Dirk, who has never in his entire career played with someone better than Josh Howard (or maybe Steve Nash, pre-Steve Nash if you want to go there), is really, really obviously that guy. Yet the Mavericks, since 2001, have had seasons with 57, 60, 58, 60, 67, and 51. They're again gunning for over 50.
Yeah, they're disappointing in that they've never won a championship. But are you guys kidding me? Bashing on Dirk who is, without even a single doubt, the ONLY real All-Star on the Mavericks when his team has averaged FIFTY NINE wins over the last six seasons? ....
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But look at the T-wolves records with just KG. Look at the Heat with just D-Wade, Toronto with just Bosh, and the Celtics with just Pierce. You don't have to imagine what those things look like. You KNOW.
Go ahead, tell me Latrell Sprewell (a lifetime 18.3 PPG scorer) and Sam Cassell (averaging 19 points and 8 assists during his Milwaukee years) were so much worse sidekicks than Jason Terry and Josh Howard.
Tell me how the Celtics, who won only 45 games in the East in 2005-2006 with Ricky Davis (15 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds with them), Wally Szczerbiak (16 points), and an emerging Al Jefferson, were so much more understaffed than these Mavericks. Yeah, Pierce is all-world now. He's got Ray Allen and KG. And yeah, the Mavericks just lost to those new look Celtics—by seven points, after leading all game, on a night when Terry was out with injury, and Howard fouled out with about eight minutes to go, and shot 5-19. ...
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Can you really be considered a choker when you GOT to the Finals? When you beat the defending champs in overtime of Game 7? And then beat the Suns? When you go, in that ONE playoffs, for games of 31-11-3-1, 36-9-5-1 (first round), 27-15-3-1, 31-10-4-2, 26-21-5-1, 37-15-3-1 (against the defending champs--the SPURS for God's sake), 37-15-3-1, 30-14-6-1, 28-17-5-1-2, FIFTY-12-3-1 (against the Suns in the Conference Finals), 26-16-4-2, 30-7-1, 29-15-2-2 (In the NBA finals)?
I mean really? That's one of the absolute best post seasons of all time. And even given that the Heat needed two acts of God to beat the Mavs in that series, they were still a plenty good team. Alonzo Mourning and Shaq in the center with Udonis banging around, Dwayne Wade before he started getting injured, White Chocolate, Gary Payton...
Was it choking to lose to the Hornets last year? With Dirk averaging 27-12, and even 4 assists? I mean come the hell on.
