All-Star Saturday night is just 48 hours away now, and the Dunk Contest is always the make or break event of the weekend. It’s definitely had its share of ups and downs over the course of the last 20 years, even taking two years off, due to a lockout and a season in which the contest was shelved, before Vince Carter single-handedly brought it back. The Dunk Contest is like Christmas. Sometimes you get great presents, most of the time you get some good and some bad, and some years you walk away with nothing more than a stocking full of coal. That’s what the 1995 Contest was…. a stocking full of coal. First off, the list of competitors reads like a 1995 D-League all-star team, even though it didn’t exist back then. Sure, you had the two defending champions, Isaiah Rider and Harold Miner, but the average basketball fan would be lucky if they could remember more than one of the other guys. There was Antonio Harvey, who was actually an opening night starter for the Lakers in 1993, alongside other Laker legends like Trevor Wilson and Tony Smith. There was Tim Perry, who was traded to Philadelphia for Charles Barkley (along with a couple other guys of course). There was Tony Dumas, who believe it or not, was the second best Dumas in the league that year. And then there was Jamey Watson, who to be honest, I haven’t thought about probably since 1995, if not before. He’d be a great RFP of the Day, except he really WAS forgotten. Watson’s first dunk on this highlight reel pretty much sets the tone for the contest as a whole. It looks like a warmup dunk. Even Rider and Miner, two of the best dunkers of the decade, seemed to leave their ‘A’ game at home. I truly believe this contest was the one that got the wheels turning in the league office to think about canning the event. Here are the highlights. Enjoy….. if you can.
Tag Archives: basketball
All-Star Weekend Moments of Yesteryear
I got to thinking today about how I get excited for different events during NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND each year. One year it’ll be the Dunk Contest, the next it’ll be the Three Point Contest, and the next it’ll be the Haier Shooting Stars. Okay okay, that last one is obviously false. I don’t think anyone with a frenulum preputii gets excited to watch a player shoot set shots with an old guy and a chick. Having said that, I’m on board with Team Sacramento this year. Tyreke Evans, Chris Webber, and Nicole Powell. They might as well just make it a 3-on-3 contest – it’d be so much better. Other things I’m excited to see are Stephen Curry in the 3pt Contest and Gerald Wallace out to avenge his disappointing scores from his first appearance earlier this decade. What takes the cake this year will be the Rookies taking on the Sophomores in the Schick Gatorade Rookie Allstate Sophomore E*Trade Challenge Presented By Ford. Nevermind that both teams are stacked, but just the thought of Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Stephen Curry, and Jonny Flynn running the floor together is enough to get the juices flowing. For anyone who actually cares about the outcome of the game, the real challenge will be whether the undersized freshmen can keep up on the boards with the likes of Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, and Kevin Love. While the All-Star game has become an afterthought, the Rookie-Soph Game is the perfect blend of all-star freedom and competitive drive.
Here are a few of the Rookie Sophomore Challenge’s greatest moments….
Tough reminder that Jason Richardson, Troy Murphy, and Gilbert Arenas were all rookies on the Warriors.
One Sad Franchise, and One Sad Warriors Fan…
Usually my Warriors posts are on the bright spots with the team, but there’s so much negativity in the organization over the past few seasons, I can’t resist NOT talking about their shortcomings. Sadly, the Warriors are one of the worst run franchises of all time. They still don’t qualify on my list as a top 5 worst all time franchise, because they’ve had some success albeit mostly before I was born. The past 17 years have had as many bright spots as I can count on one hand. With a .374 winning percentage letting numerous stars go just to save a few bucks only to watch them do great elsewhere would have any fan fed up. It feels like over the past few seasons that most of Warriors nation has finally had enough. The most recent news of the Warriors inability to make a good choices was cutting Speedy Claxton’s $5.2 million expiring contract. I can’t even pretend to understand how this helps us, since there are teams drooling worse than Homer Simpson over doughnuts to get some expiring contracts for the 2010 free agent class, so why are we dumping the contracts that seem to have so much value going into the trade deadline? We probably could’ve gotten something of value for the expiring contract we got in the Crawford deal over the summer right? I don’t have an answer for either of those questions and I’m sure management doesn’t either, but it did inspire this great website which I urge all our readers to click the red button in support of the fans vs. Cohan! This move just sums up many years of bad decisions by the front office, and truly shows they don’t care about the team winning. If they tell you it’s to get the team better, they must be breaking into those Marijuana clubs in SF and eating all the cookies. There is no conceivable reason to do this before the trade deadline. If they waited for the deadline to come and go and then cut him, I’d understand. This post is dedicated to what went wrong, and the only real way to fix them is to have a new owner! Continue reading
So You’re Tellin Me There’s a Chance!
One of my favorite players in the NBA is Brandon Roy, and I hope he rests through the break to completely heal from his injury. Not just because he’s one of the dominant fourth quarter scorers or because I happen to have him on my fantasy team, but for a new reason that came to light today. Roy is just one of those guys that wants to win, and will take a lesser role to enable his team to succeed when they are healthy. He does step it up when they are injury riddled, like they have been the past two years, and shows why he is such a good player. The recent news out of Portland is that he’s had set backs with that hammy that’s been bothering him. For some strange reason he still isn’t IR eligible in fantasy (screw you ESPN!). Anyways, they are saying that if he doesn’t play in a regular team game before the All-Star exhibition game, he will rest, opposed to possibly injuring the hammy further in the All-Star game. This will open the door for the first Warriors player since 1997 to get into the mid-season classic. Monta Ellis was the runner up to Chauncey Billups to replace CP3 in the game, so if Roy is held out of the game, Ellis should be the guy to get in there. Granted to most people this is about as exciting as me watching Lakers games hoping for them to lose, but to Warriors fans it might be the one bright spot in a horrific year, filled with injuries and dysfunction. That is, unless, Curry somehow takes the ROY award away from Tyreke or the team gets sold to Larry Ellison. If the Warriors ended up getting sold to Ellison, that would be the best thing to happen to the franchise in over two decades. For now, the possibility of Monta being named to the All-Star game would be the only highlight to our season thus far!
This Gay Shot Keeps Making Me Laugh
Last night we all heard about Kobe passing Jerry West on the all time scoring list for the Lakers. We heard about the groans from Phil and Pau after the game. To me the best part of this game wasn’t that the Lakers lost. The entertaining part came early in Rudy Gay’s time conscious play at the end of the first quarter. There were 7 seconds left and he threw up a half quarter. I guess his mental time clock moves a little faster than most, but he made sure they at least got one shot off! I think I’ve watched this five times already, and it’s not getting old. Enjoy!
The NBA Needs To Share It’s Revenue!
It’s a shame that in the NBA, or as Bill Simmons calls it, the No Benjamin’s Association that the rich do in fact get richer. No, this isn’t a rant on how the Lakers will probably land some stud at the trade deadline for a poo poo platter of expiring contracts or practice squad guys. This is about how the league is structured. Looking around it’s immediately obvious that teams stuck in small markets are going to lose money. Being a good team is supposed to raise you from financial destitute, but in a league strapped for cash, this isn’t happening anytime soon. With 40% of teams losing money last season, and the economy looking unlikey to turn around the NBA does have the most financial problems of all the major sports. Unless you count NBC, the NBA is probably the next closest organization in need of a Heidi Montag style face-lift.
It’s troubling to see how many NBA organizations are struggling to stay afloat without some good form of revenue sharing in place. It’s a travesty that teams like the Clippers, Knicks, and yes my Warriors make ten-million plus dollars profit each year, and field teams that would have a tough time beating the Washington Generals. Yes, these are the teams that I deem the greediest in terms of giving back to their fans. They do relatively nothing to improve their rosters, and they have plenty of income that could be spent to improve their respective teams. I don’t mind some of the teams atop the list, since the Lakers do deserve to make more money, because they do always put a good team on the court, but I feel that a teams revenue should be more driven by their ability to win. It’s been quite awhile since I broke down some financial situation, and most of this post is derived from Forbes numbers that they released on the teams earnings from last year. Continue reading
The REAL USF Shocks Gonzaga!!!
Sorry, no recap or analysis – I missed the game. Since 75% of Doin Work is USF alumni, we had to honor the Dons huge upset of #13 Gonzaga last night in San Francisco. What’s funny is I didn’t even bother checking the score at any point last night. I’ll typically check scores for just about every other WCC opponent, but Gonzaga I usually don’t bother. I didn’t find out until this morning when I logged into Facebook and someone had posted a comment that said “Congrats on the win.” I got that immediate adrenaline rush like when you realize you’ve won the lottery. Actually, I don’t know what that feels like, but you know the “no way, that couldn’t have happened!” feeling. The loss was just the fourth for Gonzaga this season. The list reads like a who’s who of basketball powerhouse programs: Michigan State, Wake Forest, Duke, San Francisco. Okay, so maybe the fourth program doesn’t really belong anymore, but we’ll always have the mid-50s. We also still have more national championships than any school in California besides UCLA as well, but who’s counting. Senior forward Dior Lowhorn led the way for USF with 22 points and 9 rebounds.
Steven Gray isn't on Rashad Green and Perris Blackwell's level. Seriously. Look at his feet.
Another Great Kings Discount!!!
The late Wayman Tisdale.... the greatest to ever play for the Kings and the Suns?
For all the Sacramento fans out there, here’s a great deal on Kings tickets for the February 5th game against the Phoenix Suns. Lower bowl tickets for ONLY $40.50!!! These seats are usually $89.50, so grab them now and go watch Tyreke Evans run circles around Steve Nash, IF Coach Gentry even lets him try to guard him. Click on the link below for this special deal, and use the password…. kings.
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WTF ALL-STARS
Voting closed today for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, so in honor of the inevitable snubs and undeserving nods, here’s the top WTF all-stars of the last 15 years. These aren’t necessarily guys who were undeserving, but certainly a list of names you wouldn’t necessarily think all-star.
F – Christian Laettner (1997) 18 ppg, 9 rpg for Atlanta
F – Chris Gatling (1997) 19 ppg, 8 rpg for Dallas
C – Jamaal Magloire (2004) 13 ppg, 10 rpg for New Orleans
G – Wally Szczerbiak (2002) 18.7 ppg for Minnesota
G – Allan Houston (2001) 18.7 ppg for New York
F – Antonio Davis (2001) 13ppg, 10 rpg for Toronto
C – Rik Smits (1998) 17 ppg, 7 rpg for Indiana
F – Anthony Mason (2001) 16 ppg, 10 rpg for Miami
F – Detlef Schrempf (1997) 17 ppg, 6 rpg for Seattle
F – Dale Davis (2000) 10 ppg, 10 rpg for Indiana
C – Vlade Divac (2001) 12 ppg, 8 rpg for Sacramento
F – Tom Gugliotta (1997) 20 ppg, 6 rpg for Minnesota
Is Blake Griffin the Next Greg Oden?
The news breaking that Blake Griffin will miss the remainder of the season came out of LA today. He will instead opt for surgery to enable him to play next year. I don’t blame the guy, the Clips aren’t going anywhere this year, and they’ve made it where they are without him. Like Baron said today, “It’s tough, but we have to keep playing.” This news made me think about a few things;
One, was he cursed like we all thought he was when the Clippers drafted him? I’d say being drafted by the Clippers is a curse in general, but being selected #1 overall by them is scarier than running into Gary Busey on the street. They always under achieve and under utilize their talent, so maybe it’s better he doesn’t learn a useless system. I already felt bad for Eric Gordon being stuck under Dunleavy’s rule, but at least he’s out on the court playing. They’ve had two #1 overall selections in their franchise’s history (88′ Danny Manning 98′ Olowokandi), and we know how that turned out. Griffin was just doomed from the start.
The second thing I thought was; thank god the Warriors or the Kings didn’t have that pick. I’m sure at the moment both teams are happy with what they got in the draft, and NOT getting the #1 overall could be a blessing in disguise.
The third thing I thought was; Is he the next Greg Oden? He very well could be. I’m not a doctor, but I never view surgery as a good thing. Although he never looked awkwardly old like Oden does, he shares some similarities. They were both #1 overall picks. They are now both going to be missing their first full season. I guess we’ll know for sure if he gets hurt next season after showing a little promise to start the year. I hope he’s not, and I hope Oden can come back strong, but my instincts tell me otherwise! I’ll leave it to you to decide.
Doin Discounts
Who says it doesn’t pay to be a Doin Work fan? First we brought you great discounts on clothes, and now we’re bringing the NBA to you. Here’s a special offer for those you in the Sacramento area. Click on the link below to get discounted ticket prices, NO service charge, and tickets to be printed at home. If you haven’t seen Rookie of the Year frontrunner, Tyreke Evans yet, you need to get out to Arco Arena. The Kings, already within two wins of their total from last year, will welcome back leading scorer Kevin Martin this week as well.
Password is kings
Doin 50th Birthday Celebrations!
Dominique Wilkins was born on January 12th 1960, in Paris, France. This marks his 50th birthday today, and Doin Work would like to pay tribute to one of our generations most dominant players. For the record, I don’t count anyone that is younger than me, 28 or played before I was aware of what I was watching late-80’s. My “generation” may grow or shrink depending what kind of mood I’m in, but that’s what it is for now.
It’s good to see that Wilkins is active with the Hawks organization that he made such a great impact on. He has been instrumental in helping them out with player and management moves. He has helped bring some excitement to the franchise and pushed all the right buttons through drafting, and being patient with the young players. It’s good to see a franchise letting their young guys mature together, something I’m not accustomed to with the Warriors. They’ve also made solid veteran pickups along the way as well. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith did their best Nique impression last night as they beat the Celtics in a terribly officiated game.
Alas, Wilkins didn’t get the nichkname The Human Highlight Film for nothing. He’s kind of an rfp, but he is far from forgotten so we’ll call him a rp of the day. Unfortunately for him, he played his peak years in the Jordan era, and averaged 30+ a year in four separate seasons only capturing one scoring title. He was a seven time all-star, and led the Hawks to four straight 50 win seasons. He may have been around at the wrong time, and having to duel with Bird’s Celtics and then Jordan’s Bulls maybe made us belittle some of his accolades too much. He gave them both a run for their money every time they faced off, but he never could win a championship in the end. It’s tough to knock him for that, since if anyone deserved one, he did. He has far surpassed MJ on success sitting in the executive suite. I can’t see the Bobcats being where the Hawks are anytime in the next five years. Nique is still giving back, by throwing a 50th birthday celebration and donating some proceeds to Diabetes Foundation, since he too, suffers from diabetes. I enjoyed every game I could catch of his growing up, and a trip through youtube to watch his highlights, is never one I’m opposed to making. Anyways, here’s one solid highlight reel of one of the ten best dunkers we may ever see in the NBA, enjoy.
Monday Morning Randomness
Over the weekend there was one good playoff game, and the others turned out to be not so exciting, especially for someone like myself that doesn’t have any real connection to the teams playing. I just wanted to see some good contests, but that unfortunately didn’t happen for the most part. The Arizona and Green Bay game made up for it a little bit being the highest scoring playoff game of all time, but still, I really hoped for more this weekend. I have to say it was fun watching the Pats get blown out at home though! I guess I’ll talk about few other things I found interesting in the sporting world this weekend.
Aroldis Chapman signed with the Reds for $30 million. This made me happy since I won’t have to root against the man with the same last name as me wearing an Angels uniform. Seeing how he went to Cincy, I have a feeling he won’t pan out since most their moves don’t. Not too many guys I can think of fare well pitching in that stadium. Maybe he’ll end up being a closer, which would be slightly easier to be successful than a starter at least in Cincy…
Vlad Guerrero stays in the AL West, but is moving to Texas. If there’s anywhere to see if Vlad has anything left in the tank it’s got to be Arlington. If he doesn’t produce there it’s easy to assume that his bat speed has slowed, and IS out of gas. The Rangers kept busy by signing Kahlil Greene to a deal as well. It looks like the Rangers can be a team that will be tough in the west if they can get another pitcher besides the often injured Harden they might be in business!
I came across some more reason’s that Raines deserves to be in the HOF. This link on Sportsnation shows how voters picked Dawson over Raines 70% to 30% in an original poll when it was just their names, then they posted the best five season’s from both guys in a new poll using Player A and Player B. The percentages flipped, and 70% voted for Raines’s numbers over Dawson’s. Thanks for showing me I wasn’t crazy when I said Raines deserves to be in the HOF sportsnation!
Paquiao and Mayweather are fighting on March 13, but Pacman will be in Dallas fighting, and Mayweather will be in Las Vegas. Sounds like Mayweather must want to fight Pacman for the PPV purchases. We’ll see which fight is MORE worth watching as Mayweather hasn’t announced who his opponent is, but I don’t see myself buying either…
Kansas and John Wall dropped to #3 in the NCAA basketball rankings and Texas jumped to #1 with their perfect 15-0 record. Kentucky is #2, in case you were wondering at 16-0. It’s the first time anyone but Kansas held the top spot this year including the preseason. The Jayhawks lost to Tennessee on Sunday in an upset.
Jay Mariotti actually wrote something that I agree with about the Rooney Rule in the wake of the Pete Caroll hiring. Sure Seattle says that Leslie Frazier was a true candidate for the head coaching job, but does anyone buy that? Sounds like they went straight for Pete, and Frazier was only considered because of the rule. Like I said in my piece on Pete moving, just a waste of everybody’s time bringing him into interview…
Trojan Enz Boner of the Week Award
I’ve watched a lot of basketball in the last three decades, but I’ve never seen this. Clearly I’m not alone either. Check out this clip of Tyreke Evans’ airball, which JR Smith thinks goes in. As a result, he steps out of bounds and passes it in to Billups.
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A Mistah FAB Classic
Yeah yeah, I know, this clip is old, but every time I watch it I get a good laugh. I guess it’s kinda like MCeezy’s favorite dubs clip. Sometimes when there isn’t a ton to root for on the court in terms of winning, you may as well enjoy the little things, and at least laugh a little about it! My two favorite comments are at the 3:10 mark (play like we don’t want no autographs) and at the 7:15 mark (you look like an AAU team out there). Thanks for being a great dubs fan Mistah FAB! Enjoy if you never saw it, the Lakers announcer seemed to love having him sit behind them! We’ll at least for most of it… Oh yeah, and the inspiration for posting this video was this Mistah FAB interview from yesterday, where he shows just how hardcore of a Warriors fan he is.
2 Comments | tags: basketball, commentator, funny, golden state warriors, los angeles lakers, mistah fab, NBA | posted in Comedy, Sports