Convince me that 2011 Dirk is>2006 Dirk

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Better season:

2006 Dirk
6
40%
2011 Dirk
9
60%
 
Total votes: 15

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Dr Positivity
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Re: Convince me that 2011 Dirk is>2006 Dirk 

Post#41 » by Dr Positivity » Sat Oct 12, 2019 4:49 am

After 2007 Dirk was like the Kershaw of the NBA. It wasn't really fair since it was just one bad series compared to repeated failures by Kershaw, but losing as 1 seed as 67 team vs 8 seed while you're the MVP will do that to you. Blowing 2-0 finals lead the year before didn't help. That he was dominant the first 3 rounds in 2006 was forgotten as soon as the Mavs blew the finals. The prevailing thought was that Dirk was exposed by being defended by smaller players like Stephen Jackson as he wasn't as good at posting up then. So starting in his next seasons (quite possibly the actual best versions of Dirk) he got better at posting up and then by 2011 run basically massacred teams if they put a smaller player on him. So it was hard not to think that Dirk's offensive game in reality improved as he became a more complete player on that end. For his style of play trading athleticism for more perfect skill level seems like a good trade off. There is definite championship bias favoring 2011 over the few seasons before then, but 2007 to 2011 he definitely changed his skill level for the better.

I understand the argument however that the rest of the Mavericks in 2011 vs 2006 or 2007 probably had a big impact. The 2011 Mavericks were such a elite passing and shooting team that they would get open 3s every time you double teamed Dirk so it opened up coverage for him. I take the 2011 Mavs supporting cast by far over 2006 and 2007. Plus their coach was way better. Dirk reaching the finals and winning 67 games with that era's supporting cast is one of the most underrated carry jobs ever. The 06 Mavs supporting cast was not more than the sum of their parts like 11 Mavs, 03 Spurs, 94 Rockets. It would have been like winning the title with Tobias Harris and Lou Williams as your 2nd/3rd best guys and current day Jason Kidd as your coach. I think if Kawhi went to the Clippers without George he would have had more talent around him than 06 and 07 Mavs because Harrell is a better big man than Dampier and Williams-Gallo-SGA is relatively close to Terry-Howard-Devin Harris, and he would have had better coach.

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