Many thoughts jump through my mind after taking part in the slam dunk contest. Primary among them is this: El Conquistador was never revealed!I had reserved my masterpiece of dunking for the final round. This was mistake-prone, as I was not able to ascend to the finals. Perhaps there will be opportunism for it next year?
If you have interests in seeing my efforts, they exist below.
Perhaps there are lessons for me here. But which contain the validity? Here are some recommendations others have offered.
1.) American judges do not comprehend Spanish stylings. My first dunk was a smooth operator (behind-my-back pass bounces off the backboard before a one-handed dunking), but I received the lowest of scores!Did my Fernando Martín jersey cloud the judges eyes with confusion? Did efficiency make the dunk happen too quickly? Did the judges understand the ascending sequential nature of the numbers 1-10?
(Seeing the replays, announcer Kenny Smith's skepticisms were most unbecoming. Ricky Martin jokes? Meanwhile Reggie Miller was opining that I lost because of "the amateurism of Spain.")
The crowd booed the scorings. I love the crowd. And Tim Duncan had infuriations! He cried out that the fixings had been put into the competition. (He may have been right. Once I understand what he said, I will know better.)
2.) Never trust a Laker. Pau Gasol is a fellow Spaniard. But his passes on my second dunk were variable. Some came from behind Pau’s back! Other passes of his may have worked, so the blame is laid out at my feet. But I trust Pau. His sabotage of my routine was not purposeful.
3.) Sergio cost me, and he must pay. This is a horse I have beaten on before, but for the reiteration: my best friend, fellow Spaniard, and mate Sergio Rodriguez stayed on the sidelines for vacationing instead of on court with me.Revenge will be plentiful.
My post-dunk video interview is here.
I completely agree. That first dunk was as smooth as silk and was far better than any of the other dunks. Dwight Howard got a perfect score when he had to try it time and time again, yet they screw you over for it. In my mind Rudy, you were the champion. It is absurd that Nate is rewarded for being tiny and Dwight is rewarded for wearing a cape of a hero that Shaq claimed over 10 years ago. You should show us what you would do for the other dunk. I was really looking forward to seeing it.
ReplyDeleteGreat writing, Rudy. And a great job last night. You had the most innovative, exciting dunks of anyone.
ReplyDeleteYOU ARE THE WINNER OF SDC 2009 !!
ReplyDeleteRudy: Back her e in Spain in the broken english typing skillset that I have, we are all proud for your accomplisments from Palma de Mallorca all the way to basketball of the Americas. I congradulate you for success of you and think the juez of the competition were tendencia. Good luck with adventures of the rest of this seasons basketball.
ReplyDeleteRudy Enhorabuena! Tenías que haber ganado,
ReplyDeleteHe estado pensando como darte las Gracias, hasta he pensado en llamar a Pepe Sáez, o pedir a alguien del Madrid (Felipe, Alex o Raúl tu e-mail). Darte las Gracias por haberte acordado de mi tío Fernando Martin.
Cristina Martin
Rudy eres el amo tio, nos hiciste vibrar a todos con tus mates, fueron los mejores, si no ganaste el concurso fue por CHOVINISMO de los jueces, pero todo el mundo te vio y sabe ahora la capacidad que tienes de machacar
ReplyDeleteSaludos
Rudy eres el amo tio, nos hiciste vibrar a todos con tus mates, fueron los mejores, si no ganaste el concurso fue por CHOVINISMO de los jueces, pero todo el mundo te vio y sabe ahora la capacidad que tienes de machacar
ReplyDeleteSaludos
All Europe was behind you and we all know these were the best dunks of the night. Even in the poll that was accessible during the contest on the dunk contest page, people say you should win.
ReplyDeleteAnyways next time it'll be rigged too, because Lebron James is taking part so don't expect too much about that.
You deserved to make it to the finals in the dunk contest. As a Blazer season ticket holder I am proud to have had you in the contest.
ReplyDelete"Did the judges understand the ascending sequential nature of the numbers 1-10?"
ReplyDeleteÍsimo.. ahora te admiro más si cabe.
Otra decepción más de la NBA ha sido el torneo de Mates ... pero no es la única. Cuando veo partidos como los de memphis es para echarse a llorar, pero me recuerdan mucho a esos partidos en que Roy decide convertir a sus compañeros en comparsa ... porque él sube la bola, la marea y por supuesto tira, ... para que necesitais un base, si ya está él; con Blake ya vais sobradísimos, para que más.
Estás infravaloradísimo. Te tienen como a un Kapono cualquiera ... lo que se pierden.
por no hablar de tu entrenador... su visión del juego es aburrídísima
You totally deserved to win, Rudy! Your dunks were spectacular and should have received much higher numbers. The contest was obviously fixed to have Robinson vs. Howard finals and the TNT announcers were completely disrespectful. I mean, really, Ricky Martin jokes? What's wrong with these people? Robinson and Howard's dunks in the final round were unoriginal and gimmicky, and El Conquistador would probably have been much more amazing to watch.
ReplyDeleteRudy, I would have rated your first dunk a 9 and your second one a ten.
ReplyDeleteHi Rudy,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your 2 dunks. It's disappointing the judges didn't appreciate them as much as most fans did. Here's some reasons I think they might have judged you worse than they should have:
1. Maybe you should "market" your dunk a bit more before you go and dunk the ball.
For example, get the crowd really into it and all. A lot of casual fans haven't heard of you (and don't know how good you are) partly because it's your first year in the NBA and because Portland is not a huge city like New York or Los Angeles.
Also, very few Americans have heard of Fernando Martin (I had not heard of him either, but it was a nice tribute to wear his jersey). So, it was hard for people to understand or get excited about. This was why they were joking about who "Martin" referred to. I don't think they meant anything really mean.
You might want to know that Kenny Smith was the one who said "amateurism of Spain" not Reggie Miller. Reggie was actually trying to defend Spain (he was saying you shouldn't insult the whole country and that he was planning on visiting). I thought that "amateurism" insult was not nice and very wrong to say.
2. The number of attempts on the second dunk hurt you.
It was a great dunk, but since you needed many chances to get it right, people tend to be less amazed. If you got it right the first or second time, you would have a much higher score.
I hope you do both slam dunk and 3 point contest next year in Dallas. Maybe you can unleash El Conquistador (great name for a dunk) sometime.
Im an american who grew up watching MJ and Dominick and have seen great dunkers like VC and Jason Richardson. I believe the judges wanted to see Nate and Howard in the Final. The best dunk of the whole night was your first dunk. The timing and grace were beautiful, when I seen the scores I couldn't believe it.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have lost a bit of your touch, Senor Rudy. I watch you on youtube hit beautiful fall-away/fade-away 3's and I long for it here in Portland. Please, out of the kindness of your heart, do more of this. And tell Nate he needs to play Batum when somebody like Tony Parker keeps breaking down the D and getting to the rim. Its embarrassing.
ReplyDelete