He had boffum 😤

I think people remember Dirk's shooting more than his dunks.

@@marco5030r/wooooosh

@@marco5030sarcasm on his part

​@@marco5030not really, most of his shots were pure luck. He only used 20% of his athletic ability though to give the rest of the league a chance

Yup! His impact on team turnovers is a byproduct of the space/gravity/guard synergy. Stackhouse was down 1.1 TOV per 75 with Dirk on the floor, Harris -0.9, Terry -0.6, Finley -0.5.

Speaking of low FGA/game Jokic is developing an offensive bag quite similar to Dirk I’ve been seeing him bust out these shot fakes up and unders for a while now and he’s got the touch like Dirk only he’s like a way better passer… Jokic gonna run this league for years I’m scared

That to ratio sounded absurd, looked it up and its completely false. His to ratio was 1.46 which makes more sense. Still a great ratio for a score first post bigman

@@jojoprocess2820 1.46 was his Assist to Turnover ratio, which was not what I meant. I was referring to his Turnover Ratio, or Turnover pct. or TOV%, which is an advanced metric that estimates the percentage of a player's possessions that end in a turnover. His 8.35 TOV% is the 10th lowest all-time (among qualified).

​@@orestis103you don't know ball. He's done this since his rookie year

Ben is a master of his craft.

definitely top 3 ever and imo the greatest

I remember watching him live in 2011... Was in awe the whole playoff run

If LeBron didn't have mental breakdown, we wouldn't be talking about Dirk today as champion

@@krp6680 That's some oversensitive gatekeeping. Some fans are super weird about just giving credit to the opposing team. Teams aim to outscore as well as shut down the opponent. "If this guy didn't play bad then they would have won." No sh*t. That's sports. LeBron and the Heat were swept in the regular season by Dallas that year too. He didn't get to the Finals and just start playing bad. He didn't choke, he GOT choked. There's a difference. Dallas had been shutting him down prior to the playoffs. He played bad in both of the regular season matchups and even went scoreless in the first half of one of those games. Dallas was 6-2 against the Heat that year in regular season and playoff games. No harm in just saying they were the better team. Even LeBron credits the loss for making him a better player.

Best run ever.

Kaw

Right there with you

Same with me. Growing up in Texas in the early 2000s was great for me. Dirk will always be my guy.

Loyal to a fault. Kobe talks about trying to recruit him to LA and Dirk told him no. In Dirks true nature he ofcoursed thanked him for thinking about him but he wasn't going to leave Dallas. Could you imagine them 2 together. Kobe and Dirk would have been as good as Kobe and Shaq.

@@bigred9991 That's my biggest "what if" because they were my 2 favorite players at that time.

Wrong he posted up less with Avery Johnson he used to get 12 post-ups a game with Don Nelson and 14 drives a game and to jump shots per game with Don Nelson then whenever Avery came Avery only wanted to use him at the elbow for hypo that's it that's it that's all he did after that so their dumbass he was a post up player from day one I he used to post up every single play that was their only play they ran was post up on the low block with Nowitzki either side cuz he was left-handed or right-handed what happened was Avery put them at power Forward rather than small forward and then he could not post up anymore so he started to just do that fade back shot cuz he wasn't strong enough and he lost his athleticism in 06 because he hurt his leg real bad he hurt his knee real bad he had surgery on it okay a lot of people don't know this stuff lot of castles are stupid and they first game they ever saw was 2011

Yup - I ended up cutting the line where he gives Avery credit.

Avery also was responsible for getting Dirk to play better defense. The notion Dirk was a bad defender was false. Avery just got more out of him on that end of the floor.

People also forget that in Minnesota, Garnett was selected to the all-star game with 3 different all-star teammates during that time. As much as that front office screwed up, Garnett had some help yet there were always a lot of excuses why KG got knocked out of the first round 7 years in a row.

Dirk did have some really good players aswell though. Finley is one of the best SG's ever. Nash Those were his 2 best team mates ever then after that it was an older Marion like 31 still a top 35 player in the league then. Tyson was a good center made an all star team and won All NBA with another team cause David Stern would never let players make it on Dallas Lafrentz was ok for a year or so. Peja was key off the bench for a season. Cuban wouldn't pay players to stay.

Naming Finley as one of the best SG's ever is the biggest stretch I've ever heard in my life.@@JimBrave-ri1oc

The man reach the NBA Finals with Dampier and Diop as Centers, that says it all He's Top 10 Offensive player of all time.

@@JimBrave-ri1oc Dont forget to give love to JJ and Kidd. Nobody manage to solve the JJ Puzzle as he played around Dirk's gravity and Kidd was mostly directing traffic and a strong presence. Jason Terry was a top 3 pointer at that time and shot the lights out in the 2011 playoffs.

Dirk’s true successor was KD, but his legacy also lives on in Jokic 100%

@@hb-robo totally agree. Jokic is a traditional big more than KD and Dirk. Watching some of those young Dirk clips reminded me of Lauri from the jazz

Yeah to echo the sentiments of some fans and players/coaches, Dirk's game was looking towards the future of a big man shooter like KD. Along with a class of guys who would try imitate KD (y'know the lanky 6'10" guy with some wing skills who could shoot). Jokic's game is a remix of the past reincarnated in a 7 footer basketball savant who was pretty good with water polo.

⁠@@hb-roboI thought kd was tmac’s successor

I think that is a good way to put it. If a team was willing to build the offense around the best midrange assassin, how about the 2nd best which his quality was having one of the highest release points where in terms of verticality, very few can actually block it? Even better is that same shooter would get better shooting amazingly well off balance over time.

I don't think anyone has really done enough Dirk Videos of EACH season. Real Highlight videos that last 15 minutes for each season. I remember in his 4th season so he was rather young still he caught a ball with 2 seconds left before the half and jumped then turned in mid air and made a left handed double clutch jumper from 17 feet out from the left side against the Sixers D. Coleman and a few others like McKey who were both basically fouling him. The Entire Sixers crowd Cheered. There were even words in the audience audibly and of " OH great we sixer Fans have another Larry Bird we have to deal with,"

Me too!!!!

LETS GO

Hell yes.

Same!

With an extra chapter dedicated to his shooting form and mechanics which were considered the best before Steph came along. :)

@@mentalmadness2192 If he and Reggie were playing today, they would take and make as many threes, if not more than Steph

@@4392amtrakno they wouldn’t.

@@mentalmadness2192 Ben could do a shooting mechanics video in the future by itself. But the real highlight as to why guys like Reggie/Steph/Ray for their ability isn't for mechanical stuff like that. Rather their amazing balance to be moving shooters. Because all 3 of those guys perfected the art of being able to move without the ball and be absolutely locked on for catch and shoot situations.

looser and lower rims aswell. Also coaches wanting every shot to just come from 1 or 2 players the entire game. He would average 35-38 today. Also his Rebounds would be higher today around 12 per game. 3 Steals and blocks.

Hard to find many a player who'd translate into any era better than him.

Dirk himself said his defensive limitations would factor in more in today's NBA.

​@@tubulus22nope. He was a decent defender back in the day. Average more steals than most bigs

@@ARKIBOYTV Well, who am I to question Dirk in basketball things.

KD is the evolution of the big man. A legit 7ft would guard skills and an arguably better shooter than dirk

@@jdurrant5633 Let's go back to the early 2000s and even further back in NBA history to see. If Durant was drafted in 2001, he'd be a shooting guard more into a small forward. Sure, with data analysis and more modern ways to track players he'd have an advantage as a power forward. The competition he would deal with on a nightly basis now forces him to bulk up. He now loses that mobility and coaches are going to change his game for the worst. If anything Kevin is from the mold of Alex English, Dominique Wilkins, Tracy McGrady. Elite wings that could score from just about anywhere. Kevin isn't gonna post up a Kenyon Martin, Rasheed Wallace, or Zach Randolph just to name a few folks. Appreciate your perspective on the topic. Have a blessed day.

I doubt it's true, but I like to believe lebron took inspiration from this for his lefkyou 3

100%

Check the great peaks which had a feature on defensive bigs.

they had a defense series in their podcast. it was great. wish there was a video too

It's not a sport like football where one guy does one thing and the other guy does another thing Dirk is an all-around player guys y'all just need to stop forgetting he was an all-around player coming out of Germany where he had 30 points 18 rebounds and eight assists and four steals eight blocks in the Nike hoop summit.

JJ is allegedly 5'10 and he looked like Muggsy Bogues lol.

And not to forget Brian Cardinal!

Even old Kidd was decent defensively. Dirk was never going to win with Nash because those 2 were horrible on D, can't have both out there at the same time & not give up a ton of points.

​@@liekegerritsen1620one should never forget the custodian

There is a Thinking Football channel but not associated with Ben. They also drop very good content as well.

Yes, From 98-05 he would just blow right by everyone would would DRIVE to the basket about 90% of the time. he also was posting up everytime in those 7 years. That was really his best Low Post Years cause he actually played SF most of the time then and SF's were bigger then about 6'9 230 He would just easily throw guys off like Rashard Lewis turn and dunk on them. He could pump fake guys off him then step through to the basket and gain about 10 feet and even end up with a layup or dunk. 20-26 years old Dirk would just blow right by Prime Durant or Prime Giannis. He was Faster than Durant and much Stronger. He was more on the speed of Giannis and Power of Giannis. He also Jumped kind of like Giannis but quick and more agile. Giannis is just out of control all the time and tht is why he is injured every year now. Dirk was quicker and more fleet of foot than Giannis. Also more coodinated. Dirk was also more on the level of prime Malone with Strength and Speed. Also Post moves. He most compares to Prime Young Karl Malone with a lot better ball handling and better long range shooting. Also 7 feet. If just counting Dirk from 99-05 which is 6 seasons. He is the fastest PF Ever and probably the Second best overall PF ever. Only Tim Duncan might of been a little better cause Duncan was somewhat bigger. Duncan is a lot bigger than his listed size in his prime. He was 7 feet 260 with a 7'7 Wingspan and did has a slightly better inside post game. For Inside post games I'd Rank a Prime Young Dirk about 4th. only after Duncan, Barkley, Garnett maybe. He's a tie with Malone in the low post. That is saying lot. His post game is better than Giannis. Better than Maybe even Hayes and Webber. Maybe even up their with McHale.

Hmmm .. .. I don't think you repeat yourself often enough.

takes that many times for you. you're the exact guy that needs it. @@cyber6sapien

Can you tell us the real reason he was drafted and what Don Nelson and Donnie were saying about him a year before the draft on the radio show. @@cyber6sapien

Jokic and Shaq. Kareem is right there but at that point I think I'm more comfortable with Dirk's offense.

@@ThinkingBasketball wow Dirk (slightly) over Kareem. I guess they are pretty similar, willing but not great passers, and they produce 2 points on demand, but Dirk's range is better at creating space and opportunities for others

What do you mean efficient? Skyhook is tougher to block but not more efficient. There are not a complete data of all Kareem's skyhook because there are not as much video catalogs then as today but of the recorded ones, Kareem's skyhook goes in 50% of the time. Dirk sinks his fadeaway 56% of the time, albeit not every fadeaway is one-legged, he arguably has better percentage with one-legged fadeaway only.

It’s probably Jokic, Kareem, and Shaq that are definitely above Dirk. Embiid’s past few years are probably case for consideration if he keeps it up but his egregious playoff drops is a large sore spot that takes him probably below the more resilient scorers like Hakeem (even tho Hakeem didn’t stretch to the 3 like modern centers).

He played a lot of defense to you know if he averaged 8 points per game he would have been considered by everyone an all NBA defensive player. it's just that people don't have the cons the mind and the Brain to understand that people could be good at great at two things you know they just see the old 28 points per game ball then he must not play defense if Tim Duncan averaged 28 a game ever everyone would have said he was terrible at defense because he averaged 28 but it because Duncan averaged 19 the Galway must be a great defensive player Dirk was an amazing defensive player