Thoughts on Griffin and LeBron during All-Star Weekend

1st Inning

Did Blake Griffin deserve to win the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest?

See all of the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest Dunks Here

Mitch

This contest was determined before it even began. Blake Griffin is one of, if not the most exciting dunkers in the league. The hype leading up to the dunk contest was bigger than it has been in the past five years. Fans love a big guy that is as explosive and powerful as Blake Griffin. The fans knew who they were going to vote for before the contest even began.

That being said, the dunk contest is about creativity, explosiveness and entertainment. Blake did exactly what he had to do to win this thing. He began the night with a very difficult 360 dunk while pulling the ball back behind his head and then he busted out a classic , the Vince Carter elbow in the rim dunk which is a fan favorite. By far the most creative, entertaining, and athletic dunk of the night was when Blake Griffin jumped over the hood of a car while catching a ball in mid air and dunking it. People have said that it wasn’t that difficult, or it wasn’t that great. To them I say can you even jump over a table and catch a ball and powerfully dunk it? NO. Jumping over a car, any part of a car, is difficult without the ball and rim. The opponents made it a great competition creating some spectacular dunks, but Blake being the fan favorite came out with some creative and difficult dunks and executed, he deserves the win.

Cal

This years dunk contest was nothing short of entertaining.  Despite the impressive performances by Nate Robinson and Dwight Howard the last couple years, the 2011 contest provided the athletic entertainment from the 1^st dunk to the last that has been missing for a long time. 

Did Blake Griffin, the home court wonder boy, the rookie sensation, the most electrifying dunker in the NBA, deserve the victory?  Yes, only because it is voted in by the fans, and he lived up to our expectations.  Though, I think the competition was closer than some may have thought.

In the first round, Serge Ibaka got it kicked off soaring from the free throw line.  It was impressive considering he was actually behind the line when he took off, when the likes of Dr. J and Michael Jordan crossed the line.  That being said, it was an unoriginal idea.  JaVale McGee impressed by dunking 2 balls each in a different hand and in a different net.  Incredible athleticism, but I just don’t get excited watching a 7 footer jumping.  DeMar Derozan threw down a reverse off what seemed like a bad pass by Amir Johnson, but again it was another spectacular display of athleticism.  That brings me to my first round winner, Blake Griffin.  He started off with a missed attempt, but it got the crowd reeling and impressed by what he was attempting.  He even had that smirk as if to say “Yea, that’s right, you are in for a treat.”  He took off and landed what seemed to be a 450 degree gorilla slam that shook the court.  He stuck to the roots of the contest with a 10 ft rim, an amazing athlete and nothing but his legs and a ball.  This dunk stunned me and got me excited; Griffin wins the first round.

McGee takes the second round.  The 3 ball dunk has never been done before, but again, seven footer just makes it look to easy.  I was more impressed with his next dunk; a reach around reverse barely keeping his head from hitting the bottom of the backboard - Insane athleticism.  I have to give credit to DeMar Derozan as well.  He threw the ball off the side of the backboard and finished with a windmill alley-oop to himself.  This guy is incredibly talented, and I expect to see him for years to come in this contest.  Ibaka disappointed me with his dunk to get the kids toy, but I guess it was cheap entertainment.  Griffin had a bad pass from Davis, but also provided a tribute to the famed Vince Carter dunk putting his arm through the hoop.  Although impressive, I don’t give him the “10”, because it has been done before.

The closing round was the least exciting.  In what seemed to be a complete set up by the NBA, a KIA enters the court and Griffin “jumps over it” with a power slam.  Following that, a seemed to be disinterested McGee had to free style and stuck with an ordinary off the backboard dunk, conceding the victory to Blake.  It was Griffins least impressive dunk and was nothing more than a plug for Kia and the NBA, and a way to get people talking with the choir singing “I believe I Can Fly.”  An “A” for entertainment value, but they could have closed it off better.

My winner overall would be JaVale McGee, but Griffin showed off his skill as well.  In the end I am just satisfied with a great, entertaining contest.

2nd Inning

Did LeBron James take the All-Star game too seriously?

Mitch

The best players in any given sport have a competitive edge that towers above the rest of the league. In the NBA, there are a handful of guys that have this edge and use it every game no matter how little it means. Lebron stacked the stat sheet with a triple double during this years All-Star game. The only other person to do this in an All-Star game was the best player that ever played, Michael Jordan, who by the way, had the biggest competitive edge of all. 

When the cameras showed James yelling and pumping up his team to try and come back in the game, some people thought “really? This is the All-Star game.” But when your playing with the best players in the game, and against the best in the game, Kobe, you want to win. Lebron has more to prove than winning a All-Star MVP, he wanted to prove he was better than Kobe. Lebron took this upon his shoulders to win the fans back and be named the greatest player in the league. While this may be true at the present time, Kobe is still the better player than Lebron in history. Kobe proved it in the All-Star game, although not putting up better numbers than Lebron, he came up with the only stat that really matters, a W. So no, Lebron did not take the game too seriously because he was playing for more than an All-Star victory, he was playing to add another chapter to his greatness.

Cal

No, LeBron did not go to hard or take the game too seriously.  Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant took over the game and the glory - LeBron wanted a piece of that pie.  He wants to win, he is a competitor and quite frankly I think he is sick of the West being glorified as the best conference when the East is loaded with tons of talent themselves.  Everyone was goofing around while the West just kept scoring and running circles around the East.  LeBron took it personally and gathered his team, mostly consisting of veteran Celtics players, rallied them together to play their style of basketball, play a little defense and go hard. 

He gets criticized for everything he does, and apparently this isn’t anything different.  People want him to mature, stop caring about himself and play hard every minute of the game.  Although people don’t necessarily mean that about the all star game, he seemed to have played with an edge while the same people are jumping on him for what they were criticizing him for not doing before.   He took control of a team full of all-stars, his mentality is maturing and he figured the All-Star game would be a good time to show that the East is here to contend.  The team seemed to follow his lead, pulling them right back into the game, only to fall short to the West, thanks to the Durantula and his developing clutch gene.   Commend LeBron for putting the team on his back, and even more so by backing up his talk and putting up a triple double.

Much like how the dunk contest was geared towards the hometown favorite Blake Griffin to win, the All-Star game was geared for Kobe to get MVP, and rightfully so.  He deserved it, and it was fun to watch Kobe show the young guys he can still hang with the best of them.  In the end, the best players in the all-star game were the biggest competitors in the NBA, probably the 3 best players in the league – Kobe, LeBron, and Durant.

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