What's new
By:

George Karl would take Dirk Nowtizki over Charles Barkley and Karl Malone

Chad Feldheimer

Chad Feldheimer

Well-Known Member
Reaction Jazz fans

Has Dirk passed Karl on the all-time greats list?

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl joined the show to talk about NBA playoffs and more.

Dan asked Karl how do you stop Dirk Nowitzki. ”When he’s playing like he did last night, there might be nothing you can do,” Karl said. “I still think you’re going to have to play him straight up most of the time.” Karl suggested making him go right and make him put the ball on the floor.

Dan asked Karl if he’s a top 10 all-time player. Karl said in his time, Nowitzki is in the top three or four of all time. He’d probably put him above Karl Malone and Charles Barkley. He said Malone was a close comparison to Dirk.
Click to expand...

https://www.danpatrick.com/2011/05/18/george-karl-says-nowitzki-among-top-forward-hes-ever-seen/
 
Meh. Dirk fever is all the rage and the perceived worth of accomplishments fades with the passage of time. Does anyone talk about how many championships Russell won anymore? But plenty would probably argue he is not even a top 10 center anymore. This too shall pass.
 
It's hard to say, if Dirk can keep his dominance into his mid to late 30's though like Malone did and still be making deep playoff runs, its possible.
 
Also, there is more you can do defensively. Try double teaming him and not fouling him all the time. Make him make shots, or make him pass. Anything is better than sending him to the line 23 times.
 
Keep in mind George Karl hates the Jazz from all the way back to Supersonic days. Maybe before that.
 
I would put Perkins on him, tell him to man him up as close as possible without fouling. If he gets pass him off the bounce the rotations have to come in fast.
 
Barkley and Malone were better players, but the 2011 NBA as it is now might give Dirk the edge. No handchecking, so put your hand on Dirk's hip when he faces up and it's a foul. 5-second backdown rule so Barkley can't pound the ball inside like he did in his prime. No illegal defense so you can front Malone in the post and zone him from behind. The NBA has tried to take away the physicality of the game - and Karl/Chuck were two of the most physical players of their era. Dirk's a HOF and once in a decade player - but you let a Rodman, a Mahorn, a Pippen, a Derrick McKey handcheck and bump him and he might be a 20&10 guy instead of 25&10.
 
Dwill_PwnasaurasRex said:
I would put Perkins on him, tell him to man him up as close as possible without fouling. If he gets pass him off the bounce the rotations have to come in fast.
Click to expand...

Perkins is too slow. Dirk got around Ibaka with ease all night, Perkins would look like he was standing in cement. It would lead to too many uncontested midrange jump shots.
 
vslice02 said:
Barkley and Malone were better players, but the 2011 NBA as it is now might give Dirk the edge. No handchecking, so put your hand on Dirk's hip when he faces up and it's a foul. 5-second backdown rule so Barkley can't pound the ball inside like he did in his prime. No illegal defense so you can front Malone in the post and zone him from behind. The NBA has tried to take away the physicality of the game - and Karl/Chuck were two of the most physical players of their era. Dirk's a HOF and once in a decade player - but you let a Rodman, a Mahorn, a Pippen, a Derrick McKey handcheck and bump him and he might be a 20&10 guy instead of 25&10.
Click to expand...

I'm just calling this game "Basket" because there ain't no balls in it anymore.
cubanhand.jpg
 
LogGrad98 said:
Meh. Dirk fever is all the rage and the perceived worth of accomplishments fades with the passage of time. Does anyone talk about how many championships Russell won anymore? But plenty would probably argue he is not even a top 10 center anymore. This too shall pass.
Click to expand...

What moron would argue Russell is not a top 10 center anymore?
 
I would take Dirk too for 3 reasons:

A - because the other guys are pretty old now.
2- I played NBA Jam at Best Buy and used my code to get all 3.... and Dirk was definitely better.
D - Dirk just sounds tougher than Karl and Charles... what's a Karl, and what's a Charles anyways.. and while I'm at it... what's a Tim?

Wait, scratch all that, I would take Jimmer. Jimmer Trump's all.
 
My how people forget how good the great ones used to be.

Now any guard that can jump is considered MJ. Any big that can score considered Malone or Shaq. And any guard that can pass good is Stockton or Magic.

Just today on PTI they called Lebron the best prospect to come out in the draft in the past 25 years. Really? Is this the same Lebron that has zero rings and the Tmac ability to fade away come playoff time? The same guy that chickened out of Cleveland to be bailed out by 2 other all-stars? Best prospect? Over Shaq, Duncan, Wade, Drose, Kobe, Durant, and Dirk?

Surround Malone with Peja, Terry, Marion, JJ Barea, and Tyson Chandler instead of Felton Spencer, Bruss, Tom Chambers, Howard Eisley, and I think we'd all be surprised on how good he really was.
 
Malone is better because he played both ways. Can you imagine what Karl would do offensively if guys couldn't hand check him. Karl played with less talent too.
 
cowhide said:
Malone is better because he played both ways. Can you imagine what Karl would do offensively if guys couldn't hand check him. Karl played with less talent too.
Click to expand...

yeh Mailman's defense seems to be underrated. Just watched him do a pretty good job on prime david robinson.
 
This confirms Karl's retardation. Who on this list is Dirk better than?

Michael Jordan, Kareem, Hakeem, Bill Russell.
 
The Thriller said:
My how people forget how good the great ones used to be.

Now any guard that can jump is considered MJ. Any big that can score considered Malone or Shaq. And any guard that can pass good is Stockton or Magic.

Just today on PTI they called Lebron the best prospect to come out in the draft in the past 25 years. Really? Is this the same Lebron that has zero rings and the Tmac ability to fade away come playoff time? The same guy that chickened out of Cleveland to be bailed out by 2 other all-stars? Best prospect? Over Shaq, Duncan, Wade, Drose, Kobe, Durant, and Dirk?

Surround Malone with Peja, Terry, Marion, JJ Barea, and Tyson Chandler instead of Felton Spencer, Bruss, Tom Chambers, Howard Eisley, and I think we'd all be surprised on how good he really was.
Click to expand...

Bravo! Well said!

Go ahead and compare and contrast

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonka01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nowitdi01.html

Its not even close. Malone is way better. (Malone while his career is declining has better numbers than Dirk had in his prime.)
 
Last edited:
I was wondering about this yesterday when I was considering that Dirk might be making his second Finals appearance this year. I think the conversation is valid, but I still have to go with Malone. Dirk is great, no question, and he has some skills that Malone and Barkley don't. But I still take Malone over him. Dirk has accomplished less (personal statistics and from a team standpoint) despite having an owner who has brought in serious talent. Given his teams over the years, I think he should have accomplished more than he has.

This is just another example of current players (in any age) seeming even better than they are. We watch them and get caught up in the emotion of a great game NOW, and the memory doesn't quite give full credit to guys who played 10+ years ago.

Biggs said:
Keep in mind George Karl hates the Jazz from all the way back to Supersonic days. Maybe before that.
Click to expand...
Before. George Karl was coaching Golden State in 1987 when there was a post-game brouhaha after game 2 of the playoffs. He ended up running into the stands after a fan, and I think his dislike of the Jazz has been around at least that long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top