Overall, I found myself a bit disappointed in the event, but it was still a great opportunity to see the best high school players in the world showcase their athletic abilities. Here are the results of the dunk contest:
Jon Brockman: Started out the dunk contest with two solid, but not spectacular dunks. He made them both, which allowed him to advance to the finals due the majority of the participants missing at least one dunk.
Calvin (C.J.) Miles: C.J. missed quite a few dunks on his first try. Finally after a few attempts, got a nice two-handed dunk down off of a lob. Again two solid dunks, but nothing spectacular here.
Julian Wright: Julian started it off with a really different dunk that brought the crowd to their feet. He did some sort of a rock the cradle reverse dunk that was really impressive. Like most of his fellow participants though, he missed his second dunk, virtually giving himself no chance at all to make the finals.
Josh McRoberts: The Indiana native had a very nice following at the game, and after his first round of dunks, you could see why they were following Mr. McRoberts. Josh started off with a 360 windmill (a la Vince Carter in the NBA 2000 dunk contest and Josh Smith in the 2004 NBA dunk contest). He followed that up with a between the legs dunk which assured him a spot in the finals.
Micah Downs: The Kansas signee missed his first few windmill attempts, but impressed the crowd with his leaping ability for a player of his size. Downs finally got one down, which drew a nice ovation from the crowd. Like so many of his counterparts, Micah eliminated himself from the finals by missing his second dunk attempt.
Amir Johnson: The 6'11 Louisville recruit was quite possibly the most impressive dunker in round one. Amir started it off by throwing the ball very hard off of the glass and slamming home a powerful windmill dunk. On his next attempt, he ran from the three point line and slammed two balls through the basket. After that duo of dunks, Johnson guaranteed himself a spot in the finals.
Louis Williams: The player whom most thought would win the dunk contest was extremely disappointing. Louis started off by lobbing the ball high in the air to himself and slamming it down hard with one hand. While it was not a spectacular dunk, it was very impressive for a 6'2 player. Williams then tried to do a variety of dunks in which it was clear that he was unable to do, missing them all, and blocking himself from making the finals.
Gerald Green: By far the highest leaper of the group, Gerald started off by throwing the ball basically off of the top of the backboard and throwing it down with two hands. His head was nearly at rim level from my angle on this dunk. He followed that with a dunk in which he lobbed the ball to himself and then took off from about a step inside of the free throw line and dunked it with two hands. Green easily made the finals after these two great dunks.
Finals
Jon Brockman: Jon was only in the finals due to the fact that he made both of his dunks in round one. Jon had another two solid, but unspectacular dunks in the finals. Brockman had a good strategy of going for safe dunks that he could make and getting the guaranteed points, but in the end, he just didn't have enough flair to pull through.
Gerald Green: Gerald started off the finals in extraordinary fashion: By putting his elbow in the rim and dunking the ball! Gerald followed that up by throwing the ball extremely high in the air and sending it down. Gerald basically assured himself a place in the championship after this dunk.
Amir Johnson: Amir started the finals off by missing a good number of dunks, giving himself no chance of taking home the crown. Amir did however legitimately dunk from the foul line on his next dunk, showing the great athleticism he possesses in his 6'11 frame.
Josh McRoberts: Josh came out of the gates with the same between the legs dunk he did in the first round, but from a different angle this time. The judges were not quite as thrilled this time around, but still gave him a solid score. For his next dunk, Josh flipped the ball around his back and did a reverse dunk (a la David Lee in the 2001 McDonald's dunk contest). These two dunks actually gave him the exact same score as Green, sending them to a one dunk dunk-off.
Dunk-Off
Gerald Green: Gerald ended the dunk off immediately with a lob to himself and between the legs dunk in which his head was at rim level. It was an absolutely amazing dunk that the crowd went bananas about. He got a perfect score on this dunk, only giving Josh McRoberts an opportunity to tie.
Josh McRoberts: Josh virtually had no chance of matching Green's dunk, but he brought out a nice 360 statue of liberty dunk ( a la Terrance Stansbury in the NBA dunk contest in the 80's).
Overall, the dunk contest was decent, but not spectacular. By no means did I use the results to sway my opinions on any of the listed players. By this article, I am trying to give you guys a glimpse of the athletic talents of the kids who are playing in this game, and the ones that you will see in the NBA in the future. These are just my opinions. Turn in to ESPN Tuesday at 7pm to make your own opinions.
Stay tuned for more in-depth coverage tommorow following the final practice session.
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