Bouknight's tip dunk | The Boneyard

Bouknight's tip dunk

superjohn

superjohn

Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
56,545
Reaction Score
216,245
At like 4:43 mark of this video. That tip dunk by Bouknight was ridiculous. He was way out past the three point line on the ground tangled with another player, just as the three was leaving Vital's fingertips James sprung up in an instant and sprinted seemingly knowing exactly where that ball was going to hit and the trajectory it would have off the rim. There are not a lot of players who could ever make that play. His combination of instincts and athleticsm is uncommon, when you pair that with all his offensive skill, wow...

Maybe it's because it's been a long time since I've seen a truly great player play here that makes me so bullish on his future but I watch a ton of non-UConn college basketball and I don't see these things. I try not to get too far ahead of myself but he just has a lot of things with him that can't be taught and the sky is the limit as far as I'm concerned.

Watch "UConn Men's Basketball Highlights v. USF 02/23/2020" on YouTube
 
uconngb said:
Just has to learn how to keep himself on the court and the sky is the limit
Expand ...

Just limiting the lazy fouls and turnovers I think gets this kid from really good to elite in college.

He just has another gear that, coupled with his length and athleticism, is really hard to contain and something we haven’t had in a long time.
 
I can't watch that play too many times. His athleticism and basketball smarts are amazing.
 
dannyHAM said:
Whenever I watch a Hurley postgame interview he always seems to mention what you said. Something along the lines of "You just can't teach the 6th sense instinct James has for the trajectory of the ball" Very very special talent for sure.
Expand ...

Yup! I heard that too. It comes back to having a nag (6th sense) for knowing where the ball is going to go at all times. We need a big with good hand IQ that has this trait. JC had a lot of players that had this and hopefully it’s something that can be acquired by Javonte Brown Ferguson.
 
.-.
He's the smoothest and most athletic player we've had in a long time. He has somewhat deceptive athleticism since he can make a lot of things look easy. The kid just floats through the air. Plus he's skilled and has a pretty good feel for the game. Can't wait for him to terrorize the Big East next year.

Hurley was spot on when he said he knew Bouk was underrated and hoped that the likes of Duke and Kentucky wouldn't come calling late in the recruiting game.

Since he got out of his mini funk, over the last nine games he's putting up:

18.1 / 4.1 / 1.4 on .454 / .412 / .861. Kid is a stud.
 
Re-watching that play, it looks like Brendan Adams would have gotten to the rebound as well. Both dudes came running in for the miss and Adams deferred to Bouknight, who delivered the highlight.

Bouknight is such a special player. It's really been a joy to watch all season.
 
The Athletic had a great quote from Bouk about that play:

“I had turned the ball over before...and in my head I was just thinking, film. Film session,” Bouknight said. “He just happened to miss the shot, and I just tried to execute on the opportunity ’cause now (coach Dan Hurley is) going to have to cut that part out just to show the turnover.”

That says a ton about what goes on behind the scenes in this program. The kid has immense talent and the right coach to develop it.
 
Hurley is right when he says that you can't teach that ability to track the ball. Some guys are athletic. Some have the 6th sense.
Very few guys have both. Drummond is the only other uconn guy that.comes to mind. Maybe burrell
 
superjohn said:
At like 4:43 mark of this video. That tip dunk by Bouknight was ridiculous. He was way out past the three point line on the ground tangled with another player, just as the three was leaving Vital's fingertips James sprung up in an instant and sprinted seemingly knowing exactly where that ball was going to hit and the trajectory it would have off the rim. There are not a lot of players who could ever make that play. His combination of instincts and athleticsm is uncommon, when you pair that with all his offensive skill, wow...

Maybe it's because it's been a long time since I've seen a truly great player play here that makes me so bullish on his future but I watch a ton of non-UConn college basketball and I don't see these things. I try not to get too far ahead of myself but he just has a lot of things with him that can't be taught and the sky is the limit as far as I'm concerned.

Watch "UConn Men's Basketball Highlights v. USF 02/23/2020" on YouTube
Expand ...


I was in the building and was floored by that play. The look on Coach Hurley's face was priceless. As the players came down the floor, Hurley walked towards center court as the action flowed in that direction, shaking his head in amazement.

He clearly knows what he has here. Let's all hope that we get three years of it and not two.
 
Last edited:
.-.
Bouknight reminds me a lot of James Young from the 2014 Kentucky team. Anyone else agree?
 
husky429 said:
Hurley is right when he says that you can't teach that ability to track the ball. Some guys are athletic. Some have the 6th sense.
Very few guys have both. Drummond is the only other uconn guy that.comes to mind. Maybe burrell
Expand ...
as far as tracking the ball, ur forgetting cv. if he was bigger with big hops, he'd have a lot of these kind of dunks over the years. he doesn't, but that doesn't change his proven record of tracking the ball. check his resume. dude can smell the rock in a glue factory.
 
AuRevoirAAC said:
Bouknight reminds me a lot of James Young from the 2014 Kentucky team. Anyone else agree?
Expand ...

Bouk is a more complete/skilled player and a better athlete, better in space and in traffic. I think he's a smarter player as well.

James Young's shooting ability was always overrated and he couldn't really do anything else all that well (despite that disgusting poster on Brimah). His shooting splits at UK weren't very good. He had a very pretty game and had the measurables but there wasn't much substance there.
 
Lefty2one said:
Bouk is a more complete/skilled player and a better athlete, better in space and in traffic. I think he's a smarter player as well.

James Young's shooting ability was always overrated and he couldn't really do anything else all that well (despite that disgusting poster on Brimah). His shooting splits at UK weren't very good. He had a very pretty game and had the measurables but there wasn't much substance there.
Expand ...

He was a head case. My understanding is that's why he never amounted to anything with the celts
 
I thought the play a few minutes after this the crossover, jab, mid-range and-1 was equally as impressive. He really knows how to find pockets in the defense. Teams can’t go zone he would kill them. He’s also MONEY from the line 81% on the year now.
 
The kid must watch content even on the bench
95BE5032-DA58-4284-A269-583469F68943.jpeg
 
.-.
AuRevoirAAC said:
Bouknight reminds me a lot of James Young from the 2014 Kentucky team. Anyone else agree?
Expand ...
He’s better than Young. Much better. Young had no right hand. That’s why he isn’t in the NBA.
 
Dream Jobbed 2.0 said:
The kid must watch content even on the benchView attachment 51180
Expand ...
I think also he's livin the life as a freshman playing good ball for an elite D1 team. You know how college is the best years of your life, well its exponential for this young man. Next year he's BMOC, so more good times in store. He just needs good friends to help keep him on path off the court. Appears he has his teammates for that.
 
Lefty2one said:
Bouk is a more complete/skilled player and a better athlete, better in space and in traffic. I think he's a smarter player as well.

James Young's shooting ability was always overrated and he couldn't really do anything else all that well (despite that disgusting poster on Brimah). His shooting splits at UK weren't very good. He had a very pretty game and had the measurables but there wasn't much substance there.
Expand ...

Young was bigger, both height and weight. Helped on the defensive boards, but Bouk has a much better instinct for positioning and quick jump on the o-boards.

He shot worse than Bouk on a % basis, but took double the 3pt attempts per game, which depressed his 3pt% a bit more than Bouk's has been. Young had a better overall ORTG despite shooting worse across all categories, because shot allocation (and turnover rate) matters. That being said, Young still wasn't an elite shooter at the volume he took, which should have been a bit of a red flag, especially since there were plenty of guys drawing attention away from him, especially Randle.
 
Yeah, Young was basically a "shooter" but he couldn't shoot all that well. More than half of his FGA were from beyond the arc. That was still in the era when everyone was obsessing over UK's freshman year in and year out and he got a little overrated. I'm still surprised he completely flamed out of the NBA.
 
So I just watched the play like 5 times and right enough he came from the 3-point line on the shot, but he really accelerated when the shot went up to even get to the point that he could do that. Almost like a sixth sense. The funny thing is that none of the other players even look to do something like that, so maybe coaches somewhere taught him to just Sprint to the rim on all shots just in case there's a put back. Of course not all players have the physical ability to do that.
 
I was a true OMG, out of the world level play. Incredible. I just hope he starts realizing that if he brings it all game he will be at an elite level. Still has the freshman in him. Next year should be a treat.
 
.-.
This dunk was similar to the "Put that on your VCR!" - Toraino Walker dunk .

The ironic thing is that we wouldn't have seen that follow dunk if Bouk had not orginally lost control of the ball. Luckily it rolled to Whaley .
 
Amazing for a freshman. Does special things. One of the most talented players we have had in a long time. Put me in the Bouk Club.
 
selles said:
The Athletic had a great quote from Bouk about that play:

“I had turned the ball over before...and in my head I was just thinking, film. Film session,” Bouknight said. “He just happened to miss the shot, and I just tried to execute on the opportunity ’cause now (coach Dan Hurley is) going to have to cut that part out just to show the turnover.”
Expand ...

yep, @tcf15's film > Hurley's film
 
Marat said:
This dunk was similar to the "Put that on your VCR!" - Toraino Walker dunk .

The ironic thing is that we wouldn't have seen that follow dunk if Bouk had not orginally lost control of the ball. Luckily it rolled to Whaley .
Expand ...
Toraino’s is one of my faves but I seem to remember a Tomahawk where he wasn’t looking at the rim? I give Toraino the win on his but this was great.
 
jibsey said:
Toraino’s is one of my faves but I seem to remember a Tomahawk where he wasn’t looking at the rim? I give Toraino the win on his but this was great.
Expand ...


The Toraino was a bit more power but a decent comp.

 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,556
Messages
4,582,796
Members
10,492
Latest member
7774Forever


Top Bottom