Dirty and Nasty

The image above was taken from NBA.com

Remember the good ol' days with "Dirty" and "Nasty?" Well let me refresh your memory. Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, Steve Nash, Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, Shawn Bradley, Eduard Najera, Raja Bell, Adrian Griffin, and Avery Johnson. Seems like a long time ago doesn't it?

I remember being afraid of the Mavericks because Finley, Nowitzki, and Nash were lethal together. And then all the mix-up happened and now all three of them are divided in the West.

Well I thought about all of this after reading Fran Blinebury's article "Promise fulfilled as Nowitzki reaches impressive plateau." Blinebury talks about Nowtizki's accomplishments and how he became the 34th player in NBA history to reach the 20,000 point platform.

Of the article, I found one striking comment that Kobe Bryant said, I quote within his article;

"That's what I like about him. He's not a punk. A lot of superstar players don't like to get touched. They're kind of finicky about how they go about things. Dirk's nasty and that's what I like about him. He'll take the gloves off and go at it."

For one of the all-time greatest players to say such a comment distinguishes Nowitzki from other athletes. He's a seven-footer, weighing 245lbs imported from Germany. It is his 12th year in the NBA, and has played in eight all-star games (also started in one of them). He has also led his team to the playoffs for nine straight seasons starting from 2000-2001 up to last year. In the playoffs he averages 25.7ppg and 11.4rbg and a block per game for good luck.

Dirk has won the MVP award once in his career and is regarded as one of the best-shooting big-man to ever played the game.

I can only imagine how amazing the Mavericks would be if they still had the two-time MVP Steve Nash along with Nowitzki. The two players have developed so much individually in their own separate team--that makes me wonder how unstoppable they would be together.

I would take this a step further and say that if Nash and Nowitski remained on the same team--they would've been the best duo in the league (over KG and Pierce/Allen, over Nash and Stoudemire, over Parker and Duncan, over Brook Lopez and Devin Harris--I'm kidding).

Of course this is all if they were on the team; but it leads to a more important question--why didn't they dominate early on in their careers together? They did have six entire years together.

Well I think it has a lot more to do with how Nowitzki has grown as forward than Nash as a guard. Remember the days when the analysts would talk about "when will irk get the 'D' back in his name?" I certainly do and I also remember those days. Or do you remember how many three-pointers he shot in those days?

He shot 1,726 three-pointers in a span of five years with Nash; then Nash left suddenly he wasn't getting those sweet spot-up threes and had to do some damage inside. The following five years, he shot 1,062 three-pointers. That's an average of about 133 less three-point attempts!

What attributes to Dirk's immense growth as a player was his decision to become a bigger forward threat. I remember watching this one playoff game (sorry I can't think of the specific time), but the Mavs were down by three with a couple of seconds left. In stead of pulling up for the three, Dirk faked it and drove in to get the bucket-and-one. That single play is the microcosm of who Dirk has evolved into.

Just imagine where the Mavs would be if they had Dirks evolution and Nash's court-vision. They'd be pretty Dirty and Nasty...