Game 64 Dirkie Thread: Who Deserves to Win?

[KillerLeft]

Who elevated their game to deserve tonight's Dirkie?

[dirkfansince1998]

I guess that is the kind of game where Gafford can shine. Gets my vote.

[KillerLeft]

I guess that is the kind of game where Gafford can shine. Gets my vote.

Yeah, his energy was the thing Detroit couldn't cope with in the end, and that's how the separation happened, imo.

[Smitty]

Gafford:
24 minutes
17 points
7 rebounds
4 blocks
7-7 FG
+22 (team high)

Daniel Gafford has made 19 straight field goals in the past three games, that is the longest consecutive field goals made in Mavs history.

Daniel Gafford (2023-24): 19
Dereck Lively II (2023-24): 18
Dwight Powell (2021-22): 18

Gafford leads the NBA in field goal percentage.

[ballsrchr]

I've always said that you need to win all the games you're suppose to win...and a few of those you're not. This was one of those games the Mavs are suppose to win. It's a trap game. First quarter I was thinking--Uh oh. Then it sort of settled down a bit.

P.J. Washington seems to be getting a little more comfortable in his role. I'm getting a little more comfortable with him. But not comfortable enough to give him my Dirkie.

DJJ has settled out to be consistent enough that I'm comfortable with him.

Gafford was in beast mode--and I'm comfortable with that. Do we see a pattern here?

Kyrie did his litlle ole' Kyrie thing. And I'm comfortable with that.

Luka! With his 5th triple double in a row. I'm more than comfortable with that.

THJ...I'm never comfortable with him. What the devil giveth, the devil can taketh. Ah...maybe it wasn't the devil, but you get what I'm saying.

Josh Green needs to take the stick by the end and beat somebody with it. Oh, no...not that end of the stick...

Dante Exum is a calming influence on the court. I wish he was an iron man so he could play more minutes.

Jady Hardy, Jaden Hardy. Come out, come out--to play... 8 points in 4 minutes. Somebody needs to be beat with that stinky end of the stick...and it's not Hardy.

Alright...my Dirkie goes to...man I hate to leave Luka out of this, but it is what being an mvp candidate will get you. My Dirkie goes to Gafford.

[MrGoat]

Gafford by a hair, I'm not even going to hold that little bit of shameless stat padding at the end by Luka against him, he was fantastic, too.

[The Jom]

Can’t believe I’m the only vote for Tim. He was wholly responsible for putting the game away. Checked in at the 2:41 mark of Q3 with a 9 point lead. Scored the remaining 9 points of the quarter and then hit 1 FG and assisted 2 more in the first 56 seconds of Q4. In that stretch, the Mavs outscored Detroit 16 to 2. And Tim scored 11 of the 16 as well as assisting the other 5.

From up 9 to up 23 in roughly 3 and a half minutes. At that point, the game was iced. And it was all Tim’s doing. Give that man his Dirkie.

[Smitty]

Can’t believe I’m the only vote for Tim. He was wholly responsible for putting the game away. Checked in at the 2:41 mark of Q3 with a 9 point lead. Scored the remaining 9 points of the quarter and then hit 1 FG and assisted 2 more in the first 56 seconds of Q4. In that stretch, the Mavs outscored Detroit 16 to 2. And Tim scored 11 of the 16 as well as assisting the other 5.

From up 9 to up 23 in roughly 3 and a half minutes. At that point, the game was iced. And it was all Tim’s doing. Give that man his Dirkie.

He did play well. Finally looked like an NBA player. I called it before tip. Can’t keep Timmy down forever. He even passed the ball a few times. Really nice to see.

Kidd is finally playing Tim correctly. He has 4 players to fill roughly 70 minutes at the 1-3 with Luka getting ~38 and Kyrie ~36. That’s 17 mpg for Exum, Green, DJJ, Hardaway. 

Green is usually the one who plays more than 17 most nights but depending on what the team needs and/or who’s playing well you can give more or less to each.

Tim Hardaway Jr in March
@ BOS 20 minutes
vs PHI 14 minutes
vs IND 13 minutes
vs MIA 20 minutes
@ DET 18 minutes

Exactly 17 mpg

[SleepingHero]

This was an interesting game. For the most part I felt that the Mavs were just playing lackadaisical and letting Detroit stay in it. Luka was shooting heat check 3s for most of the 1st quarter, dribbling off his foot multiple times, staring down refs, ya know, the whole Luka vs. bottom feeders experience.

But he found a way to lock in and just took over in the 2nd and 3rd. He's a magical player man. Can't give him the dirkie despite his historical record, but I'm thankful every time I get to watch this dude play basketball.


Kyrie had a similar loose performance. He took so many heat check shots from 3 early. His mid range was long and clanked. But he also found a groove and just poured it on. 29 minutes for him was something I was glad to see Kidd managed to limit him to.

Timmy finally had a game back to normal. He still shot some of the most inane bullshit, but this time it went in. He drew 2 4pt plays, but couldn't convert on either one. His defense was better in the sense that Detroit didn't make him look like a fool every moment he was on the court. Let's hope Timmy can build off of this.


PJ had a real quiet game offensively but man I'm starting to fall in love with this guy. He just plays his role so well. He played fantastic defense all game. He picked his spots when he got the ball. Most importantly he stood up for gafford. I love that!!!


Speaking of Gafford, my dirkie winner. We've been debating ad nauseam about his impact and whether he's truly worth his minutes. But honestly he's slowly becoming one of my favorite mavericks. He hustles like no other. His energy is infectious. He's one of the best big men this franchise has seen in years. We're just comparing him to Maxi who's truly a defensive unicorn and Lively, who unfortunately for gafford is just miles better. We've gone from a drought of big men to suddenly having a luxury of them. Make no mistake, gafford is an incredible big. He played a fantastic game tonight.


Overall good win from the team. I hope they can build some momentum cause Chicago is rolling and then they have a must win against Steph and the warriors.

[ThisIStheYear]

There’s a lot to like in this game, while understanding that all these great performance came against one of the worst teams in NBA history. Tim hit a few shots. Kyrie played defense. Jones made some high flying plays. Exum didn’t get hurt. But, my vote came down to this, it’s incredible when someone does something that no player in the history of the franchise has done. Well done Gafford. But, it’s even more incredible, practically overwhelmingly so, when someone does something that no one who has ever played the game, in the long history of basketball, has done. That’s a once in a lifetime moment. I voted for Luka. Any other situation would have been a Gafford vote.

[The Jom]

There’s a lot to like in this game, while understanding that all these great performance came against one of the worst teams in NBA history. Tim hit a few shots. Kyrie played defense. Jones made some high flying plays. Exum didn’t get hurt.  But, my vote came down to this, it’s incredible when someone does something that no player in the history of the franchise has done. Well done Gafford. But, it’s even more incredible, practically overwhelmingly so, when someone does something that no one who has ever played the game, in the long history of basketball, has done. That’s a once in a lifetime moment. I voted for Luka. Any other situation would have been a Gafford vote.

Well said, and very true. But it illustrates precisely why I didn’t vote for either of those guys. They did sensational things that they’ve been doing consistently over the past few games. (Hardaway was a huge plus instead of what’s become his usual minus.)

[mvossman]

He did play well. Finally looked like an NBA player. I called it before tip. Can’t keep Timmy down forever. He even passed the ball a few times. Really nice to see.

Kidd is finally playing Tim correctly. He has 4 players to fill roughly 70 minutes at the 1-3 with Luka getting ~38 and Kyrie ~36. That’s 17 mpg for Exum, Green, DJJ, Hardaway. 

Green is usually the one who plays more than 17 most nights but depending on what the team needs and/or who’s playing well you can give more or less to each.  

Tim Hardaway Jr in March
@ BOS 20 minutes
vs PHI 14 minutes
vs IND 13 minutes
vs MIA 20 minutes
@ DET 18 minutes

Exactly 17 mpg

I think there a little more minutes to go around. When PJ is not in the game and they are not going with two bigs, Luka or DJJ is playing the 4. 

I think Exum is like Maxi. You play him limited minutes in regular season and as much as you can in playoffs. 

I think Timmy will be useful offensive punch off the bench in playoffs if he is not overexposed (like what you are pointing out with his minutes). He has played well in the playoffs in the past which you can’t say about a lot of guys on this team

[KillerLeft]

Speaking of Gafford, my dirkie winner. We've been debating ad nauseam about his impact and whether he's truly worth his minutes. But honestly he's slowly becoming one of my favorite mavericks. He hustles like no other. His energy is infectious. He's one of the best big men this franchise has seen in years. We're just comparing him to Maxi who's truly a defensive unicorn and Lively, who unfortunately for gafford is just miles better. We've gone from a drought of big men to suddenly having a luxury of them. Make no mistake, gafford is an incredible big. He played a fantastic game tonight. 

I agree with this. Gafford's best quality is his energy, and that's a fairly rare quality in a big. 

Any criticism I offer for Gafford is solely about his salary and the cost to acquire him relative to the actual need the Mavericks had. I believe the value he brings to the table is pretty clear and that he's a desirable player. Nights like last night, when Lively was away from the team, are nights when he's REALLY going to help.

[SkenfromLMF]

Not that it is necessarily Lively or Maxi is made of glass, but Gafford’s best ability might just be availability.

I do find it crazy we have Luka setting records and Gafford is getting the Dirkie.

Need to have a debate like this against a quality opponent