2011 Dunk Contest?

[Majingir]

I'm sure everyone remembers the dunk contest last year with the main thing being Griffin jumping over a car, but I remember lots of people talking about how the NBA rigged the competition.

Most notably with the statement being released(I think it was on nba.com) which listed Griffin as the contest winner BEFORE the contest even began.

Based on what happened in the finals(dunk wise) Griffin did deserve to win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDuYDzYk4qo

Ibaka: Ibaka jumped from the free throw line! And he only got a 45!(Should have been a 50!). His other dunk(grabbing the toy with his mouth and dunking the ball at the same time) did deserve a 45, so he should have finished with 95!

McGee: He first dunked on two nets, that took multiple tries and he still finished with a 50. Then he dunked 3 balls at once, and it took multiple tries, and he finished with a 49!

DeRozan: His first time WAS a 50(I think it was Kenny who said so) but it took him multiple tries to get it and he lost 1-2 points with the judges and that 50 dunk finished with a 44. He should have gotten 100 if they didn't care about his mess ups like they didn't care about everyone elses mess ups.

Griffin: That 360 dunk did deserve a 50(though it only got a 49), but that 46 dunk he messed up so many times(I think he ended up changing what he was doing too) and that dunk not only took more tries, but it was worse than the dunk that gave DeRozan a 44. One judge gave DeRozan a 8 instead of a 9 like everyone else did, and one judge gave Griffin a 10 instead of a 9 like everyone else did.

So how was the dunk contest NOT rigged. DeRozan penalized for taking a few attempts to hit a 50 dunk, but nobody else was penalized for the rest of the night. And Ibaka DIDN'T get a 50 on a dunk that had him jump from the free throw line.

So if things were done fairly and nobody got penalized for missing dunk attempts, DeRozan(finish with 100) and McGee(finish with 99) would have been the two finalists and Griffin(finish with 96) and Ibaka(finish with 95) would be eliminated.

[VDusen04]

I seem to be in the minority in the respect that I don't believe the contest was fixed by any means. I'm saddened that it ended on such an anti-climatic note (the Kia dunk) but otherwise I was thoroughly entertained.

I do believe players should be punished by misses. Dunks are not merely functions. And contest judging is not merely looking at a completed dunk in a vacuum and deciding what a dunk of that nature is worth. Style, improvisation, creativity, body language, element of surprise ... all play a role in great dunks. VC's contest in 2000 wouldn't have been nearly as impressive if each of his dunks took 2-4 attempts to put down. Therefore, as great as some dunks end up looking on the highlight reel when only the makes are shown, during an actual contest there can be a variable scale with which players might be punished for not finishing right away. Sometimes, the harm is minimal, as Griffin's from-the-hip helicopter 360 attempt brought everyone out of their seats and got them pumped up. Therefore, when he finally put down a cheaper version, people were still a little excited, hence the big score. It doesn't always work like that though.

[st0rmb11]

The only problems I had with last year were..a) Griffin even made the finals. and b) the hype around Griffin jumping "over the car". He jumped half way over the hood, grabbed the rim, and pulled himself over the rest of the way, and c) the fans voting. In this sense it was rigged. If you have Blake Griffin against 3 guys who most casual fans have never heard of, it's a given that the guy who is incredibly hyped is going to win.

I'm sure I've said it on here before, but Griffin should have finished 4th in that contest.

[Champion8877]

In my completely biased opinion as a Thunder fan, Ibaka should have won last year hands down. but his name is not as big as Blakes, so Blake won

[vtcha]

whats even more ridiculous was the percentage of votes McGee received. It wasn't even close! Blake racked up 66% of the vote whilst McGee only collected 33% ...

That itself shows that fan voting is a no-go.

Personally I would really love to see the TNT cast as the judges (Chuck, Reggie Miller, Shaq, Ernie Johnson & Kenny Smith) as they usually get it right with their commentary. They should also allow judges to view the replay again before giving out their scores as they might have missed out on something (as seen with Dwight's sticker dunk).

As for fan voting, fans should ONLY vote for players (from a pool) who they want to see participate in the contest.

[Majingir]

Didn't they have Kobe,VC and some other people judging in one dunk contest? They should do that again. Have like Lebron,Kobe,Howard and others judging, so those guys will WANT to see something good, and might even give pointers to the participants competing.

The dunk contest really missed the judges this year. And the finals missed the judges the past 2 years

[Colts18]

Ibaka had no business in the contest in the first place. Yea he can jump but it stops after that.

[VDusen04]

Quote: Originally Posted by Colts18

Ibaka had no business in the contest in the first place. Yea he can jump but it stops after that.

I thought he maximized his contest potential. He knew what he could and could not do. So, he jumped from further away than anyone in the history of the NBA dunk contest. I appreciate his presence for that slam alone.