Celtic darkhorse in slam dunk tilt

Defending slam dunk champion Nate Robinson will be severely challenged in trying to retain his crown on the penultimate day of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Weekend at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas tomorrow (Sunday morning, Manila).

The slam dunk competition is one of four highlight events the NBA is staging on what is traditionally called the All-Star Saturday Night. The other acts in the program are the three-point shootout, the skills challenge and the shooting stars contest where an active player, a retired legend and a Women’s National Basketball Association player combine forces to hit shots from designated spots – including a half-line mark – in a race against time.

The four-in-one package will be aired live by Solar Sports on RPN-9 at 9 a.m. this Sunday with an 8 p.m. replay.

Robinson, a 5-9 dynamo, edged Philadelphia’s Andre Igoudala by a point in a dunk-off to capture the championship last year. He had a dozen chances, including three misses, to score in the tiebreaker before clinching. The NBA will now enforce a two-minute limit for each dunk attempt to eliminate a repeat of the long series of flubs last season.

Judges for this weekend’s contest will include legendary dunkers Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and Julius Erving.

Last year, Robinson’s coup de grace was a slammer that began with a halfcourt sprint, flowed into an underhand toss off the backboard and ended after looping the ball through his legs.

But the most electrifying dunks came in the elimination rounds. On his second jam of the first round, Iguodala teamed up with Allen Iverson for a highly imaginative shot. Iverson stood out of bounds behind the board, threw the ball off the back of the glass and Igoudala snatched it from an angular approach in mid-air, glided below the rim and slammed on a reverse.

Robinson’s best dunk got an assist from 5-7 1986 champion Spud Webb in the second round. Standing in the lane, Webb bounced the ball high off the floor as Robinson charged in, jumped over his human obstacle and hammered in a one-hander for a perfect score of 50.

Igoudala, who was a Manila visitor with Robinson’s New York teammate Channing Frye last year, won’t be back for another crack this weekend. Robinson’s challengers will be Boston’s Gerald Green, Orlando’s Dwight Howard (who has also visited Manila) and Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas.

Robinson is bidding to become only the third NBA star in history to win back-to-back slam dunk titles after Jordan (1987-88) and Jason Richardson (2002-03).

The 6-11, 240-pound Howard is a power dunker whose thundering throw-downs are certified rim rattlers. What’s going against him is his lack of flight. Howard doesn’t have the showtime moves of a Jordan or an Igoudala. Thomas is a 6-9, 215-pound rookie longshot. As a first-timer in the pros, he might be too awed by the glitz of the event and the glare of the gallery.

Green, who’s 6-8, is the darkhorse. Former Boston guard Dee Brown, who won the 1991 slam dunk title with a no-looker (he covered his eyes with a forearm and soared sideways to the hoop), said Green might just dethrone Robinson.

"I’ve seen him do some amazing dunks," said Brown. "He has such quick hops. He reminds me a little it of Jordan how he gets up so quickly or Richardson. But I think Harold Miner (the 1995 slam dunk champion) is the guy who really comes to mind. Miner was just a power dunker but he jumped so high with windmills and 360s."

Green said he’s thought of a hair-raising dunk "that people will never forget if he pulls it off" but he isn’t revealing the ace up his sleeve—until it’s time to show his hand.

In a late-breaking development, NBA commissioner David Stern picked Atlanta’s Joe Johnson to replace injured Jason Kidd (back) in the East team for the All-Star Game on Sunday (Monday morning, Manila).

Don’t forget to join our All-Star contest. You might be one of 20 lucky Star readers to win All-Star merchandise, not locally available and flown in exclusively for you. Check out details on how to join in yesterday’s column.