The participants in the 2006 All-Star Weekend Dunk Contest have been set. I’m rather excited for one of the guys in the contest: Nate Robinson. I believe he will be the shortest guy in the contest since 5’7″ Spud Webb won in 1986; 20 years ago. Nate is 5’9″ and looks like he’s on a trampoline when he jumps up for rebounds in games. The kid can sky. He’s a strong little guy too, 180 lbs at that height. I am 6’3″ and weigh 185 lbs. That means his dunks will probably not be gentle.
The other guys in the field are the reigning champ, Josh Smith, then Hakim Warrick, and Andre Iguodala.
Posted by Billy | Posted in Basketball | Posted on 04-02-2006
Here is a rough screen capture off of ESPN Motion to illustrate a point I have tried to make for the past ten years or so.
Tonight in the New York vs. Milwaukee game, Quentin Richardson got called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Now, I always figured that rule existed to prevent players from hanging excessively on the rim in order to taunt or celebrate their move in excess. This particular pull on the rim was done solely for the safety of the player.
Short refs who could never dunk don’t understand the physics of dunking the ball. When you are moving full speed toward the hoop and dunk the ball with both hands, you have to hang on so you don’t run the risk of swinging up to the backboard and falling off right onto your head. The dunker’s natural survival instinct has them pull up on the rim. This is simple physics. If you shorten yourself by pulling up on the rim, it is easier to keep holding on and you have less weight swinging at a far distance from the rim.
What I’m getting at is that if Quentin didn’t pull up on the rim, he would have slipped off and probably broken his neck. In fact, if you saw the play, you’d have seen that he let go as soon as his momentum was slowed down to the point where it would be safe for him to come back down.
I specifically remember a similar play I had long ago in a city league basketball game. It was a fast break and I dunked with both hands at full speed. There is absolutely no other way to protect yourself on this dunk other than pulling up on the rim. I got hit with a T as well, horrible call by the ref.
Somebody needs to explain this to the referees. It’s a great and legal play to attack the hoop. Players shouldn’t be penalized for protecting themselves. Unless we get some former dunkers as refs, I assume this will haunt me til I die.
So now would be a good time to mention that I’m a die hard Portland Trail Blazer fan. Tonight they played the Phoenix Suns and lost with a score of 130 – 85. That’s a nice little 45 point loss…GO BLAZERS!
One fun fact is that this weekend they set the record for the youngest starting backcourt ever in NBA history. Telfair was 20 years, 178 days old and Martell Webster was 19 years exactly. LeBron James and Dujuan Wagner had the previous mark.
I grew up in Redmond, OR. That’s why I became a Blazer fan, and they had made the playoffs most of my life until a couple seasons ago. They are now seeing what life is like at the very bottom of the western conference. From the looks of things, they could be down there at least a few more years. Oh well.
Posted by Billy | Posted in Basketball | Posted on 07-12-2005
Tonight I was playing basketball and I did something awful. After jumping for a rebound (that I didn’t get), my elbow came down square on a teammate’s nose. This was the kind of elbow where my forearm was all lined up so all the momentum went into the blow. I’m pretty sure it’s the hardest I’ve ever hit anybody with an elbow. I didn’t feel any bones, so I thought I had hit his shoulder or something, but nope, landed right on his nose.
He took it like a champ. He slowly laid down and just calmly let out an “ahhh” – with pretty red eyes and some bruises already showing up. I went to the bathroom with him to see the damage, there was a good kink in it and a good size red bump on the side. It looks like he’ll have a real good shiner. He went to the hospital to get it straightened back up.
It was one of those things that was a total accident, but I still feel awful for it happening. I’ve got respect for him, he told me he completely understands it was an accident, and even told me about a time he did the same thing to someone else. Even after all that, I still feel like a jerk. That may be because once, about six years back, I gouged someone in the eye (also playing hoops), which led to him needing to wear glasses for the next three years. I need to get a hold of him and make sure he’s recovered.
