One usually give two shits about the dunk contest but this year it would’ve been nice to see the crown return to Toronto and the Raps get a sweep of the top two ASSN competitions. Kapono’s demolition of the field (take that Lebron you pompous little prick) wasn’t a surprise and if anything, I was shocked he missed the one shot on the final rack which would’ve given him 26 on the night, thus breaking Craig “I practice 3s two months before the competition” Hodges’ record. When open, the man is deadly. When covered, he’s a waste of the MLE.
What was slightly depressing but deserving was Moon’s early exit thanks to some suspect judging which put a high value on props rather than substance. You’ve all seen this video by now which prompted many a pundit to pick him as the favorite and increased the size of Moon’s head by a 600% margin. That’s the only reason I can explain why he completely forgot that NBA rules stipulate that you must use another player to assist in one of the two dunks in the first round. When Moon did his first dunk he forgot to use a player thus forcing him to use Kapono as the assist-man on the FT line dunk – which is impossible because you need your full momentum and can’t be bothered to catch a pass, just ask Michael Jordan. The anti-climax that followed was a dunk from just inside the FT line, something very impressive but negated by the pre-competition hype and the really bad and unnecessary idea of marking the take-off spot which you miss by two feet.
Darrel Dawkins gave Moon an 8 on his second dunk which ultimately proved the difference. Moon’s dunk deserved at least a 9 which would’ve tied him with Gerald Green forcing a dunk-off. It’s not the low-score on Moon’s dunk that bugged me, it’s the high score on Gerald Green’s “Let’s put Rashard McCants on a ladder and have him pass me the ball” dunk which got all 9’s. This dunk was practically and alley-yoop, but easier. At least on an alley-yoop the pass has a chance of being off-target thus forcing the player to improvise and apply the needed correction, in this case all he had to do was catch it and slam it. This was possibly the worst dunk of them all and the sole reason why Moon was a spectator for the final round. The ball was caught on it’s way down and it wasn’t even that high to begin with (Rudy Gay’s alley-oop in the Rookie/Sophomore game was much higher). The windmill added a nice touch but that’s been played out. The candle-dunk was nice but not close to being as impressive as Moon’s left-handed near-FT-line catch-and-dunk of Kapono’s pass, yet it got nothing less than a 9. You might think I’m biased but I’m not evaluating this as a Raptor fan, but as an impartial observer.
The Superman dunk wasn’t even a dunk. It’s hard for me to look past that, this is the All-Star DUNK competition and you must DUNK the ball in order to get a score. Once again, props over substance. Take a look a the two pics below, you know what the main difference is? One of them was a dunk.
Dwight Howard did deserve to win, but Moon would’ve provided much better competition in the final round than Gerald Green who still thinks that the “between the legs” is more than just a treadmill move. Rudy Gay’s dunks weren’t all that bad, his second dunk was impressive, it was basically the same as Dwight Howard’s behind-the-backboard dunk except at a slightly more convenient angle which the judges will never pick up on unless they see a replay. The judges need to see a replay before they give a score, you can only measure the impressiveness of a dunk once you see it at a few different angles, evaluate the verticality, the body angle, the force etc.
Why does Magic Johnson open his mouth? Does he ever have anything to say besides inane banter? The TNT crew would do well by kicking out Magic and inside-joke King Reggie Miller. Kenny Smith’s been using the “Let’s go home” line since VC2000, it’s time to find new material.
Either Jamario Moon should make another YouTube video which shows what he can really do OR he should do something in-game – doesn’t matter if he travels or carries, just throw one down to get some face back.
How about the Atlanta Hawks acquiring Mike Bibby for next to nothing to strengthen their playoff push while Bryan Colangelo sits and waits. The only reason he’ll make a move is if his hand is forced and I’m glad Juan Dixon’s doing that right now.
Till another day. Grab the feed.
