Any body notice lately how a certain MVP has seemingly taken a backseat? Well if you are an avid fan of basketball you would probably have a clue about who I am referring to. It's none other than Mr. Dirk "i can't handle pressure" Nowitzki. Being a fan of the Dallas Mavericks for the past six seasons , I have seen this player grow into a mega superstar in the NBA and I'm not using this word lightly. Last year seemed to be the year where everything was coming together and I as well as the millions of other Mavericks fans would finally be compensated for our loyalty. I mean, we were only TWO games out of tieing the nba record for most wins in a season (67-15), so what could go wrong? Lamentably, this dream was not realized as the Mavericks slumped to a 4-2 series loss to the upstarts from Golden State (coached by our former coach & GM, Don Nelson). This was of course riding behind the lacklustre play of Mr. Nowitzki himself, who of all times decided to go to sleep in that crucial series. Of course other factors were at fault as well, such as Avery Johnson's bad decision to not play a full squad in a near-end season match against the same Warriors who were battling for dear life to clinch a playoff berth. As everyone knows, we were disgraced and sent crashing out of the playoffs, my second time experiencing this in my 'tenure' as a fan. Now you're probably wondering where I'm going with this and why I won't just get over it? Well after that season of two tales I was expecting the Mavs to make trades and for the 'great one' to go back to Germany, use his anger to fuel his off-season training and come back this season better than ever before;come back with a vengence. However, what have I been subjected to? A Maverick squad FIFTH in the West, THIRD in the Southwest and 13-8. Now you're probably saying I'm just overreacting and that it's only the start of the season. But being a fan who likes and is used to seeing my team in the top 3 for the past 4 seasons, this start has me a bit shaken. Sure it's nothing like the 0-4 start we had last year, but most will remember that after that 0-4 start we went 40-4! Granted, maybe that's the reason we lost out in the first round, playing too hard in the season and being too tired to play an up-tempo team in a series. The concern I have really lies in how 'on & off' Nowitzki has been. Most would be shocked to know that he isn't even our leading scorer this season. In addition he has had only 2 30-point games in 21 matches. Yeah, sure, maybe I'm expecting too much but if we're not playing as well as last season you begin to look around for the reasons and to me a big reason is due to his play. Then again maybe he's just waiting for the right time. Maybe over the off-season and while playing for Germany he realized that he has to wait for the playoff run to get heated. Maybe he is wary of what happened last year and is conserving energy. Maybe he's distracted. Maybe he's been instructed by the mastermind Avery Johnson to 'cool' it for now and lull opponents into thinking he's lost his mojo or has passed it on to Josh. Maybe he just needs fans like myself to start bad-mouthing him for him to wake up. One can only speculate but in my mind it's very likely that this guy is in a major 'superstar' slump and we may just be witnessing the fall of a star! Who wants to bet on him being a contender for MVP this year? Certainly, not me.
Maybe someone really has 'stolen' his mojo right from under him :)
6 comments:
First it is only the beginning of the season and as a fellow mav fan, i am disappointed that the Dirkanator is not performing, as i expected him to, but what we all need to realize is that Dirk's offense is still superb, and what i believe he and the Maverick administration is doing is giving him less shot opportunities, to take the scoring burden off of his shoulders and allow him to work on other parts of his game (eg, Post, passing, passing out of the double team, and maybe even defense), and allow other players to pick up the slack and improve (Devin Harris, JHO and even Bass). As seen in last year playoffs, when Mr, Dirk was "shut down", we had nobody to turn to as JHO scored only in the early moments of games and devin was never in a position to take the scoring burden. therefore everything was left for aging stackhouse and terry, who are streaky shooters.
So when you say he is not performing like a true MVP, i do agree, but what is the point of being mvp, if we may get knocked out in the first round again.
Yes mikhail, you do have a point and i will acknowledge the fact that there has been nice improvements in Devin Harris Jho and Bass is coming along nicely. I'm hoping you are right and they are really looking to improve on others to take the burden off his shoulders and as you said, it's pointless to have a mvp if the team is just going to get knocked out in the first round. Let's just hope this is a strategy by the coaching staff.
I would also like to turn your attention to this article:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7547056
It shows that I'm not the only one who beleives he's 'slumping'
first of all your article is not factual... you stated that you started 0-4 last season, which is true, but then you go on to say that you went 40-4 which is absolutely ridiculous. In order to do that you would have had to win 40 games in a row. second of all the most wins a season is 72 games and, unless you can't count, that is FIVE games from tieing the NBA record for most wins in a season. so "diphoenix" please get your facts right first. Now I think that you are over reacting. We are approximately 21 games (on average) into the season and being 14-8 does not cause for concern or any panic whatsoever. I think all of you Mavericks fans were spoilt with a GREAT season that they had last year and as a result are expecting way too much out of dallas.They will still get to playoffs and they will still finish top 5, probably even to 3 in the west.
Now Dirk's numbers are still pretty good 21.1ppg 8.3rpg 3.8apg... and you would have to be silly to think that those numbers will not improve, however it won't be as impressive as last year or the year before because of the emergence of josh howard... who by the way is putting up career numbers. he is averaging more points, rebounds, and assists than he ever has in his career.
At any rate your team is more complete this year than they were last year with devin harris starting at point and howards's increased production. so "DiPhoenix" don't worry, not yet at least, there are around 60 games left and dirk will improve soon.
I must clear this up in an instant...when i said we went 40-4 i meant 40 wins and 4 losses which added to the first 4 losses of the season would give us a 40-8 record. secondly yes i was mistaken in saying two games out when it was actually five. I also see your point about Josh and Devin's increase productions and I can understand that Nowitzki may not be required to score as much. However I still believe that even if we were 'spoilt' last year, it's no reason not to want and expect the best of a team which as you said is more complete this year. Therefore I think that the Mavs should be doing better than they are currently. It is very ironic that Nowitzki scored a season high on the night I posted this (36 points)...maybe he's reading after all. Back to the point though, it is early yet and many games left to go but at this position we are battling with 5th,6th place teams and to me, that's unacceptable at any point during a season. Furthermore if we do finish below the top 4 then my concerns would be justified as that is completely disappointing especially after last season. Hence Dallas needs to yet again be in the top 3 of the west else that would indicate that the team is on a decline. I'm sure you want the team you're a fan of to do extremely well and if you are okay with your team not playing to their full potential then I would have to question your fanhood. If you are a TRUE fan and you realize the potential of your team then you SHOULD expect the best and not become 'okay' with the thought of them finishing and playing below par.
also it seems that Dirk, saw your article and decided to prove you wrong, with a great game vs New York.
but then again it was New York
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