For those of you who needed some NBA All-Star game highlights, I’ve got a quick recap for you, and it doesn’t entail reading a very long article (though I would read Bill Simmons long article if you can, as it has some good humor, including a description of how Charles Oakley is so tough on the court, that Michael Jordan uses him as an enforcer off the court. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060220)
Anyway, here are my quick thoughts on All-Star Saturday and other NBA News:
1) Great Dunks But at What Price?
Under the current format, dunkers can take as many attempts as they need. It used to be that you got 1, maybe 2 misses per round before you just had to do another dunk. But in the interest of spurring creativity, the NBA for some reason decided to allow contestants to take as many shots as needed. Nate Robinson, the winner of this year’s dunk contest, must have missed approximately 17 dunks. Nonetheless, the format does provide some amazing dunks. 5’9” Nate Robinson’s dunk “over” 5’7” Spud Webb looked amazing. I say “over” because it was more like doing the splits over Spud’s head, and grazing Spud’s shoulder with Nate’s foot. Granted, this was after Robinson had already missed like 8 dunks, and I was seriously concerned he was just going to barrell into Spud Webb 5 times before it worked. What made this dunk amazing, is that Robinson actually nailed it on the first try though! Andre Iguodala, of the 76ers, also had an amazing dunk which really didn’t seem possible. He somehow threw the ball off the back of the backboard, jumped from behind the hoop at a 45 degree angle, grazed his head on the backboard, and caught the ball and smashed it home.
2) Dunk Contest Judging is Pathetic
I know the Dunk Contest is not supposed to be about the judging, and it’s just supposed to be a fun event. However, the 5 celebrity judges who judge the dunks by holding up a number between 1 and 10, and even change their numbers based on what other judges are holding, just makes a mockery of the competition. Furthermore, the worst grade inflation in America is not in our beloved undergrad institutions, but in the dunk contest. I believe the worst score a judge will give is a 7! So it’s time they adopt a very simple proposal. All of the dunks occur in the opening round (2 per contestant). The judges simply rank these dunks from first to worst. This will alleviate the problem where some schmo gets a 48 for what really turns out to be an average dunk just 4 dunks later. In the final round, the judges can score from 1-10 if they want, but please, please, wait until after all of the dunks are finished!
3) Josh Smith Creates High Comedy with Masking Tape
I’m really surprised this didn’t get more press. Josh Smith, of the Atlanta Hawks, and the defending dunk champion, brought out some masking tape for his dunk. He then laid down a mark approximately halfway between the free throw-line and the 3-point line. Suddenly, the crowd got all excited (I did too), because it appeared that Josh Smith was going to attempt a dunk from just inside the 3-point line! The announcers were going crazy too! Was this even physically possible? Well, it may not be, because Josh Smith took a full running start from the other side of the court, and dunked it from WELL inside the tape (and inside the free throw line!) The weirdest thing was, Josh Smith seemed excited and was surprised by the sudden silence of the crowd. I guess in Josh Smith’s world, he thought that he could take 2 steps from the tape and no one would notice.
4) Darko Gets Traded
Darko got traded from the Pistons to the Orlando Magic last week (in case anyone didn’t see). His quote from Tuesday is awesome: ''In Detroit, it was horrible for me. A nightmare.'' As much as I make fun of Darko (and I still will), I hope he gets some playing time and a chance to develop.
5) Dirk Wins 3-Point Competition, Wade wins Skills Competition
Hats off to competitions that even the best in the NBA will enter. I still think you have a higher chance of injuring yourself in the skills competition when you dribble between cardboard silhouettes of basketball players than in the Dunk Contest.
6) Anderson Varejao Wig Night
Tuesday Night was a crazy night in Cleveland, as the Cavs gave away wigs resembling Anderson Varejao’s doo. For those not following the Cavs, Varejao is the backup PF, is from Brazil, and is a fan-favorite because he plays great defense, dives for balls, and has a hairdo resembling Sideshow Bob. Check out these great pics:
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