BBVA Rising Stars Challenge
My prediction: Team Shaq (135) over Team Chuck (120)
Actual result: Team Chuck (146) over Team Shaq (133)
These were some thoughts that I scribbled down right after the game:
Despite only playing 11 college games, the Cavs were absolutely right to take Kyrie Irving with the first pick over all. That kid is a heck of a player. Blake is still the best dunker in the league. DeMarcus Cousins has a ton of talent, but his reputation as a head case looks to be well deserved. If he can't crack a smile during an all-star game, let alone refrain from starring down teammates when they don't pass to him every possession… I can't imagine what he's like on a nightly basis for the Kings. That's gotta be a sketchy locker room to be in. Rubio is the real deal. He's got to be the most fun passing point guard to come in the league since Nash. Cole from Miami and Morris from Phoenix looked really good. Evan Turner was probably the most skilled player on the court. But John Wall stood out to me the most. I've seen him in small doses these past 2 years, but he looked like an absolute specimen out there. I don't know if I've ever seen a player quicker, or faster with the ball. And his athleticism is off the charts. If he had the basketball skills and IQ of a guy like Turner, he would be one of the best players the league has ever seen.
Haier Shooting Stars
My prediction: Team New York
Actual result: Team New York
Although I picked the teams correctly, I still didn't even watch this event. And I'm fine with that.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge
My prediction: Tony Parker
Actual result: Tony Parker
2 for 2 with my picks for the Saturday events so far. Can I keep the streak alive?
Chase Budinger (6'7", Houston Rockets)
Dunk 1
I like the self-awareness on this dunk. Because, really, there's no way to say this other than, this is a white dude. Like really white. Something about the blonde hair just makes his complexion all the lighter. In fact, the only way he could look any whiter is if he was an albino. And, as much as we like to think our society has evolved beyond racial stereotypes, you can't help but see this guy and come to a few instant conclusions about him. Particularly about any potential dunking ability that he may or (more likely) may not possess. So rather than be like "I'm just going to come out here and win you over with some nice hops" he does a couple smart things. First, he gets Diddy involved. Think what you will about the guy, but there is a certain amount of 'street cred' that comes with his endorsement that you just aren't going to get if you're jumping over Dirk Nowitzki (although that would be much more impressive, seeing that Dirk is a 7-footer, and Diddy is decidedly not). Second, he references and pays homage (with the t-shirt and backwards ball cap) to one of the great sports movies off all time - White Men Can't Jump - right out of the gate. He's embracing the preconceived notions that eveyrone in the audience has about him right from the get-go. And I think that's smart.
Next up, as much as it pains me, I have to give respect to Diddy (although it's hard to do, when you have to keep calling the guy Diddy). One, for willing to be jumped over in the first place. I mean, it's not that dangerous, but it's not exactly for the faint of heart either. Things can go horribly wrong. And second, he really did throw a good pass. I imagine they must have practiced this a few times, but even with NBA point guards throwing the lobs, I've seen guys need 2 or 3 attempts to get it right, and they got this one down on the first try. So kudos there.
That said, this wasn't exactly a show-stopper. It's a good dunk, don't get me wrong. But it's not a classic. Diddy isn't tall enough to really make this one impressive. But I will give them full points for the slick presentation (theatrical, but concise, not dragging on for too long, or going too overboard) and getting it down on the first attempt.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 16
My score: 41
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Jeremy Evans (6'9", Utah Jazz)
Dunk 1
*Yawn*
There's not much here. This would be a pretty basic dunk in a lay up line during warm ups, let alone a dunk competition. The gimmick was supposed to be that he's wearing a camera at eye level so you can see what he sees as he's dunking, but even on a good dunk that still isn't going to make for much of a camera angle. Kind of cool to see once, but again, even on a good dunk it's not going to show you much, unless you're looking right into the rim from the height of your jump. Which he wasn't.
But, even if the camera somehow made for a great point of view shot, that still doesn't change the fact that this was a pedestrian dunk at best. Gotta do better than this.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 37
My score: 35
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Paul George (6'8", Indiana Pacers)
Dunk 1
Jumping over a guy standing straight up is cool. No doubt about it. But it's starting to get played out a bit in dunk contests. I watched both the D-League competition and the amateur Sprite Showdown competition this year, and almost all the dunks in those contests featured jumping-over-guys dunks too. Kind of like, how all we saw for the next few years after Vince went through-the-legs in 2000 was guys doing the same thing. It's impressive, sure. But you can only see it so many times before you start to go "Ok, let's move on to something else…"
But, my own personal bias aside, Roy Hibbert is a legit 7'2". So, clearing him, along with a second guy is no joke. Props should be given. Although, like Charles is quick to point out, he does use a fair bit of that left hand to help him get the height needed. And while it's still impressive, once you factor in a few too many attempts to finally get the dunk, plus the left-hand-vault technique, it does need to be docked a few points.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 18
My score: 44
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Derrick Williams (6'8", Minnesota Timberwolves)
Dunk 1
You know my thoughts on props and theatrics and multiple attempts, so I won't bore you with too much redundancy here. This is just a perfect example of: there's no need to ride in on the motorcycle, it's not impressive enough of a height to clear to really even elevate the impressiveness of the dunk, and a dunk is always better on the first attempt. Always.
But, even with these three things working against it, it was still pretty solid. Good extension on the windmill, decent power. It's not going to win you the competition, but all things considered, not a terrible way to warm up the crowd and get loose on your first dunk.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 19
My score: 39
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Although I picked the teams correctly, I still didn't even watch this event. And I'm fine with that.
Taco Bell Skills Challenge
My prediction: Tony Parker
Actual result: Tony Parker
2 for 2 with my picks for the Saturday events so far. Can I keep the streak alive?
Foot Locker Three-Point Contest
My prediction: Ryan Anderson
Actual result: Kevin Love
Nope. My guy didn't even get out of the first round. But it was a pretty good competition this year, despite some low scores in the finals.
Actual result: Kevin Love
Nope. My guy didn't even get out of the first round. But it was a pretty good competition this year, despite some low scores in the finals.
NBA All-Star Game presented by Kia Motors
My prediction: West (142) over East (127) [MVP: Kevin Durant]
Actual result: West (152) over East (149) [MVP: Kevin Durant]
Come on, that's a pretty solid prediction if you ask me. I didn't go as in-depth with my notes after watching this game. I just want to say: there is no other player like LeBron. In a game with the very best of the best in the league on the court at the same time, he was still obviously head-and-shoulders that much better than everyone else. Sure, Durant got the MVP (because he had the best stats on the winning team, and they rarely give it to a guy from the losing squad) but LeBron easily had the best game of any player on the floor.
Actual result: West (152) over East (149) [MVP: Kevin Durant]
Come on, that's a pretty solid prediction if you ask me. I didn't go as in-depth with my notes after watching this game. I just want to say: there is no other player like LeBron. In a game with the very best of the best in the league on the court at the same time, he was still obviously head-and-shoulders that much better than everyone else. Sure, Durant got the MVP (because he had the best stats on the winning team, and they rarely give it to a guy from the losing squad) but LeBron easily had the best game of any player on the floor.
Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
My prediction: Paul George
Ok, this is a bit out of order, seeing that the dunk competition is before the All-Star Game, but since we're going in depth here, I thought I would save it for last.
First off, let's get this out of the way now: it wasn't a very good contest. There were no big names, and only a few dunks were any good. In fact, some of the dunks that LeBron, Blake, Durant and Iguodala did in the All-Star Game would have been better than 90% of the stuff seen here. And those are dunks done within the confines of a game. A game without any defence being played, but a game, none-the-less. In fact, John Wall's dunk from the Rising Stars game, might have been the best of the entire weekend - including the dunk comp.
But, let's try not to let that get us down. There's still some decent stuff here to talk about. And it's still a dunk contest, so I can't help but analyze it and give way too much of my own opinion on things. But I mean, that's the point of having a blog, right?
The rules were changed a bit this year. Instead of a first round, second round or finals, there was just one round, and each contestant got 3 dunks total. This resulted in less total dunks than ever before, but maybe that turned out to be a good thing. Also, no judges, so instead of giving a score, I instead am including what I would have judged the score to be (out of 50). Another addition this year was the Dunk Intensity Meter, which is a technology developed at MIT to measure the force in which the ball is thrown through the hoop. According to the broadcast, a reading of 10 is 'The energy required to lift a 2L bottle of Sprite™out of a cooler", 33 is the "Energy required to break a human nose" and 100 is the energy or a "150 mph tennis serve".
Dunk 1
I like the self-awareness on this dunk. Because, really, there's no way to say this other than, this is a white dude. Like really white. Something about the blonde hair just makes his complexion all the lighter. In fact, the only way he could look any whiter is if he was an albino. And, as much as we like to think our society has evolved beyond racial stereotypes, you can't help but see this guy and come to a few instant conclusions about him. Particularly about any potential dunking ability that he may or (more likely) may not possess. So rather than be like "I'm just going to come out here and win you over with some nice hops" he does a couple smart things. First, he gets Diddy involved. Think what you will about the guy, but there is a certain amount of 'street cred' that comes with his endorsement that you just aren't going to get if you're jumping over Dirk Nowitzki (although that would be much more impressive, seeing that Dirk is a 7-footer, and Diddy is decidedly not). Second, he references and pays homage (with the t-shirt and backwards ball cap) to one of the great sports movies off all time - White Men Can't Jump - right out of the gate. He's embracing the preconceived notions that eveyrone in the audience has about him right from the get-go. And I think that's smart.
Next up, as much as it pains me, I have to give respect to Diddy (although it's hard to do, when you have to keep calling the guy Diddy). One, for willing to be jumped over in the first place. I mean, it's not that dangerous, but it's not exactly for the faint of heart either. Things can go horribly wrong. And second, he really did throw a good pass. I imagine they must have practiced this a few times, but even with NBA point guards throwing the lobs, I've seen guys need 2 or 3 attempts to get it right, and they got this one down on the first try. So kudos there.
That said, this wasn't exactly a show-stopper. It's a good dunk, don't get me wrong. But it's not a classic. Diddy isn't tall enough to really make this one impressive. But I will give them full points for the slick presentation (theatrical, but concise, not dragging on for too long, or going too overboard) and getting it down on the first attempt.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 16
My score: 41
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Jeremy Evans (6'9", Utah Jazz)
Dunk 1
*Yawn*
There's not much here. This would be a pretty basic dunk in a lay up line during warm ups, let alone a dunk competition. The gimmick was supposed to be that he's wearing a camera at eye level so you can see what he sees as he's dunking, but even on a good dunk that still isn't going to make for much of a camera angle. Kind of cool to see once, but again, even on a good dunk it's not going to show you much, unless you're looking right into the rim from the height of your jump. Which he wasn't.
But, even if the camera somehow made for a great point of view shot, that still doesn't change the fact that this was a pedestrian dunk at best. Gotta do better than this.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 37
My score: 35
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Paul George (6'8", Indiana Pacers)
Dunk 1
Jumping over a guy standing straight up is cool. No doubt about it. But it's starting to get played out a bit in dunk contests. I watched both the D-League competition and the amateur Sprite Showdown competition this year, and almost all the dunks in those contests featured jumping-over-guys dunks too. Kind of like, how all we saw for the next few years after Vince went through-the-legs in 2000 was guys doing the same thing. It's impressive, sure. But you can only see it so many times before you start to go "Ok, let's move on to something else…"
But, my own personal bias aside, Roy Hibbert is a legit 7'2". So, clearing him, along with a second guy is no joke. Props should be given. Although, like Charles is quick to point out, he does use a fair bit of that left hand to help him get the height needed. And while it's still impressive, once you factor in a few too many attempts to finally get the dunk, plus the left-hand-vault technique, it does need to be docked a few points.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 18
My score: 44
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Derrick Williams (6'8", Minnesota Timberwolves)
Dunk 1
You know my thoughts on props and theatrics and multiple attempts, so I won't bore you with too much redundancy here. This is just a perfect example of: there's no need to ride in on the motorcycle, it's not impressive enough of a height to clear to really even elevate the impressiveness of the dunk, and a dunk is always better on the first attempt. Always.
But, even with these three things working against it, it was still pretty solid. Good extension on the windmill, decent power. It's not going to win you the competition, but all things considered, not a terrible way to warm up the crowd and get loose on your first dunk.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 19
My score: 39
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Chase Budinger
Dunk 2
Well, we pretty much have the exact same dunk as the last one, only without the motorcycle. And while I don't think the motorcycle added that much to the last one (in fact, Budinger would have cleared it easily had it been on the floor for this dunk too) you still have to dock points for lack of creativity. You just can't go out and do almost the exact same dunk as the guy before you, without adding an element that ups the degree of difficulty, and expect a better score.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 24
My score: 37
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Jeremy Evans
Dunk 2
Now we're talking. Finally a dunk of note. Very high degree of difficultly (and he only needed 2 tries… it's still better to get it on the first, but usually a dunk with this much going on needs 4 or 5 tries, which ruins the anticipation completely). Throw in some solid creativity, and all-in-all we have a very good dunk. Perhaps this will get the other guys to start stepping up their game as well and really turn this contest around…
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 15
My score: 50
Estimated Top 50 Rank: 25-30
Paul George
Dunk 2
Interesting. I'm still kind of divided on this dunk. Is it unnecessary theatrics (which I hate) or does it legitimately ramp up the degree of difficulty? It does, although probably not that much. But it serves a purpose so I suppose I can appreciate it. It's also a pretty bold move, seeing that the whole point of a dunk is to be able to see it as clearly as you can and from the best angles possible. So this easily could have worked against him seeing that maybe the cameras wouldn't pick up the dunk well enough, and the whole thing would just end up being one of those ideas that looked good on paper but failed horribly on camera (and especially in person at the arena, where the cheers of fans have more of an effect on the players than most people realize). Also, when an idea goes wrong, Charles, Kenny and Reggie don't hesitate to laugh you out of the building.
In the end, it worked for the most part. You could see that he did a pretty good dunk, it was kind of a cool effect, and you have to give him props for trying something new. That said, you still couldn't fully see the dunk to judge how powerful or acrobatic it really was. Maybe that played to it's advantage. Like not seeing the monster in a movie can sometimes be more scary than just showing it, since your imagination fills in the blanks. In the end, I need to be able to really see a dunk to properly judge it. So, if I don't see the mid-air pose, or how high off the ground his feet are, or how cleanly and powerfully he slammed it through, the pessimist in me just assumes that it couldn't have been that great. Once you get to the replays, that stuff become a little more clear, but there's still always that moment when you see a great dunk for the first time, where you sit up and go "oh, what was that?" Your brain is kind of scrambling to make sense of what it just saw, and even if you're not sure yet exactly why you liked it, you still know that you did. You don't really have that moment with a dunk like this. You're just kind of waiting for the replay so you can get a better look at it, rather than being almost unable to wait for the replay so that you can see it again and figure out exactly what all went on to give you those chills you just had when you saw it live a few seconds earlier.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 17
My score: 46
Estimated Top 50 Rank: 45-50
Derrick Williams
Dunk 2
And the streak continues. Another really good dunk. This time, with Williams managing to put down a dunk which Blake Griffin failed to complete properly last year. Which is pretty impressive when you think about it. Plus, anything with Ricky Rubio involved in it is definitely going to get bonus points from me. I love that kid.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 18
My score: 49
Estimated Top 50 Rank: 30-35
Chase Budinger
Dunk 3
The tribute dunk has become pretty popular in recent years. Ever since Josh Smith introduced it in 2005, there has been at least one per year in every contest since. And I kind of dig it. Sure, like the leap-frog dunk, it is becoming a little played out, but when it's done right, it still manages to win me over. And while there's nothing wrong with this one, I'm still pretty m-eh about it. And I think there's two reasons for this. For one, you'll never convince me that a guy can't see at least a little bit with a blindfold dunk. I don't care how much you practise it, I just don't believe anyone can just count out the steps and then manage to run up and dunk a ball without at least a hint of light sneaking through to let them see enough to guide them. It's still not easy, but it's very different than not being able to see at all (which is what these guys want us to think). And secondly, because of this, the Ceballos dunk (which he's paying homage to here) is often considered one of the lesser dunks to have won a contest in the entire history of the event.
So, while the dunk itself is not bad - better than the original to be sure - I still think if you're going to do a tribute dunk, you should probably pick something a little more revered in the annuls of dunking history.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: result not shown
My score: 40
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Jeremy Evans
Dunk 3
And just like that, I'm off of the tribute dunks again. Twice in one contest will always do that to me. But more importantly, at least Budinger's tribute has some historical merit. Sure, the dunk isn't fondly remembered, but Ceballos had won the contest with it exactly 20 years ago in the exact same city that was again hosting the current All-Star. But Karl Malone? I mean, as great of a player as he was, he wasn't exactly known for his dunking. Ya, he could put them down, but it was always the same thing: a one-handed power tomahawk. Which is fine in a game, but even Malone knew not to take that anywhere near a dunk competition.
So, now Evans is doing a tribute to a guy not known for his dunking, and he's adding in the mail delivery theatrics? Ya, I get it, Karl Malone was 'The Mailman', but still, you know how I feel about superfluous theatrics. Add in that we've already seen the leap-frog dunk twice in this contest already, and the guy that you're jumping over might actually be shorter than the motorcycle… to call this dunk 'played out' just doesn't encompass just how played out it really was. I'll give him kudos for not using his off hand to clear the guy (as was done in both of the previous jump-over-a-guy dunks) and for putting his hand behind his head, just like Malone used to always do. But still, I'm not exactly putting a poster of this dunk up in my bedroom any time soon.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: result not shown
My Score: 40
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Paul George
Dunk 3
For a really good dunk, this ended up being pretty lacklustre. Again, I think there's a couple reasons for this: For one, this is technically another tribute dunk. George plays for Indiana and Larry Bird is the greatest basketball player to come out of Indiana (plus he's the Pacer's current GM, which is the team George plays for). Without two tribute dunks right before it, he might have had a little more traction with the tribute angle. But he didn't. Secondly, he took 5 tries to get it down. That's just too many. No matter how good a dunk is, by the time you get past your second or third try, it's just not exciting anymore. And soon, as a fan, you're just hoping he gets it down, simply so that we can move on to the next one, rather than because you actually want to see the finished product. And third, this dunk looks way better in the replay. As a result, after finally getting it down, the crowd doesn't really react, George walks off the court with his shoulders slumped, and it's hard to get excited by the time we finally see just how good it actually was in the replay.
And it is good. I mean, there's a lot going on here: he slaps the backboard first (his intention was to put a Bird sticker up as he slapped it, but he ran out of stickers due to all the attempts) and then spins around and windmills it on the other side, along with having the highest power meter reading of the night. That's a heck of a dunk. Unfortunately, because of the overall flaws mentioned above, I can't score it on just the merits of the dunk alone, and the score suffers as a result.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: 40
My Score: 45
Estimated Top 50 Rank: 45-50
Derrick Williams
Dunk 3
After 9 attempts at an off-the-backboard-through-the-legs dunk, Williams settled for this as the clock was about to expire. Obviously, not much of a dunk, and not what he was hoping for, but if he wants to look at the bright side, it actually wasn't the worst dunk of the night. Evan's first attempt gets to hold that prestigious honour.
Dunk Intensity Meter Reading: result not shown
My Score: 36
Estimated Top 50 Rank: Missed the cut
Final Result: Jeremy Evans wins (based on fan voting)
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