Nashs situation the last 2 years? Except he has more talent than this team, so please, get off the crack pipe.

[QUOTE=Howard5Dirk41]Very similar to Steve Nashs situation the last 2 years? Except he has more talent than this team, so please, get off the crack pipe.[/QUOTE]

Nobody on Nash's team is an MVP candidate without him there. As for the team, they do have a lot of great athlete's but that wouldn't even guarantee them a playoff spot out west. They'd probably be fighting for position #5-8 without him at best.

As for the Mavs without Nowitzki, no they wouldn't be as good, but they'd still have a solid team.. and probably a better record than the suns without nash.

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]Nobody on Nash's team is an MVP candidate without him there. As for the team, they do have a lot of great athlete's but that wouldn't even guarantee them a playoff spot out west. They'd probably be fighting for position #5-8 without him at best.

As for the Mavs without Nowitzki, no they wouldn't be as good, but they'd still have a solid team.. and probably a better record than the suns without nash.[/QUOTE]

You must not watch the Mavs very often, because this team would suck without Dirk.

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]Nobody on Nash's team is an MVP candidate without him there. As for the team, they do have a lot of great athlete's but that wouldn't even guarantee them a playoff spot out west. They'd probably be fighting for position #5-8 without him at best.

As for the Mavs without Nowitzki, no they wouldn't be as good, but they'd still have a solid team.. and probably a better record than the suns without nash.[/QUOTE]

Nash was not considered "MVP material" while with the Mavs, not even close.

[QUOTE]Nobody on Nash's team is an MVP candidate without him there. As for the team, they do have a lot of great athlete's but that wouldn't even guarantee them a playoff spot out west. They'd probably be fighting for position #5-8 without him at best.

As for the Mavs without Nowitzki, no they wouldn't be as good, but they'd still have a solid team.. and probably a better record than the suns without nash.[/QUOTE]

I don't agree with this.

Amare, Marion, Diaw, Barbosa, Bell, etc. > Howard, Terry, Dampier, Stackhouse, George, Buckner, etc.

I doubt a team with Josh Howard as their best player could be a top 5 team in the west.

[QUOTE=Howard5Dirk41]You must not watch the Mavs very often, because this team would suck without Dirk.[/QUOTE]
lol, no honestly i don't.. but from what i have seen of them this season, Josh Howard has been right up there..

[QUOTE=Skywalker]I don't agree with this.

Amare, Marion, Diaw, Barbosa, Bell, etc. > Howard, Terry, Dampier, Stackhouse, George, Buckner, etc.

I doubt a team with Josh Howard as their best player could be a top 5 team in the west.[/QUOTE]
Not the point. Would you say that Suns without Nash >> Mavs without Dirk?

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]lol, no honestly i don't.. but from what i have seen of them this season, Josh Howard has been right up there..[/QUOTE]
Josh Howard is as good as he is because of Dirk.

Without Dirk they wouldn't have a go to guy. Terry would be their best player and we know how that worked out for him with the Hawks.

[QUOTE]Not the point. Would you say that Suns without Nash >> Mavs without Dirk?[/QUOTE]

I would say yes they are but facts beg to differ so I guess I have to say no. I've heard Dallas is undefeated without Dirk this year or something? While the Suns are known to struggle without Nash.

[QUOTE=Skywalker]I don't agree with this.

Amare, Marion, Diaw, Barbosa, Bell, etc. > Howard, Terry, Dampier, Stackhouse, George, Buckner, etc.

I doubt a team with Josh Howard as their best player could be a top 5 team in the west.[/QUOTE]
When Nash went went down the other year, the Suns stunk. When he got back healthy they started winning again. That was the basis for his first MVP.

[QUOTE=knickscity][B]Without Dirk they wouldn't have a go to guy[/B]. Terry would be their best player and we know how that worked out for him with the Hawks.[/QUOTE]
I agree with that statement.

But as for the Suns, without Nash they wouldn't have the guy to get them the ball in all the right spots. And then they'd go from being a top tier team to a middle of the pack team. So the reason why I say Nash is more important to the team is because his play directly attributes to how the rest of the team plays.

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]I agree with that statement.

But as for the Suns, without Nash they wouldn't have the guy to get them the ball in all the right spots. And then they'd go from being a top tier team to a middle of the pack team. So the reason why I say Nash is more important to the team is because his play directly attributes to how the rest of the team plays.[/QUOTE]

yeah i agree. We are posting too fast for ourselves. That's what I just posted also.

[QUOTE=Howard5Dirk41]I'd say he was 24 when first thought of as a MVP Candidate... but I dont see Bosh becoming an MVP Candidate in the next two years for sure, if ever.

Bosh is a nice player, will go to multiple all-star games but nothing stands out about him to me.[/QUOTE]

Bosh is already an MVP candidate: [url]http://www.nba.com/features/player_rankings.html[/url]

Granted, he's obviously not gonna win it, but he's gonna be a great player for years to come and it's definitely possible in later years.

[QUOTE]They started 7-14 because they had 9 new players and went through an extremely difficult Western road swing.
[/QUOTE]

a 7-14 start is a 7-14 start. You don't see Mavs or Suns fans saying their bad start is the reason they are not over 43 wins already and on pace for 70 win seasons. The fact they've played well the last couple of month is because of their soften schedule. Maintaining this .500 pace, perhaps a little higher or lower is about as good as the raps are this season.

[QUOTE]woot, woot, the east? Lame. As I already said they've played half their games against the West and would be in the playoffs in the West. What more do you want from a team who's 3 best players are under 22? A team with the most new players this season and a very young nucleus. 25 wins 48 games into the season is a huge jump.[/QUOTE]

Have you checked the Raptor's conference record vs. their record against the west? 17-9 against the pathetic east (7-2 against the titanic division), meaning they are 6 games below .500 against the West. No they are not better then the Warriors or Wolves yet.

[QUOTE]The **** is a dude from Edmonton cheering for the Rockets anyway? :roll:[/QUOTE]

Raps are my second favorite team behind the rockets and I catch all their games on the score or TSN, but you make it sound like they are suddenly a "good" team. No, they are a mediocre team playing in the worst division in the history of basketball.

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]Bosh is already an MVP candidate: [url]http://www.nba.com/features/player_rankings.html[/url]

Granted, he's obviously not gonna win it, but he's gonna be a great player for years to come and it's definitely possible in later years.[/QUOTE]

Bosh an MVP Candidate? lmfao is his team ever over .500??

[QUOTE=haterofhaters]Bosh is already an MVP candidate: [url]http://www.nba.com/features/player_rankings.html[/url]

Granted, he's obviously not gonna win it, but he's gonna be a great player for years to come and it's definitely possible in later years.[/QUOTE]

According to this, Josh Howard is also an MVP Candidate... Are you ****ing serious about bringing this up? lmfao

Nice prediction.