VeN

not too long ago, you ppl were serious about that trade.. wow

I doubt it. Avery just got outcoached time after time. The Celts have him and 2 other all stars and they arent even out of the first round yet. we really cant say, just speculate. and please please stop overrating Brand... dirk has been far better than him in the playoffs anyways.

we need young athletic guys that will get to the rim and arent afraid of contact. and we need a system of offense that doesnt involve iso after iso. the mavs problem isnt at the PF position. its our guard and center positions. and has been for awhile. we cant stop wings and bigs eat us alive.

believe me, he got reamed last offseason by just about everyone, so dont think he gets off easy.

rocketeer

exactly. last off season dirk got everything he deserved. but if you're looking for someone to blame this off season, it has to be howard, kidd, stackhouse, dampier, whoever wanted to make the kidd trade, and then obvious avery has been blamed as well.

__________________
Rodney Rogers!!!!!

He will never die!!!!!

Click here to join me in playing the Rodney Rogers game!!!!!

Dre™

All I'm saying is that most European NBA players are soft. I don't think that can be denied. I wish there was a list of every European player, I bet you wouldn't disagree with about 75% of them being considered soft.

__________________

rocketeer

i disagree.

__________________
Rodney Rogers!!!!!

He will never die!!!!!

Click here to join me in playing the Rodney Rogers game!!!!!

croco

As do I.

stevemc

Too many people to quote here so I'll just try cover everything. If I missed something call me out on it.

Sorry about the Euro player thing but traditionally players who come to play in the physical American leagues have to adjust to it. Its a fact. When they don't adjust they gain the label as soft. Plain and simple. In recent years the international players have show more toughness but theres still players that keep the stereotype alive.

I'ma pull a Bush and not associate with Terrorists.. or who ever I want to label as evil or just has a different opinion than mine. So, Rocketeer I'm breaking of diplomatic relations. No crossing into political topics for us since you sound like I did around Bush's re-election.. Oh its not his fault. Now, I realize he's driving this vehicle of Americans decent.

KG has more help more now than ever and is looking to have his hands full with the Hawks. Then again this is only their 1st year together so its still pretty impressive. The comparison tho was KG in place of Dirk. He doesn't score like Dirk but sure makes up for it everywhere else which I feel would make us a far better team.

I'm prolly a little hard on Dirk since I wasn't around last season to vent about our embarrassment. So this is two years of frustration speaking. Bottom line is we need to surround him with more players that fit his style or move him for pieces that fit what we have now. We've been trying to find pieces that complement Dirk for several years now and Cuban can't seem to find the right fit. So something has to give...

__________________
Coming back soon....
The Chicken Ranch

rocketeer

i thought the mavs did a pretty good job finding complimentary pieces when they made the finals(and were robbed) and then won 67 games the following season. problem was they faced the one team they couldn't beat in the playoffs, tried to match the 8th seed's style(bad call by avery), and dirk had a meltdown going against don nelson and a bunch of athletic defenders. i realize they were having a down year this year, but they were still 35-17 before the kidd trade so it's not like they were terrible and a lot of that could probably be attributed to them realizing the regular season didn't mean all that much because of what happened the season before. had dallas just kept things together, i imagine the team would have probably started playing better as the playoffs got closer and there's a good chance they'd still be alive right now. instead the team panicked, made a bad trade that didn't help the present and gave up the future and they have to deal with that.

but to say they never really found the pieces to go around dirk? then why did they make it to the finals and then have the best record in the league back to back seasons?

__________________
Rodney Rogers!!!!!

He will never die!!!!!

Click here to join me in playing the Rodney Rogers game!!!!!

Dre™

How many European players would you consider tough, clutch or tenacious? I can't think of 10.

Most are very skilled players, but physicality and tenacity aren't strongpoints for very many European players.

__________________

stevemc

They were ahead of the curve in talent and style of play for a time but it seems the league has caught up.

Anyway, those who've voted to keep Dirk what offseason moves would you like to see?

__________________
Coming back soon....
The Chicken Ranch

croco

Tell me who you consider tough, clutch and tenacious (all at the same time) in general.

xray

The only foreign player I can think of would be Manu, but he's not a Euro.

Maybe that's a trivia question?

__________________

croco

I meant in general, that includes American players as well. It's BS to say that player X from nation Y is not tough. It all comes down to winning. If you win, you do everything right and can't do no wrong, if you dont, you are a loser and not tough. How come that the Spurs win the title with so many international players ?

Not to mention that Europe is not a country.

xray