Classic Dirk: Time For MVP Talk?

   Moments ago, we got word that Dirk Nowitzki’s been named Western Conference Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks. That makes this a convenient time to ask:

   The UberMan’s lower body is, as always, oddly contorted when he shoots. Legs askew, hips floating sideways, knees bowing out. … Nowitzki needs to create those sort of angles -- man-falling-from-tree looks -- to survive in a league full of Jumpin' Josh Smiths.

   But north of the belly-button? Nowitzki of late is a classic Greek sculpture (Germanic sculpture?) of shooting: Perfect form. Near-perfect results. The stuff that NBA MVPs are made of.

   Check out the numbers: Nowitzki ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring (25 points), 17^th in rebounding (nine per) and is tied for fifth in free-throw percentage (92 percent). He leads the Mavericks in scoring, rebounding, double-doubles (eight) and minutes (37.1 per).

   As of Monday morning, the Western Conference – so loaded with contenders, so loaded with stars – is led in scoring by none other than The UberMan.

  Isn’t it time to take notice?

   “Great players tend to be taken a little for granted because they are great,’’ Mavs coach Rick Carlisle says. “It's special if you're a Mavs fan to be able to come and watch him play every night. He's just a tremendous player … He willed us to a little higher level.’’

   We include Carlisle’s quote as a way of fending off the haters who fail to realize that if a guy is at 25 points, nine rebounds and 2.4 assists per, with six games of 30+ points, all for an 11-8 contender. … he’s an MVP candidate. Period.

    Also worth noting: Dirk's MVP season of 2005-06 featured him pulling down exactly nine rebounds per and attempting a career-high 19.3 shots per.

   As of today, Dirk is pulling down exactly nine rebounds per and attempting a career-high 19.4 shot per.

   Coincidence?

   Is it too early? Of course it’s too early. But that doesn’t stop the NBA from creating a weekly “Race For the MVP’’ feature and it doesn’t stop the blogosphere from its “Bloggers MVP’’ selection process (which DB.com participates in).

   And once you get beyond Kobe and LeBron (freakish athletes leading off-the-chart successes in LA and Cleveland) and maybe once you get beyond your fave Celtic. … why shouldn’t The UberMan get a whiff here?

    Let’s look at his recent run: Dallas is 3-0 this week with Nowitzki averaging a double-double with 30.7 points and 10 rebounds per. The shooting percentage that had concerned him earlier? Last week he shot it at 52.2 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from 3-point range and 100 percent (16-of-16) from the line.

   This week. … the week before that. … the week before that. … all part of Dallas winning nine of the last 10.

    One key of getting Dirk free – and the casual observer of Dirk needs to understand this – is what the Mavs do on the break with Kidd at the switch. Frankly, there was a time, early in the year, when Dirk looked dead-legged. Maybe it was Carlisle’s grueling run-run-run camp?

    But now? Nowitzki is NOT lollygagging down the floor on those fast-break opportunities; rather, he’s playing the role of “trailer.’’ It’s a designed assignment, the hope being that the defense will be late to pick up the trailer and that he will therefore be free to launch a trey in transition.

    Dirk trailing the break. … Dirk playing pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop with Kidd. … Dirk setting up much lower, much more consistently, than he did last year. … and maybe most of all, Dirk taking lots and lots of shots. …

    In the last three games, Nowitzki has taken 69 shots. More perfection.

    What happens to those FGAs when Josh Howard returns, maybe as soon as Tuesday at home against SA?

   We’d prefer they come off somebody else’s ledger rather than Dirk’s.

   Now, to clarify the MVP talk in two simple steps: a) Even before Nowitzki won the league’s MVP award in 2006, he’d perennially been a top-three finisher. So this year, somebody’s going to eventually start a push for his inclusion, if not in his traditional top three than certainly in the top 10. That somebody might as well be us. b) If Milkface is an MVP candidate at 24.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists, with an “amazing’’ total of six games of 30+ points, for an 11-8 team, why wouldn’t Dirk be an MVP candidate at 25 points, nine rebounds and 2.4 assists per, with six games of 30+ points, all for an 11-8 contender?

   Dirk’s legs are no longer dead. Instead, they are crazy. And so are his stats. Western Conference Player of the Week stats. Early-MVP-candidate stats.

132pm dec 8 2008