NBA, NBA Draft / Jun 20, 2008 / 11:11 am

1998 Draft: Paul Pierce vs. Dirk Nowitzki – Who Would You Take?

By Dime Magazine

There are actually legitimate points to argue in favor of Dirk, but as Celtics Blog points out today, the last few weeks have put any argument to rest.

Tags: dirk nowitzki, NBA Draft, nba finals, paul pierce

Posted in NBA, NBA Draft |

22 Responses to “1998 Draft: Paul Pierce vs. Dirk Nowitzki – Who Would You Take?”

1. June 20th, 2008 at 11:12 am

   Uhm... says:

   True

2. June 20th, 2008 at 11:17 am

   rangerjohn says:

   pierce hands down!!!!!!!

3. June 20th, 2008 at 11:20 am

   fallinup says:

   I’ll take Pierce’s ability to get to the basket, defense, and leadership over Dirk’s one sided game and tongue wagging any day.

   But if Pierce can sing Hasslehoff’s “Freedom” song when he goes to the line, we can have the best of both worlds!!!

4. June 20th, 2008 at 11:59 am

   Ashlov says:

   How do you say ‘choke’ in German? Pierce all the way.

5. June 20th, 2008 at 12:29 pm

   Jason says:

   Umm, put Allen and Garnett on Dirk’s team with good coaching. Wouldn’t you expect that team to win a championship? What is the difference?

6. June 20th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

   Jim says:

   This is one week revisionism. I think it’s close, but I still go with Dirk.

7. June 20th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

   rangerjohn says:

   jason
   1st dirk would not be able to co-exist with ray allen or garnett, garnett plays the same possition, and ray allen and dirk would be standing in the same spot on the floor while fighting over 3 pointers

8. June 20th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

   Celts Fan says:

   With my admittedly EXTREMELY homer view on this, I’d say Pierce. Dirk’s shed the soft label (throwing his team on his back w/ the one really bad ankle to get them into the Playoffs did that for me. all heart.) but he’ll never be a good defender and isn’t very cluth. Pierce is better all around, but it’s close. If you could put Dirk next to someone like Marcus Camby or Tyson Chandler (a guy that can OWN the paint defensively) he’d be even better. He’s been doing his thing next to Eric Dampier (or “Erica” as Shaq pretty accurately likes to call him.)

9. June 20th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

   Damon says:

   choke in german: “versagen”
   I would translate it that way…
   before the playoffs, i would have chosen dirk, even though i have to admit my guy lost 2 VERY importnant series.
   but now I’m not sure. pierce didn’t play like game 7 against CLE or some games against DET or LA all the time.

   BTW: how would dirk stand on the same spot as allen?
   cmon now, he doesn’t shoot that many threes, and even if he did, aren’t there other spots?
   but I know where you come from ranger, playing on the perimter and all. but i still think it could work.

10. June 20th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    JOB33 says:

    Best way to end this debate, I’d say, would be to pose the question: Who would you give the ball to with the game on the line? P-Dos all the way. And, it don’t hurt the PP plays d, he came out and said he wanted to guard Kobe in their come-from-behind win.(pretty sure it was that game) I can’t see Dirk d’ing up, and holding his own, on KG. Or for that matter, even coming forward to tell his coach he wants to guard their best player while they were in the hole.

11. June 20th, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    BlazeMcHerbs says:

    One led his team to a championship.
    The other has been surrounded by good players his whole career. He’s also been surrounded by repeat failure so far.
    Pierce hands down. The ring never lies when you’ve led your squad to it. Finals MVPs is the real trophy, you gotta make it to the finals and then play your ass off to deserve it. Wade, Billups, Pierce, all truly showed their worth, they’re champions.

12. June 20th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

    Shuttlesworth says:

    Pierce drives into traffic, creates contact and finishes the play… He’s a 4th quarter closer and has proven that he can, at times, carry his team and actually bring them back from the brink of destruction!!

    Dirk shys away from contact and always fades away on his shot/last shot attempts… time and time again, he’s proven that he can’t be counted on when it’s time to bring back his team or finish the game…

    Pierce period.

13. June 20th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    johnsacrimoni says:

    rangerjohn,
    I don’t know which Dirk you were watching this year but he actually doesn’t shoot that many 3s anymore..Pierce took way more 3s than Dirk did this year

14. June 20th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    jimmhumm says:

    I’d take the BUCK’s GM’s head and smash it for trading dirk for robert traylor.

15. June 20th, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    NB says:

    What is this, shit on Dirk Day? Geez! Anyway, Paul Pierce definitely raised his stock level by outplaying Kobe in the Finals. But I wonder, if Pierce was in the same draft with Kobe, would the same article come up? And whoever said that Dirk can’t hold his own against KG, they need to go check the records. Dirk has consistently outplayed KG every single playoff series they had. And in the regular season too. I’ve never seen one player get so much hate spewed at them for being good, but failing to win it all.

16. June 20th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    pimpin says:

    if dirk didnt get traded he would have been out the league years ago. The bucks would have forced him to play with his back to the basket, he would have been terrible and that would be that. Like a lot of NBA players, the situation you enter when you start out can have a huge impact on your career. There’s prolly a dozen “busts” in the past 5 years alone that would not have been busts if they had entered the league in a better situation than they did.

17. June 20th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

    Celts Fan says:

    @NB, pretty sure whoever said that meant he couldn’t guard KG, which is true.

18. June 20th, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    JOB33 says:

    Yeah, Celts Fan.
    I wasn’t talking about outplaying him, I was talking about a head-to-head matchup with him. And it’s not that I’m saying KG would outscore and outrebound him, I’m just saying you bet ya ass KG would make Dirk work for his, whereas Dirk isn’t exactly known for his defense. Bottom line: Dirk might outscore KG, but I don’t think by much and u know Dirk is gonna have put in OT to get his. KG does more all-around than Dirk. Don’t get it twisted though, I like Dirk. I just can’t envision him posting on the block, even if he has before. The word Dirk coincides with pick and pop. All I think about when I think of Dirk is a 7 ft jump shooter. And like my coach used to say, it don’t matter if u score 30 points when u don’t play D and give up 31.

19. June 20th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    doc says:

    Im taking The Truth.Dirk only stop taking treys because Avery wasnt having that shit.

20. June 23rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    ash says:

    wow, dirk cant hold his own against kg?

    i guess people forget the 2001 series where KG had billups and wally and was swept by dirk.

    kg avg 24 and 15. dirk averaged 34 and 14. yep cant hold his own.

    dirk’s career playoff numbers are higher than KG in every category except rebounding.

    paul had 25 wins last season and cant get his team into the playoffs half the time in the EASTERN conference. pathetic.

    KG had billups, brandon, marbury, wally, sam, spree, as some of his teammates and he has been past the 1st round once in minny. yep, what a leader.

    paul plays better defense no doubt, but dirk is a better shooter and a better player. before this year, please list ALL the clutch shots that pp has hit

21. June 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm

    ash says:

    fyi:

    dirk
    25ppg, 11 rpg, 2.5 apg, 88pct ft, 38pct 3’s

    pp
    22ppg, 7rpg, 4.5apg, 81pct ft, 32pct 3’s

22. June 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    dagwaller says:

    Jason and Jim said it first, ash said it best. Dirk is a more unique and skilled player that has been the featured player on a team that has been bad what – ONCE?! – in his entire career. Pierce is a good player that I like, respect, and am happy for, but Dirk was an MVP last year. It’s a contest, but it’s not as close as some people are making it to be.

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