Trader_Joe wrote:With the talk of Dirk contemplating knee surgery it doesn't look good.
Also, Dirk the past two season has posted consecutive lows in PPG and RPG, or his lowest since his 2nd year in the league (1999-2000), so I didn't expect a dominant regular season from him anyways. This news lowers that expectation further.
With the West as deep as it is, I'm leaning towards no right now.
Dirk started the year out with knee issues .He played 16 games before taking 4 games off to strenghthen the knee then came back and played 2 more games in January.
December-January
18 Games-31.2 MPG-16.7 PPG-5.8 RPG-.448 FG% .200 3P% .906 FT% -4.2 FTA Per Game
February-April
44 Games-34.5 MPG -23.7 PPG-7.2 RPG-.460 FG%-.407 3P%-.893 FT%-6.4 FTA Per Game
23.7 PPG in 34.5 MPG would have made 4th in the league in scoring per 48 Minutes behind Durant, Bryant and James . This would have also made him the #1 Highest scoring Power Forward Per 48 Minutes.
Also to put it more into perspective look at the previous years stats.
Mavs Championship Year
73 Games-34.3 MPG-23.0 PPG-7.0 RPG-.517 FG% .393 3P% .892 FT%-6.1 FTA Per Game
February-April Last year
44 Games-34.5 MPG -23.7 PPG-7.2 RPG-.460 FG%-.407 3P%-.893 FT%-6.4 FTA Per Game
The only thing Dirk did better the Championship year was have a better shooting percentage which im sure it helped having a better team around him ( Chandler,Barea,Stevenson, Peja and even Butler for the 1st 29 Games -Dirk before Butler injury 29 Games 24.1 PPG after Butler injury 44 Games 22.3 PPG so as you can see Dirk actually did better the last 44 games last year then he did the Championship year ) allowing him more freedom and taking better shots . As opposed to last year where the quality of the team was less and he had to take more contested shots lowering his FG%.
2009/2010-32.0 Pts 9.8 Rebs Per 48 Min
2010/2011-32.2 Pts 9.8 Rebs Per 48 Min
2011/2012-31.0 Pts 9.7 Rebs Per 48 Min
2011/2012-32.9 Pts 10.0 Rebs Per 48 Min ( February-April)
Dirk played 37.5 MPG in 2009/2010 and 33.5 MPG in 2011/2012 . I wouldnt say Dirk is declining because he played 4 MPG less but still had the same production.
I expect Dirk to Strenghthen the Knee like he did last year and play fine . If he opts for surgery its suppose to be minor and have him out 5-6 weeks so not like hes gonna miss very much of the regular season . I think Dirk will be fine this year in fact i think he will have a very good year considering the help in the front court with Kaman and Brand . Teams are gonna have a much harder time doubling Dirk while leaving Kaman or brand with a open shot.
As for the team it will take some time for them to gel . But this team is alot better than last years team .
Collison will produce alot more than Kidd and we will atleast have a scoring threat from our Point Guard
Mayo even if he doesnt become a star as a starter his numbers arent that far from Terrys and he's a better defender.
Marion is Marion and will still get his points without running plays for him and be a Top Defender in the league . He will actually have to work less this year on defense since he will only need to guard the Small Forwards instead of Point Guards/Shooting Guards like last year.
Dirk like i said above will be fine and have a very good year . And this year he can go out of a game and have a quality player in Brand replacing him ( anything is better than Odumb)
Kaman is light years ahead of Deadwood and will benefit from all the attention the defense gives Dirk . And Brand is alot better backup compared to Mahinmi.
This team will be a 4-6 seed and make past the 1st round after that we will see what happens.
