But I think the biggest knock on Dirk is that he far too often leads by example only, instead of having that chip on his shoulder with not only his opponent, but his teammates and coach as well. It is having both these qualities working for you at the same time that has benefited the likes of Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, etc.

Thing is though, its not like he’s not capable of doing this. We have seen him do it before. I remember specifically when he got pissed at Damp a few years ago, called him out, and Damp responded. I wish he would do that with Josh, Jet and Stack right now. Those are the guys who are killing us, not Dirk.

Though this series will be determined by the play of the “Other Three” (Jet, Josh, Kidd), any failure this post season will inevitably fall on Dirk’s shoulders again. Not because of his performance, but because he couldnt get the rest of the team to perform at a higher level.

He has to do it in a way though, so he doesnt come across like he is attacking them, AND he needs to do it in a way where he get results out of them. Anyone can yell or call out someone for not performing/coaching, its doing it and yeilding results out of them that is difficult to do.

If Dirk has a knock on him right now, its that. Everything else that comes along with being a superstar has fallen into place already at this point in his career. (well, that and a championship)

I think people often get caught up in all the other stuff going on with this team that they sort become numb to how good Dirk really is.

There were times this season, that I suddenly remembered Dirk was the reigning MVP and thought, “Wow, that’s awesome.” Then the pessimist in me started thinking, “God, I hope we don’t waste this window…”