NBA All Star Weekend Thread

[King_B_Mack]

Quote: Originally Posted by ojandpizza

Diallo did pretty good, but all 3 of the others disappointed.. ehh We need LaVine/Gordon again lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't worry, LaVine will be in next year looking to show out.

[Majingir]

We're getting Ric Flair tomorrow I guess? Arena was playing his music on Friday pregame during some rehearsal. Apparently a Steph Curry video was playing during it.

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by VDusen04

I mean, it makes or breaks the dunk. Diallo is not honey dipping over Shaq if he doesn't boost (or else he wouldn't have boosted). As such, it makes the dunk feel kind of artificial.

Like Vince isn’t clearing Weis without a boost, Blake is Mozgov’ing without a boost, those are looked at as some of the best dunks ever...

I would have held it against him more had he really pushed that arm off. I can’t go lower than a 9 for what it was.. which still wins him this contest easily. But that’s not saying much lol.


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[ojandpizza]

I mean Dennis Smith isn’t getting high enough to do that dunk over J. Cole if he’s jumping with the ball instead of catching the oop. I guess that’s why I don’t look at it as a big deal.


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[VDusen04]

Quote: Originally Posted by ojandpizza

Like Vince isn’t clearing Weis without a boost, Blake is Mozgov’ing without a boost, those are looked at as some of the best dunks ever... I would have held it against him more had he really pushed that arm off. I can’t go lower than a 9 for what it was.. which still wins him this contest easily. But that’s not saying much lol.

I find there to be a strong differentiation between an in-game happenstance boost and an intentional boost occurring in a contest measuring an individual's ability to jump and dunk. I know, this next line is hyperbole, but if it's not about what a dude can do without jumping aide, then what's stopping them from bringing out a mini-trampoline?

Once you start being cool with dudes working in a little artificial advantage here and a little artificial jumping advantage there, that's when you end up with stuff like this:



And at that point, it's not even really about the art of the dunk anymore. It's literally a matter of mastering the gimmick and finding the most creative way to not have to fully rely upon your own ability and athleticism anymore.

[ojandpizza]

I mean there is just a massive difference in what Nate did and Diallo did... I don’t think we can just ignore that if we are trying to compare them as advantages. I’m not even sure Diallo for sure couldn’t have gotten that down without the hand.. maybe he couldn’t, but nobody else in this contest could have landed that same dunk with that little of a boost.. so it’s not like his ability was just taken out of display because of it.


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[VDusen04]

Quote: Originally Posted by ojandpizza

I mean there is just a massive difference in what Nate did and Diallo did... I don’t think we can just ignore that if we are trying to compare them as advantages. I’m not even sure Diallo for sure couldn’t have gotten that down without the hand.. maybe he couldn’t, but nobody else in this contest could have landed that same dunk with that little of a boost.. so it’s not like his ability was just taken out of display because of it.

It comes down to what we want to see. I want to see how well guys can dunk on their own, not how well they can dunk while giving themselves an extra boost of varying degrees.

I think a part of it is it messes with my gauge. It's difficult to tell how good of a dunker a guy really is if I can't figure out what he can or can't do without an aide. If you watch almost any dunker in contest history, you know what they can and can't do because we got them and them only. Michael Jordan could take off from the line with ease, Vince could honey dip on his own, Jason Richardson could put down a between-the-legs reverse from the baseline, Tony Dumas couldn't make a single dunk, etc.

In contrast, here we are wondering exactly what Diallo could or couldn't do on his own. 10 out of 10 times, I'd rather see Vince Carter perform on his own, as he did in 2000, instead of watching him boost off of Charles Oakley's back and putting his doggone shoulder in the rim.

[23]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

As long as you make anything its basically an 8. But I'd give it an 8.

These bigger stronger more athletic players sure do operate on lower standards.