This years dunk contest reminded me of a crappy sequel to a good movie, whereby in the time that has passed since the last one certain moments have become so ingrained in the public conscious that the participants feel obliged to reference them. The result is a contrived mess, with the only enjoyable parts being those that reminded you of its predecessor. If you've ever seen "Meet the Fockers" you know what I'm talking about.
Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Dwight Howard fan and am amazed by Nate Robinson, but I found myself cringing through most of it.
Everyone raves about Howard's leaping ability. But in my opinion, extreme though it may be, his need to slow down and gather himself to plant his feet robs him of nearly all his forward momentum (his freethrow dunk being the exception, but that was off one foot and looked really awkward). This severely limits the kind of dunks he can do and they all end up looking like slightly different versions of the same dunk.
Now, Nate Robinson in my opinion should never have made the finals. In the same way Dwight Howard's "sticker on the backboard" dunk didn't receive the acclaim it should've at the time because the judges were confused and felt pressure to give an immediate score, Nate Robinson's vault off the back of Wilson Chandler should have been torn apart by the commentators and judges and should not have scored higher than a 30. It was a terrible idea.
His 2 dunks in the final round definitely were worthy of victory. But anyone who tries to tell you that he didn't get that much assistance by putting his left hand on Dwight Howard's shoulder is full of it.
In summary, too convoluted from both the participants and the NBA. But with the success of last years, it was probably destined to be a let down.
