Isaac
Years ago
Potential NBL dunk comp format
I can appreciate that an NBL All Star Game is occasionally not held because it's a lot of effort for little return. I do however see the advantages of extending the current pre-season Blitz tournament.
At the Blitz, all teams and players are already in attendance so it's easier to organise player and team photos, media questions and so on in addition to the typical pre-season games.
It's been mentioned before, but I'd like to see the NBL do some athlete tests at this time to build some player data and develop some pre-season talking points. Who's the fastest player? The tallest (really, not just their agent's guess), heaviest/lightest, the greatest wingspan or highest vertical? Who's the strongest?
One format they could try at the Blitz for a dunk comp is to have a fixed list of dunks, plus some open options. Any interested players could have a crack or two at the dunks on the list, or try something inventive of their own. Each dunk attempt would be filmed from a couple of angles, dark stadium in the style Wollongong have done a couple of pre-season promos, or Melbourne's effort this year. I think the NBL used that style in their promo the other year too.
Often, NBA players run out of inventive dunks. I'd seen the ones this year done before. I can't remember many unique dunks in recent years other than Dwight's sticker dunk or 12' dunk, McGee dunking on two-rings or with three balls, or maybe Ibaka grabbing the stuffed toy with his teeth, or the candle dunk. It's often slim pickings, even for the best.
The NBA's also shown that broadcasting the world's best live can still be unimpressive. The HORSE tournament this year was supposedly a brick-fest.
So, adding a greater pool of material and some curation might mean that the NBL gets better results. After the event, you'd have raw footage of potentially 100 dunks.
Then NBL greats, media or the players themselves would refine it to the best 10.
For each of these 10 dunks, a video would be polished with the multiple angles, slow-mos, music and intro/outro title graphics. Fans would view and vote online, 10-1 or for their top three or whatever they want. From this, the winner is picked.
This way, the league isn't broadcasting a series of missed or bland dunks. Players have more shots at it, so they can be reckless or go for power or try to pull off something unlikely. And because each player is mostly dunking in front of their peers, there's less crowd pressure to throw them off.
There could be secondary awards such as for the best shorter dude (Nate Robinson-style), or for the lumbering centres.
