DeMar DeRozan tweeted "No more dunk contests for me unless it's in Toronto!" after last nights affairs and rightfully so. If I were DeMar and they asked me to dunk next year, I would hastily tell them off.
The dunk contest has become a popularity contest, and it served no justice for the raw talent of dunks that DeRozan performed at the Staples Center.
Blake Griffin and Javale McGee edged Serge Ibaka and DeMar DeRozan in the first round, and Griffin ended up beating McGee in the finals as you could have guessed.
Now, there are a few things I would like to address. For starters, there was no way Griffin deserved to be in that final. Now hey, I'm not jumping to any conclusions that the judges were bias or anything, but the fact that Griffin edged DeRozan by a mere one point puzzles me.
Click here for Griffin's first dunk.
Griffin's second dunk was a windmill slam off an alley oop from Baron Davis, and it took him seven tries. Seven. It's also been done before, but it was nothing special. Yet somehow, he gets a 46.
Click here for Griffin's second dunk.
DeRozan's first dunk was similar, except he went between his legs which is much more difficult and much more impressive, yet the judges leave him hanging at a 44.
Click here for DeRozan's first dunk.
DeRozan's second dunk was easily the dunk of the night, and this was legitimately the only deserving dunk of a 50. It was on his first try, it was pure athleticism and it just awed the crowed.
Click here for DeRozan's second dunk.
Let's be honest here, the judges already saved a seat for Griffin in the finals. We all know it. He plays for the L.A Clippers, and the contest is in L.A.; the whole NBA is kneeling for Griffin, and it just wouldn't look right if the most-hyped player since LeBron James didn't make the finals.
JaVale McGee was deserving of that final spot. The dunks he had were creative, took skill and were worthy of a finals appearance.
Click here for McGee's first dunk.
His second dunk wasn't as great but was still good enough to get him to the finals. Did it deserve the mark it got? Maybe not, but he earned his spot fair and square.
Click here for McGee's second dunk.
Serge Ibaka had an impressive first dunk, but his second dunk wasn't good enough to get him into the finals.
Click here for Ibaka's first dunk.
Click here for Ibaka's second dunk.
Back to DeRozan and Griffin now. This has to be frustrating for DeRozan to be robbed two years in a row—both by a single percent to Nate Robinson of last year's finals and a point to Blake Griffin in this year's first round.
The fact that Griffin hired a choir to set up his winning dunk really says something, considering he only jumped over the front hood of the car anyway. It's pathetic that such an awful dunk can win you a dunk contest, but what can you do?
Well, DeMar is from a bad area of Compton, so he should be used to getting robbed anyway. And being a part of the Raptors in a contest run by Americans, why would that change?
No comments:
Post a Comment