- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Is Dirk Nowitzki the best player in the league?
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:27 pm to chinese58
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:27 pm to chinese58
quote:
This decade’s most underappreciated NBA player
This decade’s most underappreciated NBA player
No, even though I have an admiration for the Dallas Mavericks players this is not about one of them. Though the adulation Dirk Nowitzki is receiving nationwide is what brought me to write this.
People who don’t see the Mavericks play all the time watched Nowitzki play against the Lakers and thought he “upped” his game exponentially. Mavs fans know this is only true to a point because he always plays this hard and does push himself even more in the playoffs.
To Mavs fans it is hard to find a player who might be less appreciated nationwide than Dirk, but I think we found him.
To the casual NBA fan I would like to introduce Zack Randolph. Yes, that guy who showed up on the TNT airwaves as the unstoppable scoring force for the Memphis Grizzles. The same Zack Randolph who you saw introduced for the first time ever as a Western Conference All Star this past February.
Where did this guy come from? Where has he been? What are his origins?
In my humble opinion, he came out of NBA hell. Before his short stint in Memphis he was laboring in Los Angeles with the Clippers where the only thing anyone remembers about him is an ejection for punching a guy named Louis Amundson. That Clipper team finished 19-63.
Before he played with the Clippers, Randolph was playing in New York for the Isiah Thomas led Knicks. He played the 2007 season in New York, was with Toronto for the first 50 games of the 2008 season but he was with Isiah for 80 total games. Do I need to say anything more about how bad this was for him?
At the start of his career, Randolph did play for one team in front of very dedicated fans who did appreciate him and he did have a good bit of success. NBA writers voted him the NBA’s Most Improved Player after the 2003-2004 season. The Blazer teams he played for made the playoffs his first three years.
3
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:28 pm to chinese58
What do china men know about basketball?
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:28 pm to chinese58
The 9th best player in the league.
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:30 pm to chinese58
quote:
Let’s take a look at what he came into.
The Portland Trailblazers picked Zach with the 19th overall pick in the 2001 draft. He played one year for Tom Izzo at Michigan State. The team went 28-5 and made the Final Four for the second year in a row.
Even though the Blazers had made it to the Western Conference finals in 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 seasons, Blazers president, Bob Whitsitt, made decisions that allowed them to lose, either through trade or free agency, Jermaine O’Neal, Brian Grant Steve Smith and Arvydas Sabonis. The players they brought in for Zach’s initial season were Dale Davis, Shawn Kemp, Derek Anderson and Reuben Patterson. They also fired their coach of the previous four years, Mike Dunleavy and brought in Maurice Cheeks.
The roster, when Randolph came in, consisted of Davis, Kemp, Anderson, Patterson, Rasheed Wallace, Scotty Pippen, Bonzi Wells, Damon Stoudamire, Chris Dudley, Steve Kerr, Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Mitchell Butler, Rick Brunson and Erick Barkley.
What kind of teammates were these guys?
When the Blazers acquired him, Patterson had to register as a sex offender with the state of Oregon because he had pled “no contest” to a felony sexual assault charge.
During Randolph’s first season, Wallace and Stoudamire were both cited for possession of marijuana.
In Zach’s second season Quintel Woods had a pot issue and also pled guilty to animal cruelty for fighting dogs at his house. Stoudamire had a second run in with police over pot when they performed an illegal search and found a pound in the crawl space of his house. Later that year, Wallace was suspended for seven games for threatening everyone’s favorite referee, Tim Donaghy.
Randolph got into a fight with Patterson during practice one day and was said to have “sucker-punched” him. This kept Patterson from being effective in the playoffs where the Blazers lost in the first round.
Basically Randolph came into the Blazer family at the hilt of was has since come to be known as their “Jail Blazers” period.
Before trading Randolph to New York, the Portland fans and the whole NBA had come to despise their Blazers. Whitsitt left the team and they got rid of Wallace, Wells and other players. There was a complete turnover of their roster.
Zach was the fourth oldest player on the team during his final season in Portland. Raef Lafrentz, who was injured and only played in 27 games that season was the oldest guy on the team. Jamaal Magloire and Joel Prysbilla were the other two “older” guys.
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:33 pm to chinese58
quote:
What did Randolph do during his time in NBA hell?
From 2001-2006 while playing with changing lineups in Portland he averaged 15.3 points and 7.4 rebounds.
That includes averages of 2.8 points and 1.7 rebounds with no starts his rookie year and 8.4 points and 4.5 rebounds when he only had 11 starts his second year.
During his four years as a regular starter with Portland he averaged 20.2 points and 9.6 rebounds.
During the 2007 season with New York he averaged 17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds.
The next year, while spending time in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, he averaged 20.7 points and 10.6 rebounds.
His last two years in Memphis he has averaged 20.4 points and 11.9 rebounds.
As a starter with three different NBA teams over the last eight years Randolph has averaged 20.1 points and 9.44 rebounds.
How come everyone thinks he is playing better than he ever has before?
Well, he is by a small margin, but for the first time ever he is in a stable situation and he has his team in the NBA Western Conference Finals.
He plays the same way today for Memphis that he played for Coach Izzo at Michigan State and he has always played that way. He is an intense guy who plays with a scowl on his face. He has his teammates’ back and he will not be denied under the basket, whether he is going for a rebound or a dunk.
He went from being a pup on teams that were drowning in turmoil to being a star on a team that is playing for an NBA Finals berth. He got to this point by dipping his shoulder and pushing through the carnage.
Meet Zack Randolph. By the time the Western Conference Finals start, you’ll wish he played for your team.
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:34 pm to chinese58
Noone is reading that
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:34 pm to chinese58
quote:
Meet Zack Randolph. By the time the Western Conference Finals start, you’ll wish he played for your team.
LOL!
But for real, he's an awesome player.
I'm not reading all of that though.
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:35 pm to RammerJammerBammer
quote:
What do china men know about basketball?
read the three pages I had to break the article up on and you will know.
Posted on 5/18/11 at 7:39 pm to BayouBengals03
quote:
I'm not reading all of that though.
Sorry I couldn't link it because the only place it got published was on my Facebook page.
it was going to run in the Memphis Commercial appeal if Memphis had made the WC Finals.
This post was edited on 5/18/11 at 7:41 pm
Posted on 5/18/11 at 8:20 pm to chinese58
Barkley called dirk the "white Mamba" and the "German shepherd"
Posted on 5/18/11 at 8:43 pm to RammerJammerBammer
I am not arguing that anyone is better than Dirk.
Just pointing out that Dirk hasn't done anything this year that he doesn't normally do every year.
The Randolph piece was just to show the same thing is happening with him.
Was just trying to show the truth to some idiot who said people were just reacting to Dirk's game last night.
Nobody was noticing either one because they were overshadowed by guys who were more exciting, played in bigger cities or were on championship teams.
No other reason to think Dirk isn't one of the best players in the league.
Just pointing out that Dirk hasn't done anything this year that he doesn't normally do every year.
The Randolph piece was just to show the same thing is happening with him.
Was just trying to show the truth to some idiot who said people were just reacting to Dirk's game last night.
Nobody was noticing either one because they were overshadowed by guys who were more exciting, played in bigger cities or were on championship teams.
No other reason to think Dirk isn't one of the best players in the league.
Posted on 5/18/11 at 10:12 pm to RammerJammerBammer
quote:
No one is reading that
Well maybe you'll read this one: LINK
quote:
Nowitzki’s 50 Lifts Mavericks Over Suns for 3-2 Lead
DALLAS, June 1 (Ticker) -- In the second quarter, Tim Thomas blew a kiss at Dirk Nowitzki. In the fourth quarter, Nowitzki blew away the Phoenix Suns.
Nowitzki scored 22 of his franchise playoff-record 50 points in the final period to power the Dallas Mavericks to a 117-101 victory over the Suns in the pivotal fifth game of the Western Conference finals.
"I could let out that Avery got on me very good yesterday," Nowitzki said. "We watched the film session and he let me have it. That's really about all that happened."
Tim Thomas called Dirk a pussy when I asked him what he said to Dirk. This is what my editor put into the article:
quote:
"If I could say the word (I called him), I would, but there's a lot of females around here. You get it?" Thomas said.
The above quote is what Thomas said with cameras rolling.
I wrote most of this article too.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 11:34 pm to RammerJammerBammer
quote:
Barkley called dirk the
quote:
"German shepherd"
AwesomePosted on 5/23/11 at 11:35 pm to Ghazi
Posted on 5/23/11 at 11:43 pm to pwejr88
4th best player in the game.
Best player in the West.
Best player in the West.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 11:45 pm to BayouBengals03
quote:
4th best player in the game.
You kill me sometimes.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 11:47 pm to pwejr88
Possibly 3rd best. No higher than that, no lower than 4th.
Posted on 5/23/11 at 11:48 pm to BayouBengals03
Posted on 5/23/11 at 11:48 pm to pwejr88
I can never understand anything you are trying to get across because all you do is post emoticons half the time.
Page 6 of 7
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News