*the winners from day one in voting were announced earlier today in Smack. Voting for the Kevin Durant/Monta Ellis matchup will continue until 1 p.m. EST today. And don’t bother voting a million times (as some inexplicably have)…only one vote for each will count*
I’m not going to lie – if I faced Dirk in a game of one-on-one, I’d be frightened. Just the knowledge that there’s potentially nothing you can do to alter your opponent’s shot has to be the ultimate deflator. Even worse, Dirk chooses bad shots. Like the ones your middle school coach made you run suicides for taking. Any time we hear the phrase “good defense, better offense,” it’s really just saying “good defense, but this guy is just really good and can actually make shots Sam Cassell thought he could make.”
That’s why I think the height mismatch won’t matter in this one. Ginobili may be giving up six inches, but that’s not going to alter Dirk’s shot selection. Nor will it bother him any less than the outstretched hands of Joel Anthony. Dirk will get his, and that will be that. Just like I’m going to eat Honey Nut Cheerios every morning for breakfast. It’s just the way things are, so don’t even bother.
It’s on the other end of the floor, the one where Dirk actually has to guard a functioning basketball human being, that this matchup will be won or lost. It must have been nice in the Finals when he could focus on ruining LeBron‘s life even more as Joel Anthony ran around the court with his pleasantly surprising still-trying-to-make-the-team exuberance. Clearly Manu won’t give Dirk that luxury. Play too far off and he’ll knock down the jumper. Crowd him too much and he’ll use that Argentinean razzle-dazzle to slither his way to the hoop. Razzle-dazzle, you ask? That’s basically the only way I can describe it. One of my life goals is to pinpoint exactly what it is about Manu that makes him so effective. Every once in a while he breaks out the fancy behind-the-back or smooth split-the-double-team crossover, but otherwise I don’t really know what’s going on. He’s the kind of player that drops 25 when you thought it was 15.
If it comes down to the wire, both players will lock it down. Both Manu and Dirk have proven their worth in the 4th, so it’s really a matter of who blinks first. Or, if the score is 14-14, then it’s just a case of who has the ball.
Of all the 1st round matchups, this is the one that baffles me the most. Dirk’s height could prove to be too much, but so could Manu’s quickness. Dirk could shoot lights out or he could repeat the 1st half of Game 6 of the Finals. I guess that’s why I’m not the one deciding who wins.
Jay Bilas: “The Committee puts the foreign guys against each other in the First Round? What? Is that the standard bracketing procedure? Dirk’s size and ability to score over Manu would be the separating factor. Manu would have to make too many perimeter shots to win, and Dirk will be able to put Manu into a position to foul more often, increasing Dirk’s chances to win. I like Dirk in this one.”
*also vote for Kevin Durant/Monta Ellis*
Follow Dylan on Twitter at @DylanBotB.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
