NBA All-Star Weekend (re: dunk contest)

[theAlaskanBear]

Forgive me mods, if this needs to be on the OT board you all are welcome to shift it.

Anyone else watch the festivities last night? THe dunk contest opened with a ton of promise, but I thought that Ibaka got robbed in the first round. His past-the-free-throw-line was not only slammed on the first try, but farther than Michael Jordan AND Dr. J, whom both had feet below the free-throw line. AANNDD Ibaka is a 7-footer. That is nuts. Impressive. He only got a 45 for that dunk though.

My other complaint is that while you expect some showtime, Blake Griffin's last dunk was bull-hockey. It wasn't a special dunk, he didn't jump from very far out, he went over the car at it's lowest point (the front hood). It was all the choir and the 10 minutes it took to roll out that shiny car. BOOOO. That was his easiest dunk of the night.

To me, McGee didn't have enough force behind his dunks, and he took too long (most of his dunks took several attempts). They just weren't aesthetically appealing, though he did some technically difficult stuff. It would have been better with Ibaka or DeRozan vs Griffin.

[slower]

Forgive me mods, if this needs to be on the OT board you all are welcome to shift it.

Anyone else watch the festivities last night? THe dunk contest opened with a ton of promise, but I thought that Ibaka got robbed in the first round. His past-the-free-throw-line was not only slammed on the first try, but farther than Michael Jordan AND Dr. J, whom both had feet below the free-throw line. AANNDD Ibaka is a 7-footer. That is nuts. Impressive. He only got a 45 for that dunk though.

My other complaint is that while you expect some showtime, Blake Griffin's last dunk was bull-hockey. It wasn't a special dunk, he didn't jump from very far out, he went over the car at it's lowest point (the front hood). It was all the choir and the 10 minutes it took to roll out that shiny car. BOOOO. That was his easiest dunk of the night.

To me, McGee didn't have enough force behind his dunks, and he took too long (most of his dunks took several attempts). They just weren't aesthetically appealing, though he did some technically difficult stuff. It would have been better with Ibaka or DeRozan vs Griffin.

The whole thing was a (very) thinly disguised event staged for the benefit of Blake Griffin. His last dunk, and all that accompanied it, was such a pathetic display of vapid fluff that I turned off my TV. Not to mention the pathetic raving of Kenny Smith, who seems to think that he's articulate.

What a disgusting spectacle. At least Chuck had the stones to tell it like it was.

[SuperTurkey]

The whole thing was a (very) thinly disguised event staged for the benefit of Blake Griffin. His last dunk, and all that accompanied it, was such a pathetic display of vapid fluff that I turned off my TV. Not to mention the pathetic raving of Kenny Smith, who seems to think that he's articulate.

What a disgusting spectacle. At least Chuck had the stones to tell it like it was.

I think you're taking it a bit too seriously. Yes, it was fluff. It's a slam dunk contest. That's what it is, and that's what it's always been. TNT's Lost Dunks segment earlier in the night showcased just how unfair judging has been throughout history: there have been plenty of dunks that went unrewarded because a tiny person was dunking and the taller dunker was penalized, a heavy fan favorite skewed the competition, an impressive dunk wasn't adequately sold by the participant, etc. There's never been a trustworthy, objective basis for scoring. But if you can get past that, the spectacle itself is usually enjoyable. And I thought last night's contest was plenty fun.

As for Kenny, his over-the-top theatrics have enough self-referential tongue-in-cheek to them that he was almost definitely going for faux-articulation. His interplay with Blake, where Blake claimed that Kenny had done nothing for the team but bluster, was a lot of fun.

I agree with the OP that Ibaka got robbed and Blake's final dunk wasn't that impressive. The dunk over the car probably had the greatest potential for injury, though, so it deserves some credit for daring. But, most importantly, jumping over the car was a good show, and that's what wins.

[ajgoodfella7]

I think you're taking it a bit too seriously. Yes, it was fluff. It's a slam dunk contest. That's what it is, and that's what it's always been. TNT's Lost Dunks segment earlier in the night showcased just how unfair judging has been throughout history: there have been plenty of dunks that went unrewarded because a tiny person was dunking and the taller dunker was penalized, a heavy fan favorite skewed the competition, an impressive dunk wasn't adequately sold by the participant, etc. There's never been a trustworthy, objective basis for scoring. But if you can get past that, the spectacle itself is usually enjoyable. And I thought last night's contest was plenty fun.

As for Kenny, his over-the-top theatrics have enough self-referential tongue-in-cheek to them that he was almost definitely going for faux-articulation. His interplay with Blake, where Blake claimed that Kenny had done nothing for the team but bluster, was a lot of fun.

I agree with the OP that Ibaka got robbed and Blake's final dunk wasn't that impressive. The dunk over the car probably had the greatest potential for injury, though, so it deserves some credit for daring. But, most importantly, jumping over the car was a good show, and that's what wins.

I personally thought DeRozan's 2nd dunk was by far the best dunk of the night. There were some other pretty dunks, but it seemed like everyone was taking 5 attempts each time before they could finally get one to fall, which took a lot away IMO.

[rthomas]

I think you're taking it a bit too seriously. Yes, it was fluff. It's a slam dunk contest. That's what it is, and that's what it's always been. TNT's Lost Dunks segment earlier in the night showcased just how unfair judging has been throughout history: there have been plenty of dunks that went unrewarded because a tiny person was dunking and the taller dunker was penalized, a heavy fan favorite skewed the competition, an impressive dunk wasn't adequately sold by the participant, etc. There's never been a trustworthy, objective basis for scoring. But if you can get past that, the spectacle itself is usually enjoyable. And I thought last night's contest was plenty fun.

As for Kenny, his over-the-top theatrics have enough self-referential tongue-in-cheek to them that he was almost definitely going for faux-articulation. His interplay with Blake, where Blake claimed that Kenny had done nothing for the team but bluster, was a lot of fun.

I agree with the OP that Ibaka got robbed and Blake's final dunk wasn't that impressive. The dunk over the car probably had the greatest potential for injury, though, so it deserves some credit for daring. But, most importantly, jumping over the car was a good show, and that's what wins.

I laughed out loud when the choir came out. It reminded me of wrestling.

[InSpades]

I thought it was really awful. The amount of time in-between dunks was excessive. The props were too much. As it is the things that these guys can do is ridiculously amazing. I thought Griffin's 1st dunk was awesome (the 360 dunk). The jumping over the car thing? The only impressive part of it to me is that he didn't injure himself. Griffin really didn't deserve to win but of course he did. I remember really liking the dunk contest in the past but this was pretty uninteresting to me.

[ajgoodfella7]

I thought it was really awful. The amount of time in-between dunks was excessive. The props were too much. As it is the things that these guys can do is ridiculously amazing. I thought Griffin's 1st dunk was awesome (the 360 dunk). The jumping over the car thing? The only impressive part of it to me is that he didn't injure himself. Griffin really didn't deserve to win but of course he did. I remember really liking the dunk contest in the past but this was pretty uninteresting to me.

All I kept thinking every time Griffin started to jump was that he was going to break his ankles. For some reason, his play always looks so dangerous, even in a exhibition dunk contest. I know that the Clippers brass had to be extremely nervous last night watching him.

[SuperTurkey]

All I kept thinking every time Griffin started to jump was that he was going to break his ankles. For some reason, his play always looks so dangerous, even in a exhibition dunk contest. I know that the Clippers brass had to be extremely nervous last night watching him.

Evidently they were (http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=6141105).

[YourLandlord]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEgcml1Wx1w

This kid is trying to make the college dunk contest.