Who Will Win the Dunk Contest?

by David A. Arnott on Feb 13, 2010 5:00 AM EST

Apparently, Shannon Brown is the favorite to win tonight's Slam Dunk Contest in Dallas. In some circles, that might seem ludicrous, especially given DeMar DeRozan's and Gerald Wallace's highlight reel athleticism and Brown's relative obscurity, but we've seen Brown up close and know he can sky. Nate Robinson is almost an afterthought, given his propensity to miss dunk after dunk, but if we're handicapping this thing, I don't understand why he's not the favorite for one reason: It's not about athleticism; it's about creativity, the spectacle of the thing.

Robinson is a proven entertainer, whereas Wallace, Brown, and DeRozan have yet to prove they can thrill the crowd and -- to gratuitously use a pro wrestling term -- get over.

All that said, Gerald's gonna win. He's got a sneaky sense of humor, and just because he's generally quiet and doesn't run his mouth doesn't mean he has no imagination or sense of theatre.

NOTES/REMINDERS

-- You can still submit dunks for Gerald Wallace.

-- Don't forget to sign up for the Rufus on Fire 2nd Half Fantasy Basketball league. You can win a Strat-O-Matic Basketball board game.

-- Bobcats Baseline has a fantastic shirt: SarcophaCrash

-- Bobcats Planet makes sure Stephen Jackson is represented on t-shirts: Make Love to Pressure

-- Maybe I should get in on this hot t-shirt action. What should be on it? Would any of you get one?

-- Some of you may remember I fancy myself an amateur musician (mainly just to impress the Official Girlfriend of Rufus on Fire and other ladies of the land). KMS Car Show Connection, a local motorsports and car appreciation show airing Thursday nights on WHKY (channel 18 on Time Warner, 14 on other cable networks), used some of my music on the 2/11 show. That episode isn't posted yet, but will be shortly, and you can see other episodes through that link.

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T shirts

I too have dabbled in making my own Gerald Wallace / Stephen Jackson t shirt. But I think mine is not as “legal” as the others (Ie. uses stuff I don’t own per se). Otherwise I would sell it to a bunch of people.
Front
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46399076@N02/4304490026/
Back
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46399076@N02/4304490794/in/photostream/

Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is.

by Ben Swanson on Feb 13, 2010 10:22 AM EST reply actions

David:

If you design shirts, I can come up with all kinds of ideas. This is a serious offer. I’d want a 30% commission on profits as a conception fee or if you think you can sell enough to make a good level of coin (marketing elsewhere in addition to ROF members) you can buy a concept from me outright. Here’s one for free that I think you can get a lot of buyers for:

The shirt has several very large handprint marks randomly placed all over it. The caption reads, “I played one on one with Tyson Chandler”

I for one would buy that shirt and I bet a lot of other folks would too. It’s one of about a dozen ideas that I can come up with for cap/shirt concepts.

by Ourdaywillcome on Feb 13, 2010 1:28 PM EST reply actions

Jesus Ourday that would be hilarious

by maverick24 on Feb 13, 2010 1:41 PM EST up reply actions

haha lol that is great

Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is.

by Ben Swanson on Feb 13, 2010 1:45 PM EST up reply actions

by andrewlail76 on Feb 13, 2010 3:26 PM EST reply actions

The thing about the Slam Dunk Contest

In recent years, I’ve been rather annoyed at the Dunk Contest. It has degraded itself into a joke contest in my opinion. The judging system is flawed, and really the whole nature of the contest is.

I mean honestly, you compare the stuff Rudy Fernandez did in last year’s contest to the junk Nate Robinson did and you’ll see what I mean. None of Robinson’s early round dunks were impressive at all, and certainly not better than Fernandez’s, yet it didn’t matter anyway, because the premise of the contest was to have the lame ‘Superman/Kryptonite’ final with Robinson and Dwight Howard. And then they brought in that other basket…that whole ‘spectacle’ really was one of the dumbest things I’ve seen on tv.

Sorry, perhaps I digress, but I think this contest is nothing more than a joke now. Entertainment for the masses, really. Which is a shame, because I do think it’s a cool idea for a contest.

Anyway, I wish Gerald Wallace the best of luck.

by Roger, Roger on Feb 13, 2010 6:29 PM EST reply actions

I agree with you

I thought Rudy Fernandez should have at least moved on to the finals. That was some bullcrap!

Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is.

by Ben Swanson on Feb 13, 2010 6:42 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed

but hasn’t the contest always been a joke. Even moreso now.

by Ft.Mill Bobcat on Feb 15, 2010 9:20 PM EST up reply actions

Nate Robinson...

Shouldn’t have been invited back

by andrewlail76 on Feb 13, 2010 6:44 PM EST reply actions

Long Story Short:

Everyone lost.

Blogging at Ridiculous Upside, where my terrible writing meets people's eyes.

by Aisander D on Feb 13, 2010 11:20 PM EST reply actions

As stated on another post...

if the “Stars” of the league won’t compete…why continue having it.
Just have the All-Star game and be done with it.
Don’t waste network time and money to televise the joke that has become All Star Saturday night

by andrewlail76 on Feb 14, 2010 11:54 AM EST up reply actions