NBA All-Star Dunk Contest: Grades for Blake Griffin and Co.
Alright, so I have had the chance to kick back and watch the 2011 Sprite NBA Slam Dunk contest quite a few times now and I still really don't know how I feel about it.
There were some really impressive dunks, some with a lot of hype and then some that just didn't live up to expectations.
Then there were some that were much better than advertised.
There were parts of the dunk contest where I got a little bored and started watching dunk contests from the glory days of dunking when you didn't get an hour and a half to complete a dunk. You got two tries and if you screwed it up you were done. You didn't get a third, fourth, fifth, sixth or in some cases seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh chance.
Without further delay, let's grade each and every dunk from the contest.
DeMar DeRozan: Sideline Off the Board Between the Legs
1 of 12
Number of Attempts: 6
Originality: 2
Execution: 6
Crowd Involvement: 4
Degree of Difficulty: 7
Overall: C+
We've seen this dunk before and it took way too long to execute. For what it is, this is a pretty simple dunk-contest dunk that we've seen numerous times before—and we've seen it done numerous times better.
Sure, it is a hard dunk to do and not one person reading this—myself included—could ever pull off this dunk. We have gotten spoiled over the years by some very impressive dunks, but this one was first done almost 20 years ago.
Give me something a bit bigger.
Serge Ibaka: Free Throw Line Dunk
2 of 12
Number of Attempts: 1
Originality: 1
Execution: 8
Crowd Involvement: 2
Degree of Difficulty: 3
Overall: D
This was a nicely-executed dunk, but we've seen it before by just about every person who has ever entered this dunk contest and most people in the stadium didn't know who this guy was. Serge Ibaka tried to pump up the crowd, but was met with relative silence and it seemed like only James Harden was actually that impressed.
Sure, he is a seven-footer and is the first man of his size to do it. Shawn Kemp was two inches shorter and was still elevating when he dunked the ball. Ibaka peaked five feet after take off. If he was 6'10" he wouldn't have made this dunk.
Javale McGee: Dunk Two Balls on Two Hoops
3 of 12
Number of Attempts: 6
Originality: 10
Execution: 8
Crowd Involvement: 9
Degree of Difficulty: 9.5
Overall: A-
I loved the concept of this dunk.
I've yet to see someone try to dunk on two hoops at once with two balls. Although it took him six attempts to get it done, I thought it was worth it. It was a lot more difficult than what DeRozan did.
Really impressed with his hops and how high above the rim he was on the final attempt.
Blake Griffin: 360 Free Throw Line, Double Pump
4 of 12
Number of Attempts: 4
Originality: 7
Execution: 7
Crowd Involvement: 9
Degree of Difficulty: 10
Overall: A
If Serge Ibaka wanted to make it to the finals of the contest he would have added the 360, double pump. Yes—Griffin took off from a step inside the free throw line. But there were a couple where he got up right at the line and still almost hit his head.
Of course, it gets an A.
DeMar DeRozan: Self Lob, Under the Basket One-Handed Reverse
5 of 12
Number of Attempts: 1
Originality: 5
Execution: 9
Crowd Involvement: 7
Degree of Difficulty: 7
Overall: B
This was a solid B effort here.
We've seen a variation of this dunk before and we've seen it done by some of the legends of the contest. But DeRozan got a lot of air and if he didn't duck down would have probably crushed his head on the rim.
Very good. Not enough to get to the next round, but pretty good.
Serge Ibaka: Dunk and Take a Stuffed Animal off The Rim With His Teeth
6 of 12
Number of Attempts: 2
Originality: 8
Execution: 7
Crowd Involvement: 5
Degree of Difficulty: 8
Overall: B
The thing I hated about this dunk was how much time it took in between attempts. It took way too long and I completely lost interest. Cool dunk, but Jesus. Have something ready so we don't have to wait five minutes between takes.
Blake Griffin: Sideline 180 Reverse Lob Off Backboard
7 of 12
Number of Attempts: 7
Originality: 7
Execution: 4
Crowd Involvement: 8
Degree of Difficulty: 10
Overall: B-
Blake loses some points here for not being able to hit the original dunk and having to move to a secondary dunk that wasn't as impressive.
If he could have hit the first attempt, they would have had to shut the building down and I would have taken the next week off of work to study the film to make sure Blake Griffin was actually a human.
Javale McGee: Dunk Three Basketballs in Succession
8 of 12
Number of Attempts: 6
Originality: 9
Execution: 8
Crowd Involvement: 7
Degree of Difficulty: 9
Overall: A
I really loved this dunk. Hadn't seen anything like it before and the most balls ever dunked at once was two, and he had already done that. If only he could have busted out a four-ball dunk in the finals, he would have been the winner.
Blake Griffin: Hang on the Rim with Your Elbow
9 of 12
Number of Attempts: 1
Originality: 5
Execution: 9
Crowd Involvement: 9
Degree of Difficulty: 9
Overall: A
This is a type of dunk that everyone and their mother could love. The height he got off the lob was amazing. Vince Carter could have never done that. Vince could jump, but he couldn't jump that high or hold on that long without breaking a nail.
Loved this dunk.
Javale McGee: The Reverse Rotator Cuff Tear
10 of 12
Number of Attempts: 2
Originality: 8
Execution: 8
Crowd Involvement: 8
Degree of Difficulty: 10
Overall: A
I thought Javale had a date with death during this dunk.I thought he was going to give himself a concussion or at least rip his right arm out of its socket.
Look at the picture; how does that not rip his arm out of its socket?
His head almost hit the backboard and the rim at least 20 different times throughout the dunk attempt.
Blake Griffin: Over the Hood of the Car
11 of 12
Number of Attempts: 1
Originality: 10
Execution: 9
Crowd Involvement: 10
Degree of Difficulty: 6
Overall: A-
The minus comes because, well, it was the hood of the car. If he could have set it up where he jumped the roof of the car and grabbed the ball from Baron Davis, we could have had a dunk that would have scored off the charts.
The production value was amazing with the choir and the slow walk out of the car. Plus, jumping over the hood of the car is still very impressive.
Impressive enough to win? Could have been a little bit more, but highest production value of any dunk ever in the contest.
Javale McGee: The Cop Out
12 of 12
Number of Attempts: 4
Originality: 2
Execution: 8
Crowd Involvement: 4
Degree of Difficulty: 2
Overall: D
I still don't know why the first dunk didn't count. It looked like he made it to me.
I still think he checked out after the car dunk and was really sad with his dunk selection for his final dunk. I don't think he practiced more than his original three and wasn't expecting to make it as far as he did.
He had the better first round and could have won on that, but his final dunk was just "blah" and he deserved to lose.
