darthska
Staff member
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Osh Kosh Bosh:
How about Kenyon Martin, another dude with a career rebounding rate lower than Dirk, never here whispers about his toughness, or Rasheed Wallace and on Jason Kidd, I totally disagree, is he John Wall? No. But he def at least an above average athlete and is bigger and stronger than 90% of point guards. It's insulting to my intelligence and Jason Kidds talent to suggest that the only reason he gets board is because he is the only one trying. smiley: laugh
"Soft" is almost always just a intellectually lazy copout argument.
Plus if you just look at defensive rebounding and ignore offensive (Dirk shoots 3's so he has a harder time grabbing offensive rebounds.) Dirk has a higher rate than Luis Scola, Serge Ibaka, Anderson Varejoa, Mcdysse, Nazr Mohammed, and equal too Birdman, Drew Gooden, Kendrik Perkins.
Soooo...again I think there are for more logical explanations for Dirks lack of rebounds than "softness"
When I think of Kenyon Martin, I think of dunks in traffic, power dribbles to the basket, and altered shots in traffic... but the reason I think of him as tougher than Dirk is mainly because he's black; you're absolutely right. Has nothing to do with the fact that Dirk literally does NONE of those things consistently, almost to the point of 'never'. Nope. Has nothing to do with that. It's just because KMart is black and Dirk is white. End of story. You nailed it.
Birdman? I think of blocks, block attempts, altered shots, and rebounds in traffic. No, not a blocking machine like Hakeem, or a rebounding nut like Rodman, but I think of a guy in traffic fighting for boards and trying to alter shots. But the reason I think of him as tougher than Dirk, again, is because he's bla... wait, no that doesn't work with this one. Hmmm... well then why the hell is it that I think of him as tougher than Dirk? It's not that he's black, it's not their actual play on the court. What the hell? I'm confused.
Maybe... just MAYBE... it' because when I think of 5 things Dirk brings to the table, the first three are 'Jump shots', 'Shooting', and 'Making it rain', but when I think of other guys with a reputation for being tough (or at least tougher than him), I think of some kind of combination of BLOCKED/ALTERED SHOTS, REBOUNDS ON THE DEFENSIVE & OFFENSIVE END, and going TO the basket instead of AWAY from it.
And just because Dirk gets rebounds doesn't mean he's a rebounder. But even if he were known as a glass cleaner... ok... how about using that height to affect some shots under the rim? Sure, every once in a blue moon, he'll step in the paint to affect someone's attempt on a drive real quick... and I mean REAL QUICK... then it's right back out of the paint like he's stepping on coals.
He shoots jump shots and he dabbles in the paint. Period. Kidd is shorter, plays a position that doesn't typically grab rebounds, and he's like 5 years older... and Dirk barely averages a couple boards more than him? Soft.
He's not going to shed that. It's not a stereotype; it's his rep.
I'm more than willing for him to prove me wrong tonight. Hell, Gasol is soft, too, in my opinion. Tougher than when he first joined the Lakers, but still soft, and he irritates the hell out of me sometimes with his refusal to BODY people the way Bynum does. Maybe with Dirk and Pau matched up, we'll see which one can stay out of the paint more and come out looking less... soft.
