Allen Iverson names the Top 5 Players of his Era

[malbaker86]

KG stans....

 

[Consumed]

yeah you off ya rocker. Dirk was a much improved post player . Great is an overstatement. @Malta u wanna weigh in

No, great would be an understatement. Literally don't know how one could observe his play over the past decade and come to the conclusion that he wasn't great in the post. Who have you been watching?

A lot of analysts use to criticize dirk's post game in the early half of his career. Saying he's an all time great post player is a huge stretch.

That criticism was pretty stupid for the most part. He was also called soft and there were questions as to whether he could ever lead a team on a championship run despite the fact that he had a large sample size of dominant postseason performances BEFORE 2011 that people for whatever reason have managed to block out of their memory

What some people fail to realize is that 1) facing up is a part of playing in the post, and it should be encouraged when you have an elite shooting touch and a high release as he was often able to just shoot over his defender after a couple jab steps. Yes this can be a problem when a player only faces up and has no b2b skillset like Anthony Davis, but that sure as hell wasn't Nowitzki who was outstanding with his back to the basket as well 2) there are different areas to the post. not just the low, but the mid & high area as well which is where Dirk liked to operate and was nothing short of elite. He had excellent footwork, strong counter moves, a legendary go to move in his one legged turnaround fade that has inspired stars to add it to their own scoring repertoire most notably Kevin Durant who is a great mid/high post player himself. He was strong enough to back his man down and get good positioning which he often didn't even need because of how unorthodox & quick his go to move was. He could spin off his man and take it to the rim like you should've observed in the 2011 postseason most notably the game winner in G4 finals



and routinely utilized pump fakes to get his man to commit and get sent to the free throw line. Dirk had the skill of an all time great post player

 

[Notorious Jerry]

No T-Mac?

Replace bron with Tmac you was thinking like me where is Tmac I don't see bron as their era

 

[Primetime21]

Bunch of coli posters telling iverson what HIS top 5 should be

 

[Notorious Jerry]

Ummm which Dirk are you talking about? He's never been surrounded by "role players". He's had a squad since coming into the league. And in the post season, he was carried by said squad. It wasn't until like '11 when he stopped being able to be shut down by wings.

I'm questioning if you really know sports breh what do you think Jason Terry is.... Dirk been giving that team a chance to win for years he has one of the biggest impacts on a team chances to win...

 

[Jesus]

fukk A.I. and his opinions.

 

[mr. smoke weed]

jkidd

 

[Consumed]

Dirk a all time great post player.

Dirks a great player but slow down with that. Most of his career he was a soft jump shooter who couldn't get over the hump.

He is an all time great post player. If you have the slightest understanding of what fundamentals are I'm not sure why its hard for you to come to that conclusion. Or maybe you're one of the group of people that can't differentiate between low and mid/high post scoring. Maybe you're one of the people that thinks Kevin Durant is a bad post player simply because he doesn't shoot hook shots, which is very false

Dirk being soft is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. He was a very tough player that did not shy away from contact and rebounded very well in the postseason. Only reason people would ever tag him with that label is because he's European, which is a tragic stereotype for more than one reason, and that he's a highly unorthodox big man that relies on his shooting touch more than anything else. Dirk played at a level good enough to win a title long before 2011. He's legitimately one of the most impressive playoff performers to play this game, and his play prior to the championship is criminally overlooked. Probably not aware that he was 4-0 in game 7's during his prime, averaging 28 points and 14.8 rebounds per game. He has three 30 & 10 game seven performances. Since '86 only LeBron James and Karl Malone can say the same. In elimination games?

Dirk Nowitzki Elimination Game Averages in his prime:
28.4 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 1.8 TPG, 48.4 FG%, 41.9 3PT%, 90.7 FT%

Soft as fukk. Yeah this guy couldn't get over the hump. Please, biggest reason he doesn't have more titles & finals trips is because of supporting cast. Give him what Kobe had toward the end and lets see how he fairs

 

[Surreal]

Dirk 3rd best PF of all time behind Russell and Duncan

 

[Truth200]

Since he considers LeBron apart of his era I'd take Wade over Iverson as well.

Shaq
Duncan
Kobe
LeBron
Wade

That's a solid 5 right there i agree

Dirk
KG
Pierce
A.I
Vince

That would be my next 5-10

 

[eastside313]

He is an all time great post player. If you have the slightest understanding of what fundamentals are I'm not sure why its hard for you to come to that conclusion. Or maybe you're one of the group of people that can't differentiate between low and mid/high post scoring. Maybe you're one of the people that thinks Kevin Durant is a bad post player simply because he doesn't shoot hook shots, which is very false

Dirk being soft is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. He was a very tough player that did not shy away from contact and rebounded very well in the postseason. Only reason people would ever tag him with that label is because he's European, which is a tragic stereotype for more than one reason, and that he's a highly unorthodox big man that relies on his shooting touch more than anything else. Dirk played at a level good enough to win a title long before 2011. He's legitimately one of the most impressive playoff performers to play this game, and his play prior to the championship is criminally overlooked. Probably not aware that he was 4-0 in game 7's during his prime, averaging 28 points and 14.8 rebounds per game. He has three 30 & 10 game seven performances. Since '86 only LeBron James and Karl Malone can say the same. In elimination games?

Dirk Nowitzki Elimination Game Averages in his prime:
28.4 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 1.8 TPG, 48.4 FG%, 41.9 3PT%, 90.7 FT%

Soft as fukk. Yeah this guy couldn't get over the hump. Please, biggest reason he doesn't have more titles & finals trips is because of supporting cast. Give him what Kobe had toward the end and lets see how he fairs

Kevin durant isn't a good post player. One of the main reasons th mavs won the title was Tyson chandler was there to make up for dirks defensive short comings. You wanna claim to be the best you need to be able to play some defense. Dirk was considered soft because that's how he played. The game got rough and he floats further from the basket and takes jumpers. He improved on that later in his career.

 

[Consumed]

Kevin durant isn't a good post player. One of the main reasons th mavs won the title was Tyson chandler was there to make up for dirks defensive short comings. You wanna claim to be the best you need to be able to play some defense. Dirk was considered soft because that's how he played. The game got rough and he floats further from the basket and takes jumpers. He improved on that later in his career.

Yes he is. Again, back to basket skill isn't limited to just the low post. KD has a strong mid/high post game and has been one of the games most efficient post players in the past couple of seasons. He's got exceptional footwork and one of the best turnarounds in the game




Dirk was never much of a defender that is true. But he was not a liability for his team and if there is anything you can accuse Dirk of defensively, its never been effort. He competed very hard on that end of the floor and used his length well to defend the post. No being a subpar defender doesn't keep you from being one of the best in the game. Last I checked Charles Barkley has one of the greatest peaks in NBA history. He was often allergic to defense, even worse than Nowitzki because he was undersized. Actually when the game got rough Dirk often played his best. I provided you with the elimination numbers which suggests just that I mean he's been nothing short of a killer when the game is on the line (Better averages than Kobe, actually), and the game 7 performances which all took place early in his career from '03-'06. Wilting under pressure is not something you can tag him with

Here's some soft Dirk taking the ball to the rim with the game on the line in the biggest stage of his career


And soft Dirk tying the game against the Spurs in the 2006 Western Conference Semi Finals by taking it to the rim strong and getting the and 1 call


Is there a difference in these two plays? I don't think so. Dirk didn't all of a sudden develop this toughness that he didn't have before. Sure he added some things to his game to better combat smaller defenders but it wasn't a toughness adjustment. He always had that

 

[JYoung24]

You don't understand the game of basketball if you don't think Dirk is a legendary post player. Thats just common sense



Yea you didn't watch basketball in the 2000's. That or you chose to see what you wanted



A star should be someone you can consider a cornerstone of your franchise. Someone you can build around and pour assets into in order to chase a title. Do you seriously consider all of these players that? Who is building a contender around Josh Howard and Jason Terry? The Knicks? These are the guys that you get to support your franchise player not to lead a championship contender. Being a role player is NOT an insult, there have been some damn great players in this games history who have suited that description. It just means they don't have the impact of the more transcendent talents in the league or the ability steer a franchise. Dirk only played with one person undeniably of that caliber, Steve Nash. I'll give you that he was a star, really a superstar in the waiting that needed more ball handling responsibility and the right system to realize his full potential as we saw in Phoenix. Pretty clearly a hall of famer given his resume as an all time great perimeter shooter with some of the best court vision this game has ever seen. But they only played three seasons together in their primes and soon started battling one another in the postseason. Jason Terry never averaged 20 ppg in the postseason with the Mavs but even so, he clearly benefited playing opposite Nowitzki. There's a reason his efficiency spiked up dramatically once arriving in Dallas. Antawn averaged 15 points on the Mavs which dropped to 13 on the playoffs. Not a star, utilized as a role player. Van Horn, Nick the Quick and Stack were the very definition of role player with the Mavericks. Finley is arguable, but his play started declining around the time Nash left where he then became a permanent role player. He only played with prime Dirk at that level for three seasons. Always thought he would be best utilized as a secondary option/ball handler anyway given how good he was off ball and the fact that he wasn't that efficient of a primary scorer. Monta only arrived at the tail end of Nowitzki's career, not in the middle of his prime. I never said that Dirk didn't play with good people around him or as you put it firepower, but that in several of his seasons he did not share the court with a star or fellow transcendent player which is true.

Alot of those first round losses aren't on him. Mavs lose to the Hornets in 2008 but Dirk puts up 26.8ppg, 12.0rpg, 4.0apg; 2.0tov, 58.8% TS (47.3% FG, 80.8% FT, 33.3% 3PT, 10.4 FTA, 3.6 3PA). Oh but Josh Howard shoots an impossibly bad 29% from the field and Jason Terry 39%. In 2004 Dirk records the highest points per game average (And PER) of any postseason participant averaging a dominant 26.6ppg, 11.8rpg, 1.4spg, 2.6bpg, 1.2tov, 56.1 TS% (45% FG, 85% FT, 46.7% 3PT, 8.4 FTA, 2.5 3PA) but Steve Nash plays HORRIBLY averaging only 13 points on below 40% shooting from the field, Finley isn't much better with 13 points on on below 40%, Marquis goddamn Daniels was the 2nd leading scorer with 15ppg. In 2010 Dirk is, as per usual, dominant averaging 26.7ppg, 8.2rpg, 3.0apg; 1.7tov; 64.3% TS (54.7% FG, 95.2% FT, 57.1% 3PT, 7.0 FTA, 1.2 3PA) against a top ten ranked Spurs defense. But Jason Terry is a no show only contributing 12 points on 37%. Idk how you can bring up these first round loses without context, Dirk has been a legendary performer on the next level. Biggest reason he doesn't have more deep runs is because of this supporting cast you're exaggerating as being stacked.

You say Dirk has always played with at least two teammates averaging 18 ppg but that's really false. Wasn't the case in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. If you want to talk postseason then that has only happened in 2002 and 2003 during his prime play. If this is the basis of your argument for him playing with stars his whole career then its factually incorrect.



We must have different definitions of stacked. In terms of having good support players yes Dirk has generally had that with the Mavericks, but it was rare throughout his prime that he shared the court with a transcendent star or someone that could be considered among the games best alongside himself. He never played with a Pau Gasol, Shaq, Wade. Didn't have a Stockton for most of his prime career, didn't have an Oscar or Magic Johnson. The supporting cast that several of the all time greats around him share. If he did have that type of talent he'd probably have more rings. As many as Kobe I'd wager

It was stacked compared to the top teams around that era he has played with a bunch of all stars or former all stars for most of his career there was a reason y alot of people thought the mavericks were underachieving because the talent they had on that team. Gasol isnt a transcendent player I grew up on 2000's basketball im almost 26 so I watched plenty of it

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

Bron entered the league in 2003...AI left the league in 2010. That's 7 years, half a damn career. They're mostly in the same era.

these nikkas don't know shyt about basketball

lebron has spent more years playing against AI than not.. but it's not his era.. he would have zero clue on who was good or not during that time... we can all watch tv and say bron was one of the top, but AI can't play on the court and know the same thing

 

[mastermind]

Dirk absolutely did not have stacked teams after Nash left.