Slam Dunk Contest

[jakarta]

Not sure if he did it on a purpose but if you look closer in "Superman" dunk from different angles, Dwight takes off with both feet almost the same time while most long-range dunkers like Jordan, Dr. J or Josh Smith takes off with one foot -- followed by the other and then "fly" attacking the rim. But still, his hangtime was impressive for his size.

I think Dwight isn't just about horsepower and leapfrog ability, he has a good sense of humor too. He was a complete package that night, he's succeed in winning judges and voters' hearts.

[kingjames23]

dwight howard = next shaquille o'neal.
powerful, athletic, 7 foot dunking machine with a sense of humor.

if you look at shaq in his first couple seasons.... thats exactly the same type of player he was.

that was the best dunk contest since 2000

[shadowgrin]

if you look at shaq in his first couple seasons.... thats exactly the same type of player he was.

Please no. I don't want Dwight to ballon to 300 lbs.

[Andreas Dahl]

I'm a little uneasy with the Superman layup. Even though it was very, very, impressive and showed a lot of showmanship.
I'd feel the same if someone took off slightly beyond the FT line and didn't make it all the way there, but just threw it in.. It's not quite right..

And I don't like how no one but Dr J recognized the level of difficulty in Greens no-shoes dunk. It's very, very hard to dunk without shoes on, and to get that high as he did, and also bring it between the legs?!?
And what's up with the crowd for booing Dr. J for taking a few seconds extra to give a real explanation? That annoyed be quite a bit.

Either way, well deserved win for Dwight

[shadowgrin]

They still remember the 'crimes' he did in the past for judging the Slam Dunk contest, that's why the crowd is booing him.

[Sauru]

My only gripe is that dwights fingers didn't touch the rim for the superman layup. This is the dunk contest...but everything up until then and the hype was perfect. His overall performance was up there with jordan and vince.

He was so high that he threw the ball down through the rim. If he had touched the rim it wouldn't have been nearly as special.

my opinion is, its a dunk contest, that should not even have counted. when moon tried to jump beyond his means he threw it in and that didnt count so how come dwight gets away with it? still i was entertained by his while moons was pretty lame imo

[Andrew]

my opinion is, its a dunk contest, that should not even have counted. when moon tried to jump beyond his means he threw it in and that didnt count so how come dwight gets away with it? still i was entertained by his while moons was pretty lame imo

I was thinking the same thing when I saw the replay and, like everyone else, noticed that the Superman Dunk was in fact the world's most vicious layup. Still, the theatrics were entertaining and on the first angle it looked like he touched the rim and Howard was definitely the top performer of the contest so I think it's one of those things one has to let slide. If we want to be pedantic though, it wasn't technically a dunk.

46 felt like the right score to me for Green's birthday cake dunk. It was creative, his head was right at the rim but the dunk itself wasn't anything too special, albeit emphatic. I'd compare it with Corey Maggette's somersault in the 2001 contest. It was original, creative and showed great athleticism but if the dunk lacked anything, it was in the finish. If Green had done something else with the ball on top of blowing out the candle, then maybe a 50 would be in order.

Green's ladder dunk was, as I expected, a bit anti-climactic. It was original but at the end of the day it didn't stand out that much from a standard lob/assisted dunk contest attempt that we've seen before. If anything, it was less impressive since the ball was being held in the exact spot he wanted it rather than relying on the timing of a teammate or his own bounce. The between-the-legs in socks was cool too but wasn't going to get the job done.

Howard had a very sound strategy coming into the contest with the Superman gimmick and three other creative and original attempts. I was a bit disappointed that Moon didn't make the dunk from beyond the free throw line and Gay's entries weren't going to cut it either but that was still a very fun contest to watch. I wish they'd stop talking about the dunk contest being "back" though, as Indy said we've had four memorable contests in a row.

[Patr1ck]

Just wondering when the dunk contest was actually "gone."

[benji]

1998 and 1999.

The meme since 2000 has been "THE DUNK CONTEST IS BACK!!!"

[Abctest123]

Apparently, Moon didn't know that in the first round, you HAD to use a teammate for one of your dunks: LINK

He wasn't even thinking of using this until maybe the finals as his very final dunk, when he finally got his legs under him, and it was suppose to be from behind or atleast from the free-throw line instead of infront of it. Sigh. Though other than that Superman lay-up, I will say that Dwight Howard deserved the crown.

[Sauru]

1998 and 1999.

The meme since 2000 has been "THE DUNK CONTEST IS BACK!!!"

nothing angers me more than hearing them every single fucking year "the dunk contest is back". i mean seriously wtf, it has been back forever and has been mostly good since it came back. we may not see the hardest dunks ever but i really like the showman ship that some players (howard above all) have shown

[Andrew]

There were a couple of years where it could be argued that the bar wasn't raised all that much the way it has been the last few years (and in noteworthy contests from the 80s and 90s, of course) so I guess it mostly comes from that in addition to its complete absence in 1998 and 1999.

[shadowgrin]

Apparently, Moon didn't know that in the first round, you HAD to use a teammate for one of your dunks: LINK

Pish, excuses.

Ditto to what has been said with the birthday cake dunk. The finish was just plain. If he finished with a windmill or even a 180 spin that would have probably gotten a 50.

If I had to rate the gimmick dunks (those that used an item or removed an item like shoes):

1. Dwight's Nerf dunk
2. Green's no-shoes dunk
3. Green's birthday cake dunk
4. Green's ladder dunk
That's it. Dwight's superman shot is not a dunk.

It's the Slamdunk contest not the Creative shot contest.

[Scrazynet]

Geral Green´s last dunk on the slam dunk competition was a shame.

He signed his snickers and left them on the judges table like is someone... he is nobody. I think it was very disrespectful with the judges and people overthere.

The dunk he blew the candle was very good, unfortunately he couldn´t keep the standard.

Not satisfied, he repeated the same dunk he tried just before, which is none fantastic since vince carter did in 00.

He looked like an usa ball player on some fiba tournament: arrogant and defeated.(OH:LOL)

[[Q]]

no need to make a new topic without adding anything new on the subject.

[Andrew]

He signed his snickers and left them on the judges table like is someone... he is nobody. I think it was very disrespectful with the judges and people overthere.

It wasn't so much disrespectful as it simply lacked creativity. In other years it might have got the job done but it wasn't impressive enough to get the job done.

[Lamrock]

I thought that was a pretty good dunk idea actually. His final dunk was lame, as he did a generic dunk after knowing it was over.

[Andrew]

You mean the between-the-legs in his socks? I agree it wasn't a bad idea per se, but it wasn't an idea that was going to beat what Howard came up with.

[Beatboxer]

Please somebody tell me:

Was Howard's superman move a dunk?

What's the exact definition of the dunk?

I searched in the offical NBA.com hoopedia and rules, and found out this definition:

Dunk (Stuff or Jam): Making a basket by stuffing the ball down through the rim and into the net.

According to this definition, it's clearly a dunk.

[BIG GREEN]

Here's the thing...his hype machine helped him with that dunk. However, even if he redid that dunk and took off closer to the rim and actually touched it ....he still would have won the contest cause two of his other dunks made up for it. If moon jumped from beyond the free throw line like he intended...then it would've been a real good overall competition.

[Matt]

I didn't notice that he didn't dunk it until i watched the replay. It sure looked like a dunk with the way the ball went through and the crowd went insane. Don't know if the judges get to see a replay, but it seems as though it was too late for him to repeat it.

[shadowgrin]

The poll in this thread sure got it wrong. The lowest vote-getters in the poll got in the finals.

[Sauru]

moon was one of the biggest disappointments i have ever seen enter the contest

[Andrew]

I didn't notice that he didn't dunk it until i watched the replay. It sure looked like a dunk with the way the ball went through and the crowd went insane. Don't know if the judges get to see a replay, but it seems as though it was too late for him to repeat it.

Agreed, from the first angle it looked like he touched the rim.

According to this definition, it's clearly a dunk

Even though that definition doesn't reference it specifically, a fairly standard definition of a dunk would normally include the player touching the rim. Howard threw the ball in from about a foot back without touching the rim, which if we want to be pedantic isn't really a dunk.

[Scrazynet]

I think the second dunk was about creativity...... it was fun anyway.

Actually throwing the ball wasn´t bad at all.

It doesn´t matter if he dunked or not. Dwight made a heck of a show, that´s what´s all about.