Dirk Nowitzki greatest European player in history?

[Legend D]

I don't understand it either. Petrovic was good, an All-Star player, but Dirk is Superstar status.

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Right now it is just because Dirk plays today. If Nowitzki played in the 90s and Petrovic today, no one would dare compare Petrovic to Nowitzki. Most people are slow. [/FONT]

[Legend D]

If anyone is underrated, it is mid-20s Arvydas Sabonis. 7'3", great passer(perhaps even better than some PG's), good outside shooter, great footwork, and excellent post game.

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Right, Sabonis is the only other European player that should be in this discussion.[/FONT]

[Lakas Fan Yo]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Right, Sabonis is the only other European player that should be in this discussion.[/FONT]

WRONG.

Both Galis and Petrovic were better than Dirk and Sabonis. This thread isn't titled "Dirk Nowitzki greatest European NBA player in history?", this thread is titled "Dirk Nowitzki greatest European player in history?"

He is NOT the greatest European player in history and neither is Sabonis.

[la bomba]

WRONG.

Both Galis and Petrovic were better than Dirk and Sabonis. This thread isn't titled "Dirk Nowitzki greatest European NBA player in history?", this thread is titled "Dirk Nowitzki greatest European player in history?"

He is NOT the greatest European player in history and neither is Sabonis.

Drazen Petrovic by a country mile. people who think Dirk is better never saw Petrovic play in europe,they are only judging what he did in the NBA,which is not fair on him as Portland wasted him on the bench and when he started to play his usual game at the nets he had that tragic accident.
Honestly Dirk is a great player but nowhere near as good as Petrovic was.
Sabonis a true legend too. Gallis,great player but slightly behind the others mentioned.

[Silverbullit]

As mentioned only Dirk and Sabonis are in the same league.

Galis and Petrovic aren't top tier.

[b.jerk]

Drazen Petrovic by a country mile. people who think Dirk is better never saw Petrovic play in europe,they are only judging what he did in the NBA,which is not fair on him as Portland wasted him on the bench and when he started to play his usual game at the nets he had that tragic accident.
Honestly Dirk is a great player but nowhere near as good as Petrovic was.
Sabonis a true legend too. Gallis,great player but slightly behind the others mentioned.

Adelman used Petrovic to get a full-ass effort out of Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler. Petrovic was used but not in a way he liked. I would even say if Petrovic plays in today's euroleague he wouldn't nearly be as good.

[malek4980]

Apples to apples: same age, similar minutes, and similar competition

Dirk at 27: 26.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.0 BPG, 28.1 PER
Dirk at 28: 24.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.4 APG, 0.8 BPG, 27.6 PER

Petro at 27: 20.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 0.1 BPG, 15.8 PER
Petro at 28: 22.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 3.5 APG, 0.2 BPG, 17.3 PER

bububububu you didn't watch Petrovic outside the NBA.
Well, have people watched Dirk outside of the NBA?

Dirk's international career hasn't been bad:
2001 Euros: 28.7 points and 9.1 rebounds (led both categories)
2002 World Championships: MVP
2005 FIBA European Championships: MVP, leading in scoring and blocks; second in rebounds

[Lakas Fan Yo]

Drazen Petrovic by a country mile. people who think Dirk is better never saw Petrovic play in europe,they are only judging what he did in the NBA,which is not fair on him as Portland wasted him on the bench and when he started to play his usual game at the nets he had that tragic accident.
Honestly Dirk is a great player but nowhere near as good as Petrovic was.
Sabonis a true legend too. Gallis,great player but slightly behind the others mentioned.

No, Galis was better than Sabonis and Dirk. You must not have seen him play to think otherwise. He single handed beat Soviet Union twice during their peak. He was clearly outplaying Petrovic back in that day as well but Petrovic wasn't in his prime and Galis was.

Even players like Bob McAdoo and Belov said he was the best. McAdoo put him better than Bird or Magic even. And even Drazen's own brother and Drazen himself said Galis was better than Drazen.

[Lakas Fan Yo]

As mentioned only Dirk and Sabonis are in the same league.

Galis and Petrovic aren't top tier.

[Lakas Fan Yo]

Adelman used Petrovic to get a full-ass effort out of Terry Porter and Clyde Drexler. Petrovic was used but not in a way he liked. I would even say if Petrovic plays in today's euroleague he wouldn't nearly be as good.

Of course not. Because the league is much better. But Dirk would never put those kind of NBA stats in the Euroleague either.

[Lakas Fan Yo]

Apples to apples: same age, similar minutes, and similar competition

Dirk at 27: 26.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.0 BPG, 28.1 PER
Dirk at 28: 24.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.4 APG, 0.8 BPG, 27.6 PER

Petro at 27: 20.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 0.1 BPG, 15.8 PER
Petro at 28: 22.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 3.5 APG, 0.2 BPG, 17.3 PER

bububububu you didn't watch Petrovic outside the NBA.
Well, have people watched Dirk outside of the NBA?

Dirk's international career hasn't been bad:
2001 Euros: 28.7 points and 9.1 rebounds (led both categories)
2002 World Championships: MVP
2005 FIBA European Championships: MVP, leading in scoring and blocks; second in rebounds

Those MVPs are not legit IMO. Those were given to him because of his hype from the NBA. He should not have gotten either MVP. Dirk is a great player of course. He's the best European in the NBA, but that's different than best European player. That's a whole different situation.

[malek4980]

Those MVPs are not legit IMO. Those were given to him because of his hype from the NBA.

So leading the tournaments in scoring while leading a bad team to medals had nothing to do with it?!

It was the hype

[Lakas Fan Yo]

So leading the tournaments in scoring while leading a bad team to medals had nothing to do with it?!

It was the hype

Yes it was without question. Those MVPs were not legit IMO. In fact others have had better tournaments with just as bad players around them and had teams do as well or better and never even sniffed an MVP.

[la bomba]

I did see Gallis play and he was amazing! I also saw petrovic in his prime at real madrid and I prefer petrovic,though Gallis could score inside like no other small player i have ever seen, I remember a game against barca , he was magnificent dont get me wrong but I put Petrovic and Sabonis just above.Some people think that its all about the NBA and only assess their performances in the NBA or in Gallis' case he is not even a contender and they dont even know about him just because he didn't play there.

[Lakas Fan Yo]

I did see Gallis play and he was amazing! I also saw petrovic in his prime at real madrid and I prefer petrovic,though Gallis could score inside like no other small player i have ever seen, I remember a game against barca , he was magnificent dont get me wrong but I put Petrovic and Sabonis just above.Some people think that its all about the NBA and only assess their performances in the NBA or in Gallis' case he is not even a contender and they dont even know about him just because he didn't play there.

Well I just know that Gallis was better than Sabonis in 87 and 89 you cannot deny that.