Best Dunker in UConn History?

[Huskies4ever]

Rudy Gay and it's not really close, he's also been one of the best game dunkers in the NBA since he joined the league.

I'd say it's definately close if you put him up to Sticks.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Here's a vicious dunk from MJ at USC

Thanks Joober, but that was already posted earlier in the thread and I already comented on it.

Great dunk, but it was not in a UConn uniform.

 

[joober jones]

Thanks Joober, but that was already posted earlier in the thread and I already comented on it.

Great dunk, but it was not in a UConn uniform.

Damn my reluctance to read through entire threads.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Damn my reluctance to read through entire threads.

We all do it

 

[YearoftheHusky]

Please don't put Jerome Dyson in the same class as Marcus Johnson when it comes to dunking and athleticism! I went to the 3 Midnight Madness dunk contest when Marcus was at Uconn 05.06,07 and let me tell you if you weren't at them, he was a better dunker then Rudy,Sticks and anyone other so called dunker the years he was here. The dude was blessed with off the charts athleticism and dunking ability. Doesn't matter that it wasn't in a Uconn uniform like I put in my box " we had this" If subburn coach Calhoun would have let Marcus flourish instead of holding him back those jaw dropping dunks would have been a regular thing in a Uconn uniform!

Good to see you are back following UConn hoops, Marcus. Hope you enjoyed your time at USC.

 

[Joobie]

Isn't it kinda weird that we had a guy that was 7' 3" & he ISN'T on this list? I think that speaks volumes about Hasheem's play (or lack thereof) when he was here...

 

[CAHUSKY]

Isn't it kinda weird that we had a guy that was 7' 3" & he ISN'T on this list? I think that speaks volumes about Hasheem's play (or lack thereof) when he was here...

You're right. National Defensive Player of the Year. He sucked.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Isn't it kinda weird that we had a guy that was 7' 3" & he ISN'T on this list? I think that speaks volumes about Hasheem's play (or lack thereof) when he was here...

Definitely. I remember watching that 2009 team and thinking "Sure, Thabeet scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked 6 shots today, but he didn't try a single 360 windmill dunk. He'll never make the 'Best Dunker in Uconn History' list at this rate!"

 

[superjohn]

Guys over 7 feet tall are always considered amazing Dunkers. Just off the top of my head Yao Ming, Manute Bol, Mark Eaton, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are all some of the finest Dunkers the NBA has ever seen.

 

[joober jones]

Definitely. I remember watching that 2009 team and thinking "Sure, Thabeet scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked 6 shots today, but he didn't try a single 360 windmill dunk. He'll never make the 'Best Dunker in Uconn History' list at this rate!"

The Dunkin Donuts Center's name is a subtle jab at what Thabeet couldn't do for us.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Guys over 7 feet tall are always considered amazing Dunkers. Just off the top of my head Yao Ming, Manute Bol, Mark Eaton, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are all some of the finest Dunkers the NBA has ever seen.

Wait, wait! You forgot Shawn Bradley, Gheorge Muresan, and Ralph Sampson!

 

[Waquoit]

Isn't it kinda weird that we had a guy that was 7' 3" & he ISN'T on this list? I think that speaks volumes about Hasheem's play (or lack thereof) when he was here...

He gets most improved. He couldn't dunk at all when he first got to UConn. And what I think speaks volumes about his play is that he took his team to the Final Four. The Huskies of Honor wall is filled with players who didn't.

 

[mauconnfan]

The Dunkin Donuts Center's name is a subtle jab at what Thabeet couldn't do for us.

What the hell were you watching? And better yet what were your expectations of this very raw athlete who came in basically new to the game?

He turned out to have quite a nice Husky career and was the back stop in defense and made guys look better than they were on defense while allowing them to take chances..........honestly his offense was more than adequate by his Jr. year and somehow showed up with a nice little banker.........wtf???

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't remember his dunks making him the best dunker in UConn history. Please, if anyone can refresh my memory on what he did in-game, please do so. I remember how great he was at Midnight Madness. I remember a handful of good to great dunks in-game. Ryan Boatright was our best dunker at Midnight Madness last year. Did that make him our best dunker last year? He's a little guy who can dunk. But his in-game dunks were rather pedestrian. I think he may, and hope he will, show that he's an outstanding dunker this season. But if he left after last season, I hope no none would call him one of our best dunkers.

MJ had a tremendous dunk in a loss to Indiana at the Civic Center.

I still get crap on here for my comment years ago that Stanley Robinson was not a great athlete by Big East standards. And he wasn't, but Marcus Johnson was.

Johnson self-selected out, and I was disappointed to see that. I think he would have taken Sticks job if he put in the work, but he didn't seem to want to.

 

[mauconnfan]

MJ had a tremendous dunk in a loss to Indiana at the Civic Center.

I still get crap on here for my comment years ago that Stanley Robinson was not a great athlete by Big East standards. And he wasn't, but Marcus Johnson was.

Johnson self-selected out, and I was disappointed to see that. I think he would have taken Sticks job if he put in the work, but he didn't seem to want to.

Well the crap won't stop now nelson......Stanley was an elite athlete in any league and any book........Marcus was about 3-4 inches shorter, different kind of player and a real mason from the perimeter......a little better off the dribble but not by much........Stanley was a better player in most every way but they were different players.......just one fans opinion!

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I still get crap on here for my comment years ago that Stanley Robinson was not a great athlete by Big East standards. And he wasn't, but Marcus Johnson was.

I don't think the rest of the world defines "athlete" the way you hope when you make this absurd assertion.

And it's not that the whole world doesn't know what an athlete is, so...

 

[sportsjunky1]

MJ had a tremendous dunk in a loss to Indiana at the Civic Center.

I still get crap on here for my comment years ago that Stanley Robinson was not a great athlete by Big East standards. And he wasn't, but Marcus Johnson was.

Johnson self-selected out, and I was disappointed to see that. I think he would have taken Sticks job if he put in the work, but he didn't seem to want to.

Gosh you speak the Truth. Couldn't agree with you more!

 

[joober jones]

What the hell were you watching? And better yet what were your expectations of this very raw athlete who came in basically new to the game?

He turned out to have quite a nice Husky career and was the back stop in defense and made guys look better than they were on defense while allowing them to take chances..........honestly his offense was more than adequate by his Jr. year and somehow showed up with a nice little banker.........wtf???

Sarcasm my friend

 

[superjohn]

Haha, you are still sticking with your Stanley isn't a great athlete by Big East standards nonsense, your persistence should be commended.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Ray Allen had a sweet dunk against SU up in the dome during his freshman year at the end of the game.

I remember that. Monster one hander, posterizing someone. He had a lot of great dunks as a Husky and in his early NBA years.

 

[Huskies4ever]

I had a lot of drinks in me at that point in the game, but i remeber SU went on a big run to get a comfortable lead in what was a close game. I believe he might have dunk over 2, maybe 3 guys. He also had a sweet break away dunk aginst 'Nova during his junior year. The game was going to be part of ESPN's big Monday, but was pushed up one day due to a huge snow storm.

Remember the 'Nova game as well. The Cuse game was one of the few regular season games we lost that year, so it took the sails out of Ray's dunk. In these threads, I always mention Ray Allen. He is one of the most underrated dunkers in UConn history. He was exceptional in that category as well.

 

[diggerfoot]

MJ had a tremendous dunk in a loss to Indiana at the Civic Center.

I still get crap on here for my comment years ago that Stanley Robinson was not a great athlete by Big East standards. And he wasn't, but Marcus Johnson was.

Johnson self-selected out, and I was disappointed to see that. I think he would have taken Sticks job if he put in the work, but he didn't seem to want to.

Wow! This "I told you so" statement comes at precisely the wrong time. You can conjecture that Johnson "would have been better if ...." all you want because there is a lack of evidence to either support or refute your claim, just projections from a limited set of existing evidence. Yet here we have valid empirical evidence that Robinson was indeed a great athlete; you can't be a great dunker without being one. On one of the best Big East programs he gets voted the best dunker. Subjective? Absolutely. Perhaps if we could quantify everything Gay or Marshall or someone else wins. But to ignore this completely as an indicator that he was a great athlete is about as dogmatically blind as you can get. Do you work for a think tank?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I don't think the rest of the world defines "athlete" the way you hope when you make this absurd assertion.

And it's not that the whole world doesn't know what an athlete is, so...

Sticks was a mediocre defender and depended heavily on a back to the basket turn around for offense. Neither are signatures of tremendous athletes. Sticks had a great vertical and long arms so he gave good dunk. He had average quickness and end to end speed for a starting Big East small forward. He would get caught flat footed defensively, and did not have great recovery against the top scorers, another sign of a good, not great athlete.

Sticks worked hard on his offensive game (I can't say the same for his D) and turned into a pretty good scorer. But calling someone a GREAT athlete by Big East standards is putting them in the same league with Burrell or Donyell or Rudy Gay or Hamilton. Sticks was not close to the athlete those guys were.

Sticks got his "great athlete" label in recruiting, because compared to high school players, he was a great athlete. Compared to Big East small forwards, he was not a great athlete.

 

[mauconnfan]

Sarcasm my friend

Got me ..... my bad joober....should have known.....please accept my apology as i thought and knew you were much smarter than that!!

 

[diggerfoot]

Sticks was a mediocre defender and depended heavily on a back to the basket turn around for offense. Neither are signatures of tremendous athletes. Sticks had a great vertical and long arms so he gave good dunk. He had average quickness and end to end speed for a starting Big East small forward. He would get caught flat footed defensively, and did not have great recovery against the top scorers, another sign of a good, not great athlete.

Sticks worked hard on his offensive game (I can't say the same for his D) and turned into a pretty good scorer. But calling someone a GREAT athlete by Big East standards is putting them in the same league with Burrell or Donyell or Rudy Gay or Hamilton. Sticks was not close to the athlete those guys were.

Sticks got his "great athlete" label in recruiting, because compared to high school players, he was a great athlete. Compared to Big East small forwards, he was not a great athlete.

This sheds some light on what was pretty baffling. You are confusing skilled with athletic. Athleticism provides a possible edge on defense, but one does not defend well without skilled footwork and skilled mental preparation and execution. Conversely, people who have both can defend well without great athleticism, such as with Jake Voskuhl.