Leonardo Santillan of UV soars over three persons in one of his dunks in the dunk contest. He went on to win his second dunk title.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
A day after an underwhelming slam dunk competition during the annual Cesafi All Star Festivities on Sunday, fans, coaches and players alike were still buzzing about what could have been given the slate of exciting high-flyers that were raring to put on a show of aerial artistry for the fans.
The University of the Visayas’ Leonard Santillan took home his second straight slam dunk contest title but even the winner had his qualms about the contest rules which had each participant getting just one attempt at a dunk in the qualifying round. The three players with the highest scores then advanced to the finals where they were given two attempts.
Santillan shared that he had prepared several dunks for the competition including one wherein he would don a “Superman” costume. Unfortunately, he never got to showcase that creative streak with the dunkers intent on just making their attempts rather than trying out moreacrobatic maneuvers.
It also meant that the University of San Jose-Recoletos’ Miguel Gastador and UV’s Rey Suerte, who were electrifying the crowd with some thrilling dunks during warm-ups got eliminated after muffing their high-degree-of-difficulty attempts in the first round.
“Wa jud magamit ang costume. Bati kaayo. Ka-isa ra, dili pareha sauna,” shared Santillan afterwards.
Even though his ward won, UV head coach Gary Cortes also shared his two cents on the debacle.
“Dapat three dunks per participant sa first round. Para lingaw nya makapakita gyud ug style tanan. Sayang si (Miguel) Gastador ug (Rey) Suerte, nya katong dunk nga alanganin dili unta to i-rule nga attempt,” suggested Cortes.
He continued, “Although si (Leonard) Santillan ang naka daug pero daghan ug na miss ang mga fans nga new style unta. Suerte reserved at least six dunk styles.”
Suerte also lamented the shoddy rules. “Mao man. Sipyat kaisa wa nay chansa makabawi.”
Fans also did not hesitate to share their disappointment on the league’s official Facebook page. “The slam dunk contest is a total disappointment. First round with one dunk attempt per contestant eliminated dunk favorites USJ-R’s Gastador and USC’s (Charles) Pepito. Thus it failed to showcase the talent and dunking creativity of the all-star event participants,” said Renen Pepito.