That's a classic Gang Starr line from their "Moment of Truth" album and it applies to the very outdated and stale dunk content we witnessed at NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas.
It was an incredible venue and the game itself was exciting and came down to the last shot but the dunk contest was just plain awful. The stars don't want to do it and as athletic as Nate Robinson is I don't want to see him anymore or see him have to try dunks 15 times just so he can pull it off.
My proposal stems from something we saw last year. Dwight Howard dunked on an 11-foot hoop in the contest and did it with ease.
Get a hoop that can be raised and do it track and field, high jump style.
Start it at 11 feet and keep raising it until only one guy can jam it. I don't know one person that wouldn't find this incredibly fascinating.
How high guy can these guys go? 12-and-a-half feet? 13? We have all seen LeBron throw it down when his head is practically even with the rim so what would his ceiling be.
Could a big man like Howard with height and reach compete with a smaller James who can jump out of the building.
Get four guys and just let them go. They can run dunk lines like pre-game layup lines and if one guy can't hit the level the other guys do he's out. Keep ratcheting it up. The pizzaz of the 360's and windmills would be gone but the intrigue would surely not.
Moreover this competition would create precedent. We have seen the old dunks from MJ at the free-throw line to 'Nique's aerial acrobatics but like the "hardest shot" event at the NHL's All-Star weekend, a tangible bar would be set and that number would be ingrained in your psyche.
For 16 years Al Iafrate's 105.2 mph slap shot stood as the record and every year guys went gunning for it. Using a vastly-improved carbon fiber stick Zdeno Chara bested that mark by two-tenths of a second in last year's competition and I remember how exciting it was.
Of even greater importance I think guys like James and Howard would want to try this. It wouldn't be as dangerous as trying the wilder dunks and I know LeBron would look at this and one more possible stamp of his greatness.
The Jordan-Kobe-LeBron debate will rage on but a high-dunk competition would be one measuring stick for generations of hoopers.
13 feet? Is it really possible? We have no clue, but I would sure like to find out.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The single-season spike aka "the earthquake year"
If you look on a seismometer the average movement is pretty small. The meter is always moving but it goes up and down pretty calmly with not a lot of serious ambition. It just rumbles along.
But when an earthquake hits all hell breaks loose and it flails up and down like a Vegas partygoer.
In sports we are talking a spike in numbers. An increase in stats or performance that totally interrupts the career arc of a player and sends it soaring like the Himalayas.
Nowadays there is a pretty simple explanation: Steroids.
While more often than not, the use of performance-enhancing drugs is a pretty good place to start there are some other factors to consider.
As much as players love the game, it's also a business. Big money is out there for the taking and in a "contract-year" guys will be very motivated to not only be in great shape but also produce at a very high level for financial fodder at the bargaining table during the offseason.
Health plays a part as a guy who is pain-free can string together five or six solid months at a time but what happens then?
New teammates, coaches or surroundings can also contribute to a monster year. A new spouse or significant other can have an impact. See Greg Norman but not Eldrich Woods.
Regardless of the reason it is truly remarkable to try and view the peak from either side of the valley. Guys will be elite for a period of time like Sandy Koufax, but a one-year reign is breathtaking.
****
With that I give you the pride of Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Jonathan Cheechoo.
Placed on waivers yesterday by the Ottawa Senators, Cheech and his $3.5-million contract, will end up in the AHL if he's not claimed. In 61 games with Ottawa the former second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks had just 14 points (5 goals and 9 assists).
Just 29 years of age, the right winger blossomed in the year after the lockout, racing to a league-high 56 goals in 2005-2006. In six years, the Cheechoo Train has tickled the twine 170 times meaning nearly one-third of his total tallies came in that season.
In early December of 2005 and mired in a 10-game losing streak the Sharks traded for Boston's Joe Thornton.
Cheechoo had just one goal in all of November, but in Jumbo Joe's first game in teal, he scored twice, and San Jose reeled off six straight wins and Cheech put in 13 goals before the New Year.
In 24 games before Thornton's arrival, Cheechoo had seven goals. In the 58 games after he recorded an astounding 49, including nine game-winners.
San Jose made the playoffs after their awful start, Thornton was named the league's MVP and Cheechoo was the top goal scorer.
But that was the top of the mountain. He managed 37 goals the following season but hasn't reached the 30-goal plateau again, on either side of that magical run.
Bringing Thornton, the best passer in the world, into the fold certainly didn't hurt his epic ascension, but it also doesn't explain that despite Joe's continual achievements Cheechoo could never come close to matching that type of production.
Ottawa was hoping a change of scenery might bring him a fresh opportunity but now it appears as though his career is at a real crossroads and it's hard to imagine him ever being an elite goal scorer in the NHL ever again.
****
The first comparison to this type of season happened 10 years before in Baltimore with the Orioles Brady Anderson. In 1996 the outfielder from California slugged 50 home runs.
He hit 41 the three seasons before and 36 in the two seasons after. He hit 24 in 1999 and only went over 20 one other time.
In the history of baseball only 19 times had a player hit more than Anderson's 50.
But the steroid era was just getting underway.
In 2001, Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez went off for 57 round-trippers. Just like Cheechoo he had one more year in the thirties (31 bombs the year before) and never made it out of the twenties again.
In his first five full big league seasons Gonzalez hit 59 dingers. In a century of modern baseball, and ignoring the numbers of other users like McGwire and Sosa, there were five seasons of more than 57 homers in that time.
****
So the steroids count for something. New teammates can too.
Washington Redskins RB John Riggins went off for 24 TD's in 1983 at age 34. He only had double-digits rushing scores two other times and never more than 14. He had 25 his first five seasons.
The diamond-in-the-rough seasons are few and far between. They are as interesting as statistical anomalies as they are for the reasons surrounding them.
Greatness and mediocrity come and go but one historical year can be the most fascinating.
But when an earthquake hits all hell breaks loose and it flails up and down like a Vegas partygoer.
In sports we are talking a spike in numbers. An increase in stats or performance that totally interrupts the career arc of a player and sends it soaring like the Himalayas.
Nowadays there is a pretty simple explanation: Steroids.
While more often than not, the use of performance-enhancing drugs is a pretty good place to start there are some other factors to consider.
As much as players love the game, it's also a business. Big money is out there for the taking and in a "contract-year" guys will be very motivated to not only be in great shape but also produce at a very high level for financial fodder at the bargaining table during the offseason.
Health plays a part as a guy who is pain-free can string together five or six solid months at a time but what happens then?
New teammates, coaches or surroundings can also contribute to a monster year. A new spouse or significant other can have an impact. See Greg Norman but not Eldrich Woods.
Regardless of the reason it is truly remarkable to try and view the peak from either side of the valley. Guys will be elite for a period of time like Sandy Koufax, but a one-year reign is breathtaking.
****
With that I give you the pride of Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada, Mr. Jonathan Cheechoo.
Placed on waivers yesterday by the Ottawa Senators, Cheech and his $3.5-million contract, will end up in the AHL if he's not claimed. In 61 games with Ottawa the former second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks had just 14 points (5 goals and 9 assists).
Just 29 years of age, the right winger blossomed in the year after the lockout, racing to a league-high 56 goals in 2005-2006. In six years, the Cheechoo Train has tickled the twine 170 times meaning nearly one-third of his total tallies came in that season.
In early December of 2005 and mired in a 10-game losing streak the Sharks traded for Boston's Joe Thornton.
Cheechoo had just one goal in all of November, but in Jumbo Joe's first game in teal, he scored twice, and San Jose reeled off six straight wins and Cheech put in 13 goals before the New Year.
In 24 games before Thornton's arrival, Cheechoo had seven goals. In the 58 games after he recorded an astounding 49, including nine game-winners.
San Jose made the playoffs after their awful start, Thornton was named the league's MVP and Cheechoo was the top goal scorer.
But that was the top of the mountain. He managed 37 goals the following season but hasn't reached the 30-goal plateau again, on either side of that magical run.
Bringing Thornton, the best passer in the world, into the fold certainly didn't hurt his epic ascension, but it also doesn't explain that despite Joe's continual achievements Cheechoo could never come close to matching that type of production.
Ottawa was hoping a change of scenery might bring him a fresh opportunity but now it appears as though his career is at a real crossroads and it's hard to imagine him ever being an elite goal scorer in the NHL ever again.
****
The first comparison to this type of season happened 10 years before in Baltimore with the Orioles Brady Anderson. In 1996 the outfielder from California slugged 50 home runs.
He hit 41 the three seasons before and 36 in the two seasons after. He hit 24 in 1999 and only went over 20 one other time.
In the history of baseball only 19 times had a player hit more than Anderson's 50.
But the steroid era was just getting underway.
In 2001, Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez went off for 57 round-trippers. Just like Cheechoo he had one more year in the thirties (31 bombs the year before) and never made it out of the twenties again.
In his first five full big league seasons Gonzalez hit 59 dingers. In a century of modern baseball, and ignoring the numbers of other users like McGwire and Sosa, there were five seasons of more than 57 homers in that time.
****
So the steroids count for something. New teammates can too.
Washington Redskins RB John Riggins went off for 24 TD's in 1983 at age 34. He only had double-digits rushing scores two other times and never more than 14. He had 25 his first five seasons.
The diamond-in-the-rough seasons are few and far between. They are as interesting as statistical anomalies as they are for the reasons surrounding them.
Greatness and mediocrity come and go but one historical year can be the most fascinating.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)