I find nothing wrong with Nate Robinson in the dunk contest.
He put in his effort. There is only so much dunks a bloke his height can do. And if the other players brought there A-game maybe it could have been something to watch.
True, I think Kenny said something like “Nate came with his A game but his B game won it.”
Here’s the deal: DeRozan’s first dunk was actually quite impressive, he just didn’t sell it. Gerald Wallace got robbed in '02 but had no business out there last night. He just didn’t care. Shannon Brown is a game dunker, and nothing more. Nate Robinson can do some things but he shouldn’t have won ANY of the years he did.
Also, Lebron James has no business in a dunk contest. He is strictly a game dunker. Shannon Brown actually kicked his ass in the McD’s contest in '03, but the judges gave James the win because he’s Lebron James. James is not a creative dunker. Anything he’d do we’ve already seen him do in a game.
Allowing people [TFB, D-leaguers, etc…] isn’t the answer either. The only good having James in would do is bring back the “star power” it once had. I really don’t care about that. It’s about bringing out the best dunkers and having them go at it. Also, fuck this 4 man dunk off shit. Go back to 8, then a 4 man semi, then a 2 man final. Give James White a call-up and have him tell everyone they’re competing for second. Get Joe Alexander out there. He has vids of him smacking his head against the rim just to show off. Get JR Smith out there. He can do a behind the back 360. Get Brandon Jennings or Will Bynum out there. Both are little guys with serious bounce. Shit, so is Mike Taylor. Bring back Gerald Green. Tell DeRozan to not sleep walk through it. He can do some serious things. Bring in Nick Young. Bring in Bill Walker. Before his [2nd] acl tear at K-Sate he ws considerd the next VC. In his limited playing time with the Celts he’s crushed on a handful of people. Dwight Howard needs to be out there. Sure he’s full of shit [12 ft my ass] but he’s a showman, and he’s brought fresh air to the contest. Chase Buddinger has some nice dunks, as does Gerald Henderson. Iguodala needs to get back in and avenge his robbery, as does the aforementioned JR Smith.
Take any of those eight [as long as White and Alexander stay] and you have a monster contest. The NBA needs to shake things up, 'cause last night was truely awful.
Also, did ya’ll hear Paul Pierce call himself one of the best shooters in NBA history? I read an article in SLAM right after his recovery from being stabbed and he said he wanted to go down as the best player of all-time. He clearly suffers from delusions of grandeur, or at the very least an inflated self worth.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Also, Lebron James has no business in a dunk contest. He is strictly a game dunker. Shannon Brown actually kicked his ass in the McD’s contest in '03, but the judges gave James the win because he’s Lebron James. James is not a creative dunker. Anything he’d do we’ve already seen him do in a game.
Allowing people [TFB, D-leaguers, etc…] isn’t the answer either. The only good having James in would do is bring back the “star power” it once had. I really don’t care about that. It’s about bringing out the best dunkers and having them go at it. Also, fuck this 4 man dunk off shit. Go back to 8, then a 4 man semi, then a 2 man final. Give James White a call-up and have him tell everyone they’re competing for second. Get Joe Alexander out there. He has vids of him smacking his head against the rim just to show off. Get JR Smith out there. He can do a behind the back 360. Get Brandon Jennings or Will Bynum out there. Both are little guys with serious bounce. Shit, so is Mike Taylor. Bring back Gerald Green. Tell DeRozan to not sleep walk through it. He can do some serious things. Bring in Nick Young. Bring in Bill Walker. Before his [2nd] acl tear at K-Sate he ws considerd the next VC. In his limited playing time with the Celts he’s crushed on a handful of people. Dwight Howard needs to be out there. Sure he’s full of shit [12 ft my ass] but he’s a showman, and he’s brought fresh air to the contest. Chase Buddinger has some nice dunks, as does Gerald Henderson. Iguodala needs to get back in and avenge his robbery, as does the aforementioned JR Smith.
Take any of those eight [as long as White and Alexander stay] and you have a monster contest. The NBA needs to shake things up, 'cause last night was truely awful.[/quote]
Some great points here.
I totally agree with all of you. Worst contest ever! But its been a sinking ship for at least a decade. It was going downhill fast before Vince put on his performance and breathed some bigtime life into it. But since then it’s gotten steadily worse. I truly think its dead now. Lets face it, without a huge (at least $1,000,000) cash prize to the winner or his charity the big stars are not going to do it, period. Maybe they truly open it up and invite Globetrotters, D-Leagues, even the And One tour guys and have an us vs. them contest.
Flash your nba knowledge is blowing my mind right now.
But yes, there are two ways of bringing the dunk contest out of the sphere of mediocrity without bringing in parties outside the nba. Like bodyguard mentioned, bring in the star power and solidify a meaning to the dunk contest once again. Or the second idea like flash just said; change the format and bring in more guys and bring in guys that can put on a show. I prefer the latter b/ it would provide more quality dunks. Even though some of the dudes flash mentioned are so far in down the bench that they might be thought of as shadows they have the ability to provide that much needed spark back. I mean these dudes are virtual unknowns in terms of being pros although they are pros so they have something to prove. The competition factor, theoretically, should be there.
This year we had hyped up dunkers who the fans knew could dunk and jump IN GAME so we expected a lot. Next year let em bring in guys the fans wouldn’t have seen before.
[quote]Crow wrote:
I totally agree with all of you. Worst contest ever! But its been a sinking ship for at least a decade. It was going downhill fast before Vince put on his performance and breathed some bigtime life into it. But since then it’s gotten steadily worse. I truly think its dead now. Lets face it, without a huge (at least $1,000,000) cash prize to the winner or his charity the big stars are not going to do it, period. Maybe they truly open it up and invite Globetrotters, D-Leagues, even the And One tour guys and have an us vs. them contest.[/quote]
Jason Richardson put on some damn good shows, and Desmond Mason did as well. The thing is there are some really good dunkers out there, but most of the potential competitors have to think “what’s the point?” when they know the league is just gonna automatically usher the more poular players into the finals. JR Smith should’ve gone to the finals over Robinson last year, but that would’ve stopped the “kryptoNate” vs “Superman” showdown. Iguodala beat Robinson, but the judges still gave Robinson high scores after it took him 14 tries to make his dunk, etc… Robinson is a helluva dunker and freak athlete, but getting away with shit no one else would be able to just 'cause you’re a fan favorite is bullshit. The league [cough, David Stern, cough] need to stop playing favorites and start letting dunkers dunk.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
Flash your nba knowledge is blowing my mind right now.
But yes, there are two ways of bringing the dunk contest out of the sphere of mediocrity without bringing in parties outside the nba. Like bodyguard mentioned, bring in the star power and solidify a meaning to the dunk contest once again. Or the second idea like flash just said; change the format and bring in more guys and bring in guys that can put on a show. I prefer the latter b/ it would provide more quality dunks. Even though some of the dudes flash mentioned are so far in down the bench that they might be thought of as shadows they have the ability to provide that much needed spark back. I mean these dudes are virtual unknowns in terms of being pros although they are pros so they have something to prove. The competition factor, theoretically, should be there.
This year we had hyped up dunkers who the fans knew could dunk and jump IN GAME so we expected a lot. Next year let em bring in guys the fans wouldn’t have seen before.[/quote]
The thing is, the dunk contest used to be the apex of All-Star weekend. That was due to the star power, and the fact that the best players were also the best dunkers. If this were 5 years ago that’d still be the case. Now, you have James [who I repeat is not a contest dunker] and Kobe [God I wish he’d have done a contest against VC. His hops and creativity got so much better around his 3rd or 4th year] as the top players in the league, but as Bodyguard mentioned there’s no real incentive for 'em. Puting the best dunkers out there [regardless of “class”] would 1. Allow for the best contest. That is the most important thing, and 2.Expose a broader base of fans to players that they probably weren’t aware of. That would be great for the league as a whole, and obviously great for those unknown players. If they went back to the old format and started with 8 contestants it allow for so much more creativity, and it would [hopefully] cut down on the bullshit that’s dominated the contest recently. I don’t give a fuck about pom poms or phone booths. I care about dunks, and to get the best dunks you need to have the best dunkers. After that everything pretty much takes care of itself.
I think they’ve got a wheelchair for that.
Yeah I miss being 14-15 and watching the dunk contest in those days …
Man. I never get tired of VC’s 360 windmill. It just might be the most beautiful contest dunk ever performed.
I was gonna mention J Rich he was so close to winning the third but blew the bounce to himself under the legs 360 and was super close to the 360 elbow in the rim.
Flash you can’t base how LBJ would do off of the McDonalds contest he’d come up with some good stuff.
[quote]drewh wrote:
I was gonna mention J Rich he was so close to winning the third but blew the bounce to himself under the legs 360 and was super close to the 360 elbow in the rim.
Flash you can’t base how LBJ would do off of the McDonalds contest he’d come up with some good stuff. [/quote]
The thing with that James dunk is the most exciting part was the behind the back pass to himself while he was still on the ground. The dunk itself was just a simple one handed dunk. I’m telling you, his bag of tricks is pretty shallow.
I wish Carter would’ve come in and challenged Richardson at least once. That woulda blown Nique vs Jordan outta the water.
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
Guys, I’ll tell you what I think. I think these guys are now overpaid and there is no economic incentive for them to compete at this. And somewhat, they are disrespecting the game.
Remember when the likes of Erving, Wilkins, et als would go at it in a dunk contest for bragging rights? Those guys wanted to win, show their stuff, get their name out there. These guys? Guys on the bench are making more than what Erving and those guys made. They have no incentive. The Kobes, Lebrons - all of them should be WANTING to compete and win. The contest no longer has any prestige, because these guys don’t compete…and its been this way for a while. At this point, it would be a better contest with hungry d-leaguers that want to make a name for themselves. [/quote]
Practically hit the nail on the head with this one, except I don’t even think people would want to watch D-Leaguers.
LeBron, Kobe, Dwayne Wade all belong at some point in the dunk contest if it’s going to be fun. They bring fans hype and anticipation. There are people out there who can really jump but no one gets hyped up to see them. The problem with this is energy. Good hops is one thing, but extra adrenaline can make you do some sick shit, when there is no energy in the building because some 2 ndstring player is about to dunk, he is just not going to perform as well. It’s like comparing a championship game to a regular season game.
The other thing they need to do is get rid of old dunk elite judges. Old people are always going to think they were better or well I did that before, who wants to risk being judged by that? That’s not what the dunk contest is about, it’s about the wow factor. If the whole crowd goes crazy who gives a shit if someone did it in 85? The dunk contest started going down hill when a whole stadium would hold up 10’s and the judges would hand out 7’s and 8’s, that’s when kobes and the likes were like I’m not doing this shit.
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
Guys, I’ll tell you what I think. I think these guys are now overpaid and there is no economic incentive for them to compete at this. And somewhat, they are disrespecting the game.
Remember when the likes of Erving, Wilkins, et als would go at it in a dunk contest for bragging rights? Those guys wanted to win, show their stuff, get their name out there. These guys? Guys on the bench are making more than what Erving and those guys made. They have no incentive. The Kobes, Lebrons - all of them should be WANTING to compete and win. The contest no longer has any prestige, because these guys don’t compete…and its been this way for a while. At this point, it would be a better contest with hungry d-leaguers that want to make a name for themselves. [/quote]
Practically hit the nail on the head with this one, except I don’t even think people would want to watch D-Leaguers.
LeBron, Kobe, Dwayne Wade all belong at some point in the dunk contest if it’s going to be fun. They bring fans hype and anticipation. There are people out there who can really jump but no one gets hyped up to see them. The problem with this is energy. Good hops is one thing, but extra adrenaline can make you do some sick shit, when there is no energy in the building because some 2 ndstring player is about to dunk, he is just not going to perform as well. It’s like comparing a championship game to a regular season game.
The other thing they need to do is get rid of old dunk elite judges. Old people are always going to think they were better or well I did that before, who wants to risk being judged by that? That’s not what the dunk contest is about, it’s about the wow factor. If the whole crowd goes crazy who gives a shit if someone did it in 85? The dunk contest started going down hill when a whole stadium would hold up 10’s and the judges would hand out 7’s and 8’s, that’s when kobes and the likes were like I’m not doing this shit.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Also, did ya’ll hear Paul Pierce call himself one of the best shooters in NBA history? I read an article in SLAM right after his recovery from being stabbed and he said he wanted to go down as the best player of all-time. He clearly suffers from delusions of grandeur, or at the very least an inflated self worth.[/quote]
That’s the type of ego you need to be successful as he has been. He carried boston on his back for years before kg and JS got there. I wasn’t the biggest fan of his when he was at Kansas, because I hated Kansas at the time. He has a villian factor that will always hold people back from recognizing him, but what he’s done at Boston puts him up there in the top players ever for the celtics.
The only entertaining part was listening to Barkley talk about how bad it was.
Laughed my ass off after Robinson showed off drinking Gatorade’s latest crap and Barkley says, “Funny how Gatorade doesn’t work for players who suck”.
God I love him.
But yeah, Slam Dunk contest not so much by way of good.
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Also, did ya’ll hear Paul Pierce call himself one of the best shooters in NBA history? I read an article in SLAM right after his recovery from being stabbed and he said he wanted to go down as the best player of all-time. He clearly suffers from delusions of grandeur, or at the very least an inflated self worth.[/quote]
That’s the type of ego you need to be successful as he has been. He carried boston on his back for years before kg and JS got there. I wasn’t the biggest fan of his when he was at Kansas, because I hated Kansas at the time. He has a villian factor that will always hold people back from recognizing him, but what he’s done at Boston puts him up there in the top players ever for the celtics.[/quote]
Smith, Barkley and Miller were actually talking about that during the shootout. Smith said he thought Pierce was a top 5 all-time Celtic and Barkley told him he was crazy. Barkley started naming some Celts, and sure enough he named 6 or 7 off the bat who were definitely better, relatively speaking.
I understand ego, and that all of the “greats” have it. But, there’s a difference between having an ego and being delusional. I also don’t understand the “villain factor” thing you brought up. Maybe where you’re from Pierce has that, but nationally he seems pretty well liked. The dude has game to be sure, but I’m not sure I’d put him in the top 10 players of the past decade category. When Pierce was “carrying” that team, he had Walker, Battie, Tony Delk, Kenny Anderson, etc… 2 of those guys played in All-Star games. Quite a few players have done much more with a lot less.
There are really only a finite amount of dunks you can physically do. Now bring back slamball and you really have a dunk contest.