Sunday, May 6, 2007

Nobody Nowitznessed















First of all, this is a real promotional picture. It’s obviously weird, but I have a feeling that the Mavericks found it acceptable based on the fact that it had MVP disappointment Dirk Nowitzki’s face on it. (Feel free to click for a larger image if you want to make it your background).
I was never a big Dirk fan, but I've always respected his skill. He’s a former three-point-shootout champ 7-footer who has been known to post-up and handle the ball. As the leader of a 67 game winning Western Conference powerhouse, Dirk did seem like a shoe in for most valuable player, but I’m sure that the league wishes they could take that title back right about now. As I’ve said, Golden State is a formidable opponent but Dirk definitely didn’t want to be the one to prove that.
Averaging almost 25 and 9 every night and shooting 50% from the field, you really can’t blame anybody for naming him MVP and based on the regular season, he earned it. Normally, poor playoff performance can’t take too much away from a stellar season like Dirk’s, but this goes beyond poor. True, all the Mavs (save Josh Howard) had a terrible post season, but just as Dirk earned all the praise for the fantastic regular season, I’m blaming him for this embarrassment. As not only the most valuable player on his team but the most valuable in the league, Dirk has got to provide more.
In the playoffs his percentages dropped 12 and 20 percent for field goals and threes respectively. The team relied on him shooting over people and somehow he gave in to the not-so-stellar defense of the Warriors. I don’t think anyone is going to forget about this upset and Dirk may be remembered as the unworthy MVP who let his team down. I don’t Nowitzness anymore.

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