[NBA] Comments that don't warrant a thread (FEB)
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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Never even turned on the all star game Sunday. Was switching between nascar, drag racing, and binging on Yellowstone reruns. Was doing all that waiting for a basketball game to start which was the college game with USC Playing.
Now with the NBA all star weekend I just may of tuned in for some of it we had a player participation that included a Sacramento king playing.
Now with the NBA all star weekend I just may of tuned in for some of it we had a player participation that included a Sacramento king playing.
There is nothing exciting about watch a bunch of guys lazily jogging back and forth shooting 3s and throwing alley oops. Reggie Miller was pretending like his face was getting melted off during all 150 instances of these two plays happening. It's all about not getting hurt these days so there's not much to tune in for.
It's been unwatchable since around the time I graduated high school (1992) save for every 3-4 years a good one happens. And the judging has been horrific most of that time as well. Going back to Kenny Walker's win in 89 the star power also took a dive off a cliff.
Which also gets me just wondering if I was 14 again would I like the dunk contest?
Which also gets me just wondering if I was 14 again would I like the dunk contest?
Yeh that's certainly a possibility but I also wonder if it's just run it's course. There isn't a whole lot more that can be done that hasn't been and the risk of shoulder injuries is pretty high with some of the street ball dunks you see some of these internet guys attempt. I think it needs to be eliminated or reformatted.
The dunk contest should be the signature event of the NBA All-Star weekend. The best ones are more memorable than the actual All Star game. But it's really only as good as the participating players want it to be. Can't they just offer a substantial cash reward to the winner to incentivize star players not only to participate but to take some time to come up with something original? They would still have the problem of the judges' ratings being completely subjective though.
I fall into the bottom camp. I am not sure if the reason Slim's point seems to stand is because every few years someone in the NBA front office realizes this and begs and pleads the right amount of star power to show. But I'm 100% that the dunk contest should be it.
To the extent that it's "all been done before" - RUN WITH THAT.
Make everyone do a series of basic dunks in round 1 - maybe you spin a wheel or something and everyone does it, or you just have a rotating list of styles and pick 3 a year - have the fans vote on the entry round dunks! Round 2 have them recreate their favorite signature dunk. Final have them freestyle their own.
3 compulsory dunks - top 4 average scores advance, then 2 dunks in the final rounds, keep the best score (but add all totals to determine the victor).
To the extent that it's "all been done before" - RUN WITH THAT.
Make everyone do a series of basic dunks in round 1 - maybe you spin a wheel or something and everyone does it, or you just have a rotating list of styles and pick 3 a year - have the fans vote on the entry round dunks! Round 2 have them recreate their favorite signature dunk. Final have them freestyle their own.
3 compulsory dunks - top 4 average scores advance, then 2 dunks in the final rounds, keep the best score (but add all totals to determine the victor).
They've tried a wheel before: that was the dunk contest that Gerald Wallace got robbed in... it wasn't good.
The problem with enticing bigger names to enter the dunk contest is that the star players have pretty much decided that possible humiliation in the dunk contest can do more harm to their individual respective brands than winning the dunk contest can help them, so they're not gonna do it. We've arrived at the point where participating in the dunk contest is only seen as attractive to players who view it as an opportunity for a come up. Guys who have already been made don't feel like they get any benefit from it, and I don't think that you can throw enough cash in front of them to make them care, either. The Board of Governors would probably have to be willing to give something up to the players in the next CBA, in order to get them to do it, but hell if I know what that might be?
The problem with enticing bigger names to enter the dunk contest is that the star players have pretty much decided that possible humiliation in the dunk contest can do more harm to their individual respective brands than winning the dunk contest can help them, so they're not gonna do it. We've arrived at the point where participating in the dunk contest is only seen as attractive to players who view it as an opportunity for a come up. Guys who have already been made don't feel like they get any benefit from it, and I don't think that you can throw enough cash in front of them to make them care, either. The Board of Governors would probably have to be willing to give something up to the players in the next CBA, in order to get them to do it, but hell if I know what that might be?
I don't remember the wheel thing other than it happened. Anyways I am thinking of just simple stuff for the first round that everyone does like a reverse from the baseline or a 180/360/gorilla whatever. Just simple stuff everyone should make 2/3 dunks to get to the next round where you do something more advanced like recreate a Jordan dunk and then the final.
I get that stars don't want to humiliate themselves but I am sure part of that is because all the stupid one upsmanship that has gone on since the 90s. Nobody really wants to see guys jump over their teammates though.
I get that stars don't want to humiliate themselves but I am sure part of that is because all the stupid one upsmanship that has gone on since the 90s. Nobody really wants to see guys jump over their teammates though.
Except the problem with that, which the wheel exposed, is that it might randomly call up a dunk that every participant can't do. I remember Steve Francis being eliminated from that dunk contest because the wheel came up on a dunk that he couldn't physically do, because his hands were too small to be able to palm a basketball.
I also said maybe a fan vote, which is an idea I like better than the wheel since it generates more interest (in theory?) The idea of course is they are basic enough that anyone can do them, but they can also put their own spin without resorting to silly gimmicking. Maybe it's as simple as requiring the three dunks come from different spots on the floor (left, right and up the middle) and one be a one hander, a two hander, and a reverse or behind the back? This would just be for the round of 8.
It would be basic enough that nobody could clown themselves and ruin their brand, one would hope. I'm sure they could make the stakes big enough with NFTs, social media influence, etc. for the winner and if they went out of the way to make it the must see event of the weekend. We're roughly the same age so I know you remember how amazing it was in the mid 80s.
It would be basic enough that nobody could clown themselves and ruin their brand, one would hope. I'm sure they could make the stakes big enough with NFTs, social media influence, etc. for the winner and if they went out of the way to make it the must see event of the weekend. We're roughly the same age so I know you remember how amazing it was in the mid 80s.
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