The Postgame Online!!

In his 23 games since returning to the NBA from a three-year hiatus, the New Jersey Nets’ Gerald Green has had six 20+ point games, including tonight’s 32 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Green’s last season in the NBA spanned 44 games, which he played for the Dallas Mavericks in 2008-09. His five 20+ point games are the most since his sophomore season with the Boston Celtics in 2006-07.

In his sophomore season, Green had fifteen (15) 20+ point games, including a career-high 25 points in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks (a future Green-holder). He later topped his career-high with 33 points in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks, a game during which Paul Pierce was injured. 

The starting lineup for the Celtics for the Hawks game was: Rajon Rondo, Ryan Gomes, Allan Ray (not Ray Allen), Kendrick Perkins, and Green.This game occurred in an 8-game stretch where Green averaged 19.25 points per game. However, the Celtics won only one game in that stretch, in which Green matched his then-career high of 25 points to beat the Cavaliers. 

After a breakout 2007 season, Green was infamously traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett (the second trade to occur that would assist in finally sending the Celtics back to the Finals). He was overshadowed in Minnesota for 30 games, and requested a trade thusly. By late February, Green would be traded to his hometown Houston Rockets, only to be released a week into March.

Green spent a very lackluster season in Dallas in 2008-09, and eventually signed with a Russian team in December 2009, for the ‘09-10 season. He saw some NBA Summer League action in 2010 with the Los Angeles Lakers, but signed with another Russian team after Summer League ended. He moved to China in October 2011 to play for the Foshan Dralions, but was released shortly after in December.

After Boston, Minnesota, Houston, Dallas, Russia, and China between 2005 and 2011, Green signed with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League on December 28, 2011 (my 21st birthday). It is with the D-Fenders that Green made the NBDL All-Star team, and was awarded the 2012 NBDL All-Star Game MVP. 

Mere weeks after his MVP honors, Green would sign back-to-back 10-day contracts with the New Jersey Nets in late February 2012, and would later sign for the remainder of the season.

With the resuscitation and resurrection of his NBA career, Gerald Green has earned his role on a struggling, rebuilding, and possibly tanking Nets team. He’s proven he can still compete with NBA talent, and with Gerald Wallace out with a hamstring injury, look for Green to receive starting minutes for the Nets, and more responsibility and freedom as he develops.

Green has deserved starting minutes to this point, and if he does so, he would be standing on the court at tip-off with Deron Williams, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, and Shawne Williams; not an awful crop of players, but definitely one of potential. Williams, Brooks, and Green could be an incredible trio looking toward the future of the Brooklyn Nets.

With positive results, Green could be a huge piece for the Nets next year, and coming years. Or he could earn a good contract for another team, becoming a valuable asset and a product of the potential that he seeped in his first two years in the NBA. Green showed a lot of promise prior to his unfair trade and bench burial, and then failed to please any team enough to find him worth the money to keep. 

Similarly, the Indiana Pacers’ own Paul George has shown slivers of this same kind of development: topping, matching, and topping career-highs, exhibiting massive amounts of potential, and even performing with a relative skillset. However, George was removed from his own burial with the firing of former coach Jim O’Brien. After proving himself in two seasons, don’t expect the Pacers to pass on him as easily as Boston passed on Green.

Even if a Kevin Garnett-at-that-time-level player is available, Larry Bird understands the importance of a young man’s development, and is likely to ensure that he can continue to flourish in the hands of Frank Vogel. Unfortunately, Green did not receive the same amount of respect, nor freedom.

But Green is on his way back to fame in the NBA. His American professional career has been resuscitated and resurrected, so expect for him to prove his worth, earn his place, and turn a very lucky team into a very happy team.

Paul (@King24George), on behalf of #PacerNation, we could not be more proud of you for making it into the BBVA Rising Stars competition, and the 2012 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. You’re the first Pacer to be in the Rookie/Sophomore game since Danny Granger in 2006/2007 (both years), and Jamaal Tinsley before him in 2002/2003 (both years). You’re also the first Pacer to make it into dunk contest since Fred Jones won over Jason Richardson in 2004. 

Now listen, PacerNation is calling your name. Tonight, you face the New Jersey Nets, who you’ve persistently dominated every time this season. Because the team is in a 5-game slump, I think it’s your turn to show the world what you’re made of, and to turn this team back around. You can start by showing your manhood by ridding any fear you have, and start making plays in the paint. The only thing that can stop you in the paint is you and your fear; you have to look past it to make plays like one of the best NBA dunkers and players ever, Vince Carter.

Besides stepping up to make the team better, let’s talk about the dunk contest. I know, you know, and much of the NBA fanbase knows that you have the athleticism, skills, talent, and creativity to win the contest easily. But with the new format, you have to come out with three show-stopping, never-before-seen-in-the-NBA dunks that will put the audience on their feet, and the fans/judges on their asses. 

A History Lesson

In 2000, Vince Carter said before the dunk contest that he had dunks planned that had never been seen before. When he got onto the court, Vince changed his mind, and went with dunks he thought up off the top of his head. These were still dunks no one had ever seen, and he earned near-perfect scores across the board (one 49, the rest 50’s). In an interview before the contest, even Shaq was telling Craig Sager that Vince said he was going to do a 720; a dunk NO ONE had ever seen or heard of, until Taurian Fontenette AKA The Air Up There pulled it off a few years ago. 

If history has taught us anything, it’s that replication can result in poor reception. If you pull off anything that appears “simple”, or has been seen before in the dunk contest in years past, you’re likely to receive fewer votes than if you went out and killed it with dunks that make Kenny Smith crap himself.

Now, I’m sure you’ve heard of Team Flight Brothers. They’re well-known for doing dunks that no one has EVER seen before. There are plenty of dunks that they’ve performed, which have never been seen on an NBA court (unless they’re doing them during a half-time show). Last year, before the 2011 dunk contest, TFB’s CEO, Chuck Millan, even put together a video called, “19 Dunks the NBA Has Never Seen in the Dunk Contest”, two of which were used by DeMar DeRozan last year (“East Bay Funk Remix” and “Showstopper” were Werm’s off-the-back-of-the-backboard rider [between the legs] and lob scoop reverse dunks). This video is posted below, with my selections on which dunks would be prime choices.

I know you already have a very sick reverse 360 rider dunk that was featured on Twitter, and this “Open Gym Dunkfest” video from your time at Fresno State show that you can definitely pull off any dunk you try. So here’s your chance to try any dunk. With the new format of the dunk contest, you’ll have to pull out three of the craziest dunks you could ever try, in hopes of defeating the hype that will be surrounding Iman Shumpert and Jeremy Lin. I’m trying to prove the point that, without a phenomenal, overwhelming performance, you may not be able to win on any dunk you do, thanks to the nation’s current state of “Linsanity”.

So take my advice and study a collection of these dunks. Practice them all, then walk into the Amway Center with a repertoire that YOU get to pick from, based on each of the other contestants’ performances. I also have a few other suggestions, without proper visual aid, but I’ll leave those for the end. Until then, here is the “19 Dunks” video from TeamFlightBrothers, from which I will be referencing:

1. Special FX’s “360 Behind-the-Back” — 0:14
2. Young Hollywood’s “Out-the-Hand Windmill Elbow” — 0:56 (you could even turn this into a between-the-legs)
3. Golden Child’s “360 Eastbay” — 1:09 (this is the ‘right’ way, but your version would be a winner also)
4. JusFly’s “Under Both Legs” — 1:18 (the fans would go insane)
5. Werm’s “Eastbay over 4” — 1:57 (get the other three contestants and Jeremy Lin for full effectiveness of this dunk)
6. JusFly performing TDub’s “Dubble Up” (out-of-hand eastbay over player) — 2:58 (there are a few renditions/versions/upgrades of this dunk, check below)
7. TDub’s “540 Reverse Windmill” — 3:20 (any spin dunk more than a 360 would be incredible for the dunk contest)
8. JusFly’s “Cartwheel” — 3:48 (the video shows Justin cartwheeling with an eastbay, but if the cartwheel is executed properly, you can add a windmill, under both legs, any ‘dunk contest’ dunk with it)
9. JusFly’s “Under Both Legs Dubble Up” — 4:00 (one of the aforementioned “upgrades” to TDub’s Dubble Up, this one might be the craziest dunk performable)
10. TDub’s “Dubble Up X” — 4:13 (also an insane Dubble Up remix, this out-the-hand double-pump reverse over a player would be kill the competition)

These are the top 10 dunks (in no particular order) from that video that I would suggest preparing with. If you completed any 3 of these 10, you’ll be earning 50’s across the board and holding a dunk contest trophy. There are also two other unseen dunks you could perform, described below in text form:

1. 360 Elbow — an off-hand reverse 360, vintage Vince Carter-style, ending with your elbow in the rim.
2. 720 dunk — yeh, if you can do it, DO IT! Some NBA/basketball fans haven’t even seen the one 720 dunk that has ever been performed, so bust this one out during the contest, and you’re bound to get a lot of respect (except from those who will say it wasn’t a “full 720”, but don’t listen to the haters)

Paul, I have a few tips for you as well. For starters, if you’re going to jump over ANYONE for ANY dunks (especially any of the “Dubble Ups”), make sure they’re not taller than you. For example, don’t pull All-Star Pacers center Roy Hibbert onto the court to prove you can jump over him. Jump over Jeremy Lin or Lance Stephenson or any player sitting on the sideline. Hell, I live in Orlando, bring me to the game and jump over me! I can be a great dunk coach.

Also, go into every dunk with confidence and superiority. Make the dunks on your first try. If you’re having issues with one dunk, try a different one you know will go down. Don’t settle for simple dunks; this is not the time for simple windmills or off-the-glass tomahawks. This is THE NBA slam dunk contest, you have to prove you’re the best dunker in the league. 

If you try any of the dunks I mentioned, or at least have a set of never-before-seen dunks that can WOW the crowd, I know you can kill the competition. You have all of PacerNation behind you, as well as many other well-educated dunkmeisters who know the difference between a good dunk, a bad dunk, and an absolutely exceptional dunk.

We all believe in you, and we all have faith that you can go to Orlando and destroy the dunk contest. Besides that, make sure you focus a lot of your effort and energy on helping the Pacers get out of their current slump. Take advantage of the excitement and honor of being invited to the dunk contest, and turn that into performance enhancement.

You and the Blue and Gold Menace play the New Jersey Nets tonight, a team you have dominated many times over. Use this game to show your worth for the dunk contest, and prove to the haters that you deserve to be performing in all three nights of All-Star Weekend. Prove to everyone that you can be a leader and have the talent and focus to succeed. We all believe in you, and we all look forward to seeing you kick major ass on All-Star Saturday Night. 

Good luck tonight, good luck this week, and good luck next week. Let’s walk away from the All-Star break with a dunk contest trophy, a win streak, and a mindset to keep winning and out-performing our opponents.

Have fun tonight, and go Pacers!

Sincerely, on behalf of PacerNation,
B. Tyler Margison (@imbtyler)
Postgame Online (@postgameonline)

It took some online viral campaigning and marketing, as well as some flashes of dunk genius from the King himself, but when the NBA announced the participants of the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest today, Paul George (AKA 2Much4You) had officially been named, as well as Houston Rockets’ Chase Budinger, Minnesota Timberwolves’ rookie Derrick Williams, and New York Knicks’ rookie Iman Shumpert (his dunk ‘assistant’, Jeremy Lin, was also named/hyped).

So let us start with examples of each competitor’s skill set.

Chase Budinger was the runner-up (to Gerald Henderson) in the McDonald’s All-American High School dunk contest in 2006. His dunks consisted of a one-handed tomahawk (lame), a windmill at full extension (game dunk these days), and a reverse rider underneath the basket (not bad).

As far as Derrick Williams goes, he has the skill and athleticism to participate, as well as some creativity. But I don’t think he has anything in his repertoire that will shock the fans and judges. Below, Williams makes a sweet two-handed 360 on the fast break during his time at Arizona. During a pre-season open practice, he throws down a few nice windmills, including one off the side of the backboard, but nothing I wouldn’t consider to be “in-game dunks”. In the last video, Williams kills a few windmills and pump 360’s that could be pretty-looking in the contest. The question is: does he have the creativity to go beyond what has already been seen, and provide excitement on his dunks?

Iman Shumpert is going to be the favorite to win the dunk contest, specifically because the NBA botched the judging process by allowing online, text, and Twitter voting. So #Linsanity will take over the dunk contest simply because he is the Nash to Shumpert’s 2006 Stoudemire. However, Shumpert has the best chance (besides Paul George) to win this contest based on talent alone. In these highlights from the Impact Basketball lockout league from this past offseason, Shumpert shows off his crazy jumping ability, and his skillful creativity when dunking. This guy has a shot.

But when it comes down to it, the Postgame Online favorite to win the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest is the Indiana Pacers’ Paul “King” George, AKA 2Much4You. Of the other players in the contest, he’s the only one who’s performed more than a one- or two-handed dunk in an NBA game, having put down several alley-oops and, of course, his sick reverse against the New Jersey Nets. Besides that, look at some of the other creative dunks he’s performed in front of a camera, and see what you think, compared to the evidence given for the other contestants.

If you aren’t excited for this dunk contest, whether your team has someone in the contest or not, then you better get your head out of your ass. If nothing else, Derrick Williams will be exciting, and Shumpert and George are going to light up the contest. I have a few ideas of my own, and wish I could give the suggestions to Paul George, but until then, I’ll let my good friends over at Team Flight Brothers show you 19 dunks that have never been done in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest (besides Werm’s “Lob Scoop Reverse”, which DeMar DeRozan DESTROYED last year, calling it the “Showstopper”).

I would personally pick Special FX’s behind-the-back 360, Young Hollywood’s out-the-hand windmill elbow dunk, Air Bama’s elbow alley-oop OVER someone, any dunk involving JusFly’s cartwheel (windmill, between the legs, etc.), JusFly’s under both legs (with or without the Dubble Up), and especially TDub’s 540 reverse windmill, “Dubble Up” (out-the-hand between-the-legs OVER someone), or “Dubble Up X” (out-the-hand reverse pump over someone).

This year, the Slam Dunk Contest changes formats, switching to only one round (instead of two), allowing three dunks per contestant, and, for the first time, letting the fans completely decide the winner through online, text, and Twitter voting. Unfortunately, this means that Shumpert will probably have the advantage (unfairly) due to #Linsanity taking over the NBA (and the world), thus causing multi-texts and -tweets to come in voting just for Lin. However, if Paul George puled off ANY three of the dunks listed above, he’d earn 50’s from a regularly-judging crowd.

Also, I’d like to see a Vince Carter-styled one-handed 360 elbow dunk, a reverse 360 between the legs (as he did in the workout video above), or something we truly have never seen before.

I’m excited to hear that the Indiana Pacers finally have a representative in the dunk contest, for the first time since (my then-favorite Pacer) Fred Jones won in 2004. To close this post, let’s take a look at Freddie’s perfect winning dunk from eight years ago, that pushed him to beat Jason Richardson: an off-the-bounce, full-extension 360 jam.

A ton of luck to Paul George as he and the Pacers move forward in the next few games before the All-Star break, and much luck to him during the “Rising Stars” game and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Thanks for reading, and have a great day.

The Indiana Pacers are currently struggling through a four-game losing streak, recently losing to the Miami Heat by 15 points, and beginning the second game of a back-to-back-to-back. Tonight, they face the Cleveland Cavaliers without Danny Granger and George Hill, which means Paul George will be starting at the small forward spot, and Lance Stephenson will be getting more burn as he (and the rest of the team) tries to find offensive and defensive consistency. 

At this point in the season, prior to the Cavaliers game, the Pacers sit at the sixth seed (at 17-11) in the Eastern Conference, a half game below both the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic (18-11). Tonight, the Hawks play the Phoenix Suns, which will likely result in a win for Atlanta, despite their 90-99 loss on February 6; and the Magic face off against the Philadelphia 76ers in Orlando, which is really a toss-up. With Philly holding the third seed in the East (at 20-9), and having beaten the Magic once already this season, they are the favorites to win the game, which could potentially put the Pacers at the four or fifth seed by the next couple nights (performance pending).

If you look at this from a “journey to the playoffs” perspective, the “schedule losses” that seem to negatively affect our record might not be as harsh and depressing as they seem. If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, and the Eastern Conference seeds were as I project them below, then the Pacers might have a better battle set for them than it looks. Though it would be nicer to have to hold the second or third seed, and be able to play the Celtics or Knicks in the first round, as opposed to the Heat or Bulls, I don’t know if there’s a safe spot for the Pacers to be in the Eastern Eight.

Eastern Conference (projected/adjusted for games up to, but not including, 2/16/12):

1. Chicago Bulls — 24-7 (no change)
2. Miami Heat — 23-7 (no change)
3. Philadelphia 76ers — 21-9 (projecting win over ORL)
4. Atlanta Hawks — 19-11 (proj. win over PHX)
5. Indiana Pacers — 18-11 (proj. win over CLE)
6. Orlando Magic — 18-12 (proj. loss to PHI)
7. Boston Celtics — 15-13 (proj. loss to DET)
8. New York Knicks — 15-15 (proj. win over SAC)

With help from ESPN.go.com’s (seemingly-outdated) NBA Playoff Predictor, I came up with these ‘projections’ for the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs:

For the Pacers, they are supposedly “evenly split” with the Atlanta Hawks as far as chances of surviving the first round. However, with the way we’re playing, that could end up being a heavily-played seven-game struggle that ends in victory, or a five-game “gentleman’s sweep” as the Hawks advance. Again, these results hinge heavily on the potential return of Al Horford, and the performances of key Hawks players such as Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and even Jeff Teague.

Besides the Pacers and Hawks, I can actually see the Knicks squeaking their way out of the eighth seed at some point this season, but if it came down to the Knicks vs. the Chicago Bulls in the first round, I don’t know if I can agree with the Playoff Predictor that the Knicks would manage to upset the Bulls. At least, not with the roster they currently have. If the Knicks actually signed JR Smith, or picked up someone who can perform at the SG position, the potential roster match-ups are kind of stunning:

New York Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls

Jeremy Lin vs. Derrick Rose
Landry Fields/JR Smith vs. Ronnie Brewer/Rip Hamilton
Carmelo Anthony vs. Luol Deng
Amar’e Stoudemire vs. Carlos Boozer
Tyson Chandler vs. Joakim Noah

Based off these potential rosters alone, I would say that the New York Knicks actually have an advantage over the Bulls. It would be hard not to with Melo, Amar’e and Chandler alone, but if the Linsanity continues, and/or JR Smith signs in New York, they could easily give the Bulls a run for their money. In fact, adding JR Smith would be the one factor that might put them as the Miami Heat’s biggest contenders. With the same rosters:

New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat

Jeremy Lin vs. Mario Chalmers/Norris Cole?
JR Smith vs. Dwyane Wade
Carmelo Anthony vs. LeBron James
Amar’e Stoudemire vs. Chris Bosh
Tyson Chandler vs. Joel Anthony/Dexter Pittman?

Though LeBron has the ability to make up for what they lack at the center and power forward positions (even with Bosh), I think that the Knicks line-up above, given time to mesh, could even take the Heat down in six games (a stretch, I know). 

Here’s the point to all of this nonsense: wouldn’t you, as a Pacers fan, rather the Pacers fall into a spot on the rankings (though preferably not this early in the season) that would allow for them to play against a team they KNOW they can beat? If, by some wild chance, Milwaukee or Cleveland step up into the sixth or seventh seeds (potentially impossible), then we would have a reason to keep rooting for the Pacers to win *every single game*. However, since any of the top eight teams in the East have the talent and ability to beat any of those other teams, and since it’s still the first half of the season, I don’t know what seed the Pacers would be reaching to stay at.

Fighting the Bulls in the playoffs is kind of the dream that every Pacers player, fan, and staff member is hoping for this year. However, it would be much better to face them in the Eastern Conference Finals than early in the playoffs. There are many factors that can (and probably will) change by the time we actually get started with the playoffs. However, the Pacers would be better off playing against the potentially-Howard-less Orlando Magic, the aging Boston Celtics or even the Philadelphia 76ers, than getting dominated by the Heat and/or Bulls. 

So, winning and losing can fluctuate importance throughout the rest of the season. If the Pacers can stay about even (.607 currently), they could end up somewhere between the Magic, the Hawks, and the Sixers, by the end of the season. Taking into account that we will most likely be adding pieces to make us true contenders, we should be able to match up even better against these teams by the time the playoffs roll around in a few months.

Currently, the mid-level, fourth-through-sixth seed is what we can bank on. The easier our battle in the first couple rounds, the better our chances are for having to face lesser teams deeper in the playoffs. The New York Knicks and Boston Celtics have potential to beat teams like the Bulls, Heat, and Sixers. And we have the ability to beat those teams ourselves. We just have to buckle down and get ready.

I’ll post something new about trades and next year’s draft soon, based on who we need to bring in to make our team true contenders, or who we can realistically imagine doing so. 

Thanks for reading, enjoy your time.