DeMar DeRozan
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 44
My initial complaint about this dunk contest is that everyone took a lot of attempts to make their dunks. Obviously, it's always better if you get it on the first try, so I don't mind the judges docking guys a few points if they needed a lot of attempts to get a dunk down. For example, this dunk by DeMar was very strong yet was given a pretty low score. Now, I'm fine with that, because he did need six tries to make it, but I need that scoring to be consistent across the board. Every other dunk that required multiple attempts throughout the rest of the contest didn't seem to receive the same penalty. This means that either this dunk should have been scored higher, or the others a bit lower. That said, in this case, DeMar has no one to blame but himself; if you're going to bring a teammate, bring one that can actually pass you the ball.
Probable Top 50 Rank: 30-35
Serge Ibaka
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 45
This is the dunk that everyone is saying should have been scored higher. Granted, his foot was probably further behind the line than any other free-throw-line-dunk that has ever been done in an NBA Dunk Contest, but that alone does not make it a great dunk. I'd take MJ double clutching with his foot on the line over this basic one handed dunk, any day of the week. I'm not saying that it's not good, but a score of 45 seems just about right. The other thing the commentators were raving about was the fact that it was a foul-line-dunk by a 7-footer. Sorry guys, but that makes it less impressive to me. MJ looked like he was six feet off the ground on his attempts, whereas Ibaka looks like he's about two feet. Being a 7-footer doesn't make this dunk any better. Although at least he got it on the first try...
Probable Top 50 Rank: missed the cut
Javale McGee
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 50
Another dunk that suffered from too many attempts. When the two backboards were first brought out, the assumption was that he was going to try to go higher than Dwight's famous 12-foot dunk. Then, when the hoops got placed side-by-side, it looked like he might try to dunk one ball in each hoop, which seemed like an impossible distance to cover, even with a freakish wingspan like Javale's. Once the cat was out of the bag after the first attempt, it suddenly seemed much more plausible (albeit no less impressive). But imagine if he had got it down the first time, when it still felt impossible? It's still a great dunk - very creative, with a high degree of difficulty - but it had simply lost a lot of it's lustre by the time he got it to go down on his sixth attempt.
Probable Top 50 Rank: 15-20
Blake Griffin
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 49
I thought I had seen all that there was to be done with a 360º dunk. Then Blake tried this first attempt, and I nearly ruined my pants. I had never seen anything like it before. My mind couldn't even comprehend what it had just witnessed. That said, when he finally got it down (3rd attempt, not unreasonable) he had adjusted it slightly to where it was no longer a 360º with a two-handed windmill, but rather a 360º with the ball brought behind his head. It's still a cool dunk, but if he could have got that first one down, it would have been a Top 10 dunk of all time.
Probable Top 50 Rank: 40-45
DeMar DeRozan
Round 1, Dunk 2
Score: 50
Here's a prime example of a great dunk that didn't need any props and only took one attempt. I don't know about a 50, but this dunk was easily deserving of a 48 or 49. Maybe the 50 was to make up for the screw-job he got from the judges on his first dunk, I don't know. Regardless, DeMar had a great couple of dunks in the first round, and I tend to agree with the many people that feel he deserved to make the finals.
Probable Top 50 Rank: 45-50
Serge Ibaka
Round 1, Dunk 2
Score: 45
So far, I have moaned a fair bit about the number of attempts that it took guys to get their dunks down, but really, that's only a minor complaint to me. My biggest issue with this dunk contest was the props. I didn't mind the two backboards, that was pretty cool, but this one just got out of hand. The teddy bear would have been fine on it's own, grab it in the teeth, dunk the ball, all very impressive. Then go hand it to a kid, maybe a random one in the crowd, maybe one that you brought in that was standing by the judges, unnoticed. But the whole pre-dunk 'I've lost my teddy bear, can someone please get it down from the rim?' shtick was a bit much. The theatrics got a little out of hand this year, and this was a prime example of that.
Probable Top 50 Rank: missed the cut
Blake Griffin
Round 1, Dunk 2
Score: 46
Much like his first dunk, this one was so impressive on the first attempt that the house would have absolutely been brought down if he had made it. And once again, he settled for a dunk that wasn't quite as impressive. This time it took him seven tries, which certainly didn't help. A score of 46 was about right if he'd done this dunk on the first attempt (although if he'd made the original 360º version, it would have easily been a 50) but I think when factoring in the misses, you almost have to give him a 42 or 43. Of course, then he wouldn't have made the finals, but we'll get into that later...
Probable Top 50 Rank: 45-50
Javale McGee
Round 1, Dunk 2
Score: 49
Once again, a great dunk that was overshadowed by too many attempts (five) and unnecessary theatrics (his mom delivering him the third ball, and then kissing every judge at the table). Much like his first dunk, if Javale could have got this to go down on that first attempt, when it still seemed like an impossible feat, the excitement would have been 10 times greater. After sitting through the pre-dunk theatrics and all the missed attempts, by the time he made the dunk(s), you were more relieved that we could finally move on to the next one, rather than having been blown away by what you had just seen.
Probable Top 50 Rank: 20-25
Blake Griffin
Round 2, Dunk 1
Score: n/a (fan voting)
This was Blake's best dunk of the contest in my opinion. Even with his impressive arms, I don't believe for a second that this dunk wouldn't hurt like a bitch. It looks like it left him with a pretty good bruise, too. Plus, he got it to go on the first attempt, which, at this point in the contest, was a definite selling point. Historically, I wouldn't rank it higher than Vince's original in 2000 (based on the originality and shock value of Vince's dunk alone), but it would still be up there.
Probable Top 50 Rank: 10-15
Javale McGee
Round 2, Dunk 1
Score: n/a (fan voting)
Javale easily deserved to be in the finals, but it really felt like he blew his wad in the first round. I like that he went away from the props and gimmicky dunks, but the final round dunks he did just weren't good enough attempts to give him any shot at winning the trophy. It's hard to say what the best strategy is, when on one hand, you need a good dunk in the finals to win, but on the other, if you don't bring your very best stuff in the first round, you might not make the finals at all. Javale still does a fine dunk, but we had seen it done by Larry Nance back in 1984, and although a lot of his dunks were obviously inspired by Nance, Javale still needed to take them up a notch (like turning Nance's 2-ball dunk into the 3-ball dunk that he did in the first round) for them to succeed in the competition 27 years later.
Probable Top 50 Rank: missed the cut
Blake Griffin
Round 2, Dunk 2
Score: n/a (fan voting)
So here's the one that everyone is talking about. The car dunk. I think it was easily the weakest of the four dunks that Blake did, and yet, it will probably be the one that people remember 10 years from now, when they only show one dunk to represent 2011 in the historical video montage. Which is a pity, because there really were some great dunks in this competition (even if they required several attempts to be completed). For starters, of course I'm put off by the over-the-top, unnecessary gimmicks. Obviously, if the point of the dunk is clearing the car then I can give you a pass on that, but getting a choir to come out and sing R. Kelly as a build up to the dunk is the epitome of the unneeded theatrics that I hope don't become the trend from now on. Showmanship is one thing, but this type of stuff is getting out of hand. Then there's the dunk itself. Why am I the only one that's not impressed? He only jumped over the hood. Guy's have been jumping over the roof's of cars since 1995, and even then I don't think it's as impressive as jumping over a guy standing straight up like Nate did over Dwight in 2009. Blake still makes every dunk look good, but I think this one is a little over-hyped and should hardly be considered the one dunk to represent this year's competition.
Probable Top 50 Rank: missed the cut
Javale McGee
Round 2, Dunk 2
Score: n/a (fan voting)
Once again, it just kind of looked like Javale was making it up as he went along in the finals. Which is a shame, considering he had obviously put a lot of thought and practice into his first round dunks. Much like his first dunk in the finals, this one was very Larry Nance-esque. Unfortunately, what was impressive in 1984 just doesn't have the same impact here in 2011. And considering the winner is determined by a fan vote, coming off of Blake's really strong first dunk, and crowd-pleasing second dunk, Javale really would have had to bring something special to the table to win-over the already-Blake-loving public. I mean, these are the same people that had just voted Justin Bieber as the MVP in the celebrity game, despite his luke-warm showing on a losing team. Obviously, bias was going to be a factor, and most people already had their minds made up about Blake winning before the contest had even started. Javale's dunks in the first round might have won a few people over, maybe even enough to squeak out a win, but the dunks he did in the finals just didn't stand a chance.
Probable Top 50 Ranks: missed the cut
Obviously, it was in the league's best interest to have their most exciting young player not only make the finals, but also win. And, while I can't argue against that logic, I'm not fully convinced that the league would actually skew the results to make it happen. That said, some of the proof that people are pointing to (memos sent out before the contest started that had the wording 'when Blake Griffin wins...', the video showing DeMar practicing a dunk that Blake attempted, and many claim stole from him, the fact that Kia had a commercial ready the next day featuring the car dunk, as well as how wasteful it would have been to have hired a whole choir and then not have Blake be able to use them if he didn't make it to the finals) does raise some valid points.
I'll give the league the benefit of the doubt and assume that's it's all just conspiracy theories, but I will say this: DeMar's made dunks were better than Blakes made dunks in the first round (Blake's attempted but missed dunks were better than DeMar's dunks, but those aren't the one's that he should have been scored on). So, while I agree that of the two players in the finals, Blake was clearly the winner, I'm not entirely convinced that Blake really should have even been there in the first place.
But I'm just picking nits at this point. At the end of the day, it was still a pretty damn good contest, with a lot of very creative dunks. If they can cut back on the props, theatrics and missed attempts, I think it's safe to say that the contest has recovered from it's dismal showing in 2010.
