Man o man I missed a heck of a conversation:
There is really not much I can add to the discussion except one thing I think the entire world missed and some commentary on whether Nate stole Iggy's trophy or not.
I had the entire All-Star Saturday taped and I can tell you westkoast you weren't the only one jumping up and down while the Dunk Contest was going. After both the Iggy behind the backboard and Nate-over-Spud dunk, I was floored. Amazing show.
One thing I caught about the third time I went through the contest, remember when Josh Smith put the tape on the floor and then proceeded to do a dunk from the free throw line instead. It was the lamest thing ever and it was the only thing everyone was talking about concerning poor, poor Josh Smith. No one realized the actual dunk he did complete. Not only did he dunk from the free throw line, he dunked from the free throw line with TWO hands. Now I haven't watched all the dunk contests in recent years, so I don't know, has THAT been done before, ever? Dr. J, MJ, Brent Barry all dunked from the FT line but used the extra extension of one arm to complete the dunk (MJ's being the best because he double pumped). But has ANYONE in dunk contest history done it with two hands? To be completely fair he did step half of his front foot beyond the line, but STILL... I'm wondering had he not raised everyone's expectations with the stupid tape if people (and judges) would've recognized what they just saw.
On to the Nate-Iggy saga. I have no doubt in my mind that the most athletic dunker in the contest and probably third best in the NBA (VC and JRich being 1 and 2) is Andre Iguodala. I mean the man is an athletic marvel. And I don't think Westkoast and Randy are truly appreciating the creativity and difficulty of those dunks. I mean the baseline between legs, off hand dunk made J.R. Rider look like an amateur, and the scary thing is that was only his 3rd best dunk that night. However, and this is a big however, I give the prize to Nate. In my opinion, Iggy gave the contest away with two humongo mistakes which I will elaborate on.
Nate put on a great show and he started the night off right and got the crowd on their feet with his bounce, 360 double-handed dunk. A very good dunk, I'd say better than Iggy's first attempt: the Power Tomahauk, comparatively speaking.
Nate's second attempt was lacking, the lob was NOT creative and he actually didn't get much height. Now he got damn good hang time and razzled it with a scissor kick. I think it was a good decision to not try something to hard, you want to get in the Finals (this was always Shawn Kemp's problem). Iguodala's behind the backboard was the absolute dunk of the night and I agree completely that it was the best since VC. Here's the biggest mistake Iggy made, when you have a special dunk like that, you SAVE IT for the LAST ROUND, making sure its the last thing on the judges minds. Had he used Iverson to do a pedestrian lob into a front-facing between the legs jam, Iggy would've been in the Finals (probably in first place); heck have AI do the lob off the backboard and now you have the crowd, momentum, AND be in first place. HUGE MISTAKE, I think its what is most to blame for his defeat.
When they went to the Final round, nobody here can tell me they weren't in disbelief when little Nate went off the back board and between his legs with his first attempt. Yeah he missed a lot and finally had to shorten his starting point to the free throw line and all that detracted from when he finally made it, but at 5'9. :eek2: Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley both commented that the dunk simply could not be done right before it was jammed home. Andre's first dunk of the finals was incredible. The behind the back, off the bounce into a half-windmill was impressive, the fact that it he missed the first attempt did put a dent in the energy and creak open the door.
A door that was blown wide open with what happened next. First of all, Spud isn't taller than Nate. From the official listing (as shady as they can be), Spud was 5'7 and Nate is 5'9. And Nate did kick spud in the left shoulder with his right foot. All that aside though this was the second best dunk of the night. And the most impressive thing about it was the high-bounce pass from Spud, the second most impressive thing was the pump from Nate. Just perfectly executed by both guys and really exploded the tension that built from when people saw the Spud jersey come out. Making it the first time also helped. Then came Ig's between the legs, baseline, off-hand dunk but flubbing the first three attempts on the heels of Nate's dunk of the night shifted momentum completely to Nate.
...which admittedly Nate tried to throw away by missing his second dunk 14 times, but it was a very difficult dunk (and Westkoast is right -- the timing is incredibly hard to get manage). A dunk that Charles, again DID NOT believe was going to pull off, saying its impossible to practice. Iguodala came back with essentially the same attempt only it took him two tries instead of four but just didn't seem difficult enough (for him) to sway the judges over. Which brings me to Ig's second mistake, it seemed as though he could never bring his attempt to town on the first try it would take him one, two, or three tries, which cumulutively hurt him in a contest he should've dominated from the get go.
I definitely saw the dissappointment in Kobe's face who thought Iggy should've won. Honestly, I can't take anything away from either guy, they both gave me a great show. It explicitly states in the rules that missed dunks don't affect the outcome so its hard for me to deny Nate his victory but if the truth were told, Iguodala is the better dunker and I hope he comes back next year to claim what is rightfully his.
I thought it was funny that Moses Malone kept giving Nate 8's and Iguodala 10's while Kenny kept giving Nate 10's and Iguodala 8's and 9's. I guess big guys and little guys stick together. I (like Charles) also thought Damon Jones suit made him look like a clown.
I usually love the three-point shootout but it was really dissappointing this year. Nowitzki, who won it, didn't even have a good showing. What happened to the days when Dale Ellis would throw a 20 on the scoreboard to have Steve Kerr demolish it with a 24 or the like. Nash in the skills competition. :nonono: And Tony Parker making a top of the key three and banking the half-courter on his first try. :eek2: He doesn't even know how to shoot!! It was cool San An won when none of the fans (save 9%) who voted online thought they had a chance.
