Arrrrrgggggh. This is so entirely frustrating. Dwight Howard had two dunks planned for Saturday night's dunk contest that he won't be allowed to do. Marc Stein tells us about them in his ESPN Insider blog, and I'll just go ahead and pass them along to you. There's no reason to be concerned about ruining the surprise for you, since he can't do them. Says Stein: Orlando sources report that Howard has been practicing a couple wicked maneuvers that might inject this dying competition with the ingenuity/originality it desperately needs. One is a 360 throwdown with the rim hiked to 12 feet, two feet higher than regulation. The other sets the rim at 11 1/2 feet and has Howard purportedly going between his legs with the ball in mid-air before flushing.Three-sixty at 12 feet ... and the NBA won't let us see it. Awesome. Thanks.
I guess there's something to be said for preserving the purity of the dunk contest (wow, that sounds odd), and a standard goal is 10 feet, and is a basic part of the competition, and it's what everyone else had to work with, blah blah blah ... but at the same time, it's the dunk contest.
This is supposed to be fun. This is supposed to showcase creativity. This is supposed to be for the fans. When it comes to the game of basketball itself, I'm a bit of a purist. Things should be a certain way. But again, we're talking about the dunk contest. When the league is making a decision about what should or should not be allowed in the dunk contest, the only question to ask themselves is this: Will it be more fun for the fans? That's it. That's really all that matters.
He should have never asked. He should've just taken someone with him who could raise and lower the hoop themselves. If the NBA wanted to disqualify his dunk afterwards, fine. Let them do it on live TV and embarrass themselves.
I see only one possible solution for Dwight Howard here. Get Pat Garrity, get Bo Outlaw, get Travis Deiner, and get J.J. Redick. Round them all up, head to the hardware store, get some pick-axes, some shovels, some small explosives if you have to ... and you take them to Vegas with you on Saturday night, and have them lower the floor of the Thomas and Mack center by two feet. It's the only way.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The kid can get up, theres no question about that. But a 360 dunk on a 12 foot goal??? I don't think that he could pull that off.
Nate Robinson gets 'extra' points for being short and dunking on the standard rim.
Howard is tall already so he loses points because he can't raise the rim
Does this make sense?
Well put, MJD. This event is supposed to embrace freedom of expression, creativity, and un-worldy athletic ability! The NBA is really shooting itself in the foot by not allowing one of its most exciting stars to showcase his skills. I hope he jumps up and sits on the rim or something to win this thing. I'm rootin' for him.
If the NBA's all about keeping the rims at the same height to make sure no one has an advantage and to preserve the purity of the dunk competition, then it's too bad everybody else didn't get to whack the ball off of Nash's forehead when Amare did in 2005.
man. thats insane! 360 at 12 feet. i think he'd be able to pull it off. His crazy alleyoop last year, his head was like above the rim, i think he could pull it off cuz he has long arms too. but im doubting the between the legs. i dont think he'd win...after i saw amare get owned by josh smith in 2005. big guys usually dont have enough hangtime to do the stuff small forwards and guards can do. but if he did the dunks he was gonna do...frick. i'd give him 70
Dwight got robbed
Im a Celtics fan and im glad Gerald Green won...but not gunna lie Howard got robbed on the sticker dunk