Keep It NBA

All-Star Weekend 2012:
Foot Locker Three Point Shootout
and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest

By Rangga Sobiran, KeepItNBA contributor

The NBA All-Star Three Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest participants have been announced. This year, despite missing some players who I think deserve to be invited, the three point shootout will likely be the more interesting event to watch between the two;

it will feature two All-Stars in Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks), a rising star and Orlando Magic fan favorite Ryan Anderson and one of NBA’s deadliest spot up shooter, Anthony Morrow (New Jersey Nets). In contrast to the three point shootout, the Slam Dunk contest features less flashy names like rookie Iman Shumpert (New York Knicks) and Derrick Williams (Minnesota Timberwolves), sophomore Paul George (Indiana Pacers), and third-year Houston Rockets forward Chase Budinger. In all honesty, I have a hard time seeing that this year’s dunk contest will be able to match last year’s. I am just going to watch the dunk contest with no expectations and hope to be surprised. Here’s my take on the players invited for both events and the snubs:



Three Point Shootout

Kevin Love - PF/C - Minnesota Timberwolves - 46 3PT Made, 1.6 3PTM/G, 36.2% 3PT Pct

Love campaigned himself to get invited for the All-Star Game Three Point Shootout and he succeeded. He said he’s bringing sexy back to the three point contest; I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Love has become one of the best big man shooters in the league and he is shooting more treys this year, but his three point percentage this year is actually down from last year (41.7%  3PT Pct).

Joe Johnson - SG - Atlanta Hawks - 54 3PT Made, 1.8 3PTM/G, 35.1% 3PT Pct

I don’t think Johnson’s invitation is necessary; while he can shoot the 3-point shots, his reputation as a 3-point shooter is built on the fact that he shot lots of them. I think he’s going to struggle a little bit in this competition since he’s not really the spot up shooter type. But, neither was Paul Pierce and he won the contest 2 years ago.

Anthony Morrow - SG - New Jersey Nets - 65 3PT Made (2nd tied), 2.2 3PTM/G, 41.7 3PT Pct

Morrow is currently tied with Brandon Jennings for 2^nd in the league in total 3-points made. He’s a career 46% 3-point shooter and has been one of the league’s top 3-point shooters since his rookie year 3 years ago. I consider him a strong candidate to win this competition.

Mario Chalmers - PG - Miami Heat - 57 3PT Made (9th), 2.0 3PTM/G, 46.3% 3PT Pct (5th)

Chalmers finally learns how to be effective playing alongside the Heat superstar trio and the result is a career year for the hot shooting point guard. He’s been hitting those open 3-point shots at a high rate this year. The only thing that bothers me with the Chalmers invite is that it means the Heat will have two representatives with James Jones coming back to defend his title. I’d rather give the spot to some other deserving players.

Ryan Anderson - PF/C - Orlando Magic - 87 3PT Made (1st), 3.0 3PTM/G, 43.5% 3PT Pct

Stan Van Gundy decided to make Anderson the Magic’s starting power forward at the start of the season and gave him the green light to shoot and he doesn't disappoint. Aside from having the luxury of playing next to Dwight Howard who is drawing a lot of double teams, his combination of quick release and length made him difficult to stop. He currently leads the league in total 3-points made and he’s hitting them at a good percentage. Competing at home in front of the home crowd makes him my favorite to win the contest.

James Jones - SF - Miami Heat - 19 3PT Made, 0.8 3PTM/G, 40.4% 3PT Pct

If not because he won the competition last year, he wouldn’t be invited because he just doesn’t play enough this year to warrant a consideration. But, his reputation as a shooter is well respected around the league, so he might surprise us.

Prediction:

I have Anderson winning the competition matching up with Morrow in the final. Competing with home court advantage and in front of the home crowd, I can't see Anderson losing this one.

Three Point Shootout Snubs:

Stephen Curry - PG - Golden State Warriors - 37 3PT Made, 2.2 3PTM/G, 41.6% 3PT Pct

Brandon Rush - SG - Golden State Warriors - 40 3PT Made, 1.5 3PTM/G, 54.1% 3PT Pct

The Warriors lead all teams in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (39.8%) and 3^rd in 3-points made per game; they are arguably the best 3-point shooting team in the league. Yet none of their players get invited despite Brandon Rush topping the 3-point shooting percentage chart. If Brandon Rush doesn’t sound too sexy, they should at least consider Stephen Curry who is having usual strong year shooting the treys. The Warriors deserves to have a representative in the contest.

Ray Allen - SG - Boston Celtics - 57 3PT Made, 2.3 3PTM/G, 48.3 3PT Pct (3rd)

I know that it seems like every year he’s invited. But the reality is he does deserve to be invited every year; especially this year when he’s hitting two 3-points per game at a rate close to 50%.

CJ Watson - PG - Chicago Bulls - 35 3PT Made, 1.6 3PTM/G, 46.1% 3PT Pct (9th)

Kyle Korver - SF - Chicago Bulls - 57 3PT Made (9th), 1.8 3PTM/G, 42.5% 3PT Pct

Now this pick is probably biased since I’m a Bulls fan, but not a single Bulls player has been invited to participate in the competition since Steve Kerr in 1997. The league passed on Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni (he had one great year shooting the treys). Now they passed on CJ Watson and Kyle Korver. Both are among the league leaders in 3-point shooting percentage.

Slam Dunk Contest

Iman Shumpert - PG/SG - New York Knicks

I heard people are raving about his athleticism but I think it’s fair to say that he’s still remains an unknown as a dunker. Rumors said that he’s going to have Jeremy Lin passing him the ball on one of his dunks.

Derrick Williams - SF/PF - Minnesota Timberwolves

I call this pick the Rubio effect. Williams have been delivering dunks on some of Ricky Rubio’s crazy passing highlights and all of a sudden the league thinks Williams is a Slam Dunk Contest material. Honestly, I don’t find all his dunks that impressive, he doesn’t seem to be very creative with his dunks. I assume Rubio is going to be involved in one of his dunks, but that means nothing if his dunk is boring.

Paul George - SG/SF - Indiana Pacers

George has the top-notch athleticism and length to be an exciting dunker, but he seems to lack creativity. Most of his dunks I’ve seen this season look rather plain. Despite that, I won’t be surprised either if he suddenly pull out a crazy dunk out of nowhere. He looks like one of those players who can pull a between-the-leg dunk effortlessly.

Chase Budinger - SF - Houston Rockets

If you have never seen Budinger dunk, you should look up his dunks in the McDonald High School All-American Dunk Contest. This volleyball-turned-basketball player has some serious hops. You only need to see the dunk at at 1:30 on this youtube clip below. I hope he still has it in him. I decide not to post his NBA.com dunk contest participant profile because it doesn't do justice of Budinger's dunking ability.

Prediction:
If the McDonald High School All-American version of Chase Budinger shows up, he'll win it. The final will be between Budinger and George. But the challenge for these contestants the last few years have been just making those dunks.


Slam Dunk Contest Snubs:

JaVale McGee - C - Washington Wizards

McGee revealed through his twitter that he felt snubbed by the All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk contest. He said he would’ve accepted the invitation had he been invited. McGee loves to dunk; he even received some criticism earlier this season for throwing an off-the-backboard dunk on the wrong end of a Wizards blowout game. Aside from that, I have to admit that he’s creative with his dunks.

DeAndre Jordan - C - Los Angeles Clippers

Lob city needs to have a representative. After Blake Griffin decline to compete in the dunk contest this year, I think DeAndre Jordan should be given a shot. I used to think that big man dunkers beside Shawn Kemp are boring; but that perception changes since Dwight Howard. I thought McGee and Serge Ibaka last year was pretty entertaining to watch. We are yet to see a dunk contestant break a backboard during the competition. I think Jordan can achieve that if given the chance, he just needs to ask Chris Paul to throw him a lob and dunk the ball two hands with authority; the crowd would go crazy.