 |
 |
|
|
WFAA Sports BLOG sponsored by: |
|
April 2009
Categories
More WFAA Blogs
|
The stat lines are difficult to ignore. Seven of 23 shooting each of the last two games. That's just over 30-percent, for you math majors at home.
Dirk Nowitzki did not have a good weekend.
And the reaction was predictable. On last night's Tylock Lasik SportsTalk (6:30 PM, M-F, KFWD channel 52), callers were already pleading for Mark Cuban to trade Dirk away as soon as possible. And today's "Email of the Day" asks the exact same thing.
Why has Dirk always been a convenient trade target for Mavs fans?
One reason is because AAC citizens expect Dirk to be what he is not: Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and D-Wade, all wrapped into one. People still remember the NBA Finals collapse vs. Miami and no longer put Dirk in that elite category of players in the league.
They want to see more from him.
That's a shame, but it's a burden that Dirk has had to carry. It's unfair to put that defeat on his shoulders, but many fans still see it that way.
In their eyes, he didn't come through, when another superstar in that series did- D-Wade.
Another reason for the constant trade talk? Dirk's unusual skill set makes him seem unusual and unorthodox, in this NBA landscape of high flyers and dunk artists that many fans seem to prefer.
A 7-footer who can post up and knock down three's at the same time? Many Mavs fans have never really accepted this is who Dirk is. Dirk is certainly a star player but has somehow never been embraced or loved in the Metroplex as much as other athletes like Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Mike Modano, or even Steve Nash. Dirk is still arguably one of the top ten players in the NBA, but remains something of a curiosity for many local fans.
Again, a shame.
The biggest problem for the Mavericks lies in their inability to outmuscle other teams on a nightly basis and their lack of scoring punch in places other than Dirk and Jason Terry. Dirk is part of the solution, not the problem.
But Mavericks fans will likely never see it that way, until a championship banner hangs atop the AAC. 1 CommentsLeave a comment |
|
|
|
|
|
Dirk is a European import of course he will not be like Aikman or Modano.
He is not ever going to be the main guy by himself, he needs support.
He has been "close" to the support he needs but the owner keeps letting them get away, but never a stong center.
Including a tough coach in Avery.