Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

[wwharton]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

Truth. I really liked the DeAndre dunk, but it clearly took on a life of its own thanks to social networking. I saw a Facebook friend who asked where it ranked all-time and one person responded saying ESPN ranked it the #7 best dunk of all-time while another person chimed in and said he thought it was top 5. Each respondent was a light to medium basketball fan between the ages of 18 and 22. I could tell the basketball gods were tempting me to get involved in that post, but I relented.

I personally don't know where I'd rank the dunk, but it certainly didn't strike me as being one of the top ten slams of all-time. I'll pre-emptively shield myself from the criticism this statement may yield, but I actually saw Jordan's slam as a rich man's version of Dwight Howard's dunk on Jrue Holiday from a few years ago. Jordan jumped from further out, and Knight took a tougher fall, but I see each dunk as being of the same ilk. Both were great slams, but I don't know if either would be in my serious discussion as one of the top 25 of all-time.

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That's a good comparison but I think DeAndre's was clearly better... in the same way Jordan's "foul line" dunk was better than all the others that follow. On the surface everything seems the same, but DeAndre came from farther out (by itself makes it slightly more impressive) creating more of a lean. He also caught it with one hand, about as cocked as it could possibly be. All of this made the overall execution more powerful (imo of course).

I really think the conversation should be about best "lobbed dunk" as what you have to look at should be different than in just best dunk. You have to catch a lob wherever it comes. This dunk is impressive bc of where he caught the lob as much as what he did with it.

[VDusen04]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

That's a good comparison but I think DeAndre's was clearly better... in the same way Jordan's "foul line" dunk was better than all the others that follow. On the surface everything seems the same, but DeAndre came from farther out (by itself makes it slightly more impressive) creating more of a lean. He also caught it with one hand, about as cocked as it could possibly be. All of this made the overall execution more powerful (imo of course).

I really think the conversation should be about best "lobbed dunk" as what you have to look at should be different than in just best dunk. You have to catch a lob wherever it comes. This dunk is impressive bc of where he caught the lob as much as what he did with it.

Right, and that's why I called Jordan's lob a "rich man's version" of the Howard slam. I think it's better, but they're from the same family.

If I had to be devil's advocate, I'd say the dunk Jordan pulled off two nights ago wasn't entirely that much different than some of the lobs he's pounded in the past. I think the biggest difference was the extra-curriculars - being at home, the bench going wild, and most obvious of all - Brandon Knight losing his footing. Jordan could perform that dunk 10 more times and each of those times, whoever was in his way, he still would have destroyed them, but they probably would have been able to get at least one leg on the floor before falling down (if they fell at all), hence lessening the visual affect.

All that said, sometimes it's the extra stuff that makes the slam. For instance, would Kemp's Lister Blister been as awesome if it happened at Golden State? The dunk still would have been legendary, but obviously the crowd response wouldn't have been as neat. I think DeAndre's dunk was a slightly better executed version of his slam over Tony Allen, but with a clumsier defensive tumble and wilder response.

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[LionsFanNJ]

Nah DJs is nowhere near an all time topper in my book. Hell it might not be best big over small dunk (Tom Chambers on Mark Jackson anyone?)

That being said its probably going to be on the all time list somewhere

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[WDOgF0reL1fe]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

I dont get basketball. Seriously.

Like, are you allowed to stiff arm people on the way up for a dunk?
That's what Blake and Jordan do half the time on their dunks (not a clipper ***** btw, i kinda like them)

Just curious is all.

[mb625]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

Speaking honestly here, I don't get all the "Brandon Knight was stupid for getting in the way" stuff. That's called playing defense. He did the only thing he could do in that situation to even have a shot at preventing that dunk, getting in the way of Jordan. I actually really liked the play Knight made. Not too many people in the NBA would be willing to do something like that

[pietasterp]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

Agreed

This dunk is getting gassed out of proportion. Its like a 27 year old Shaq dunking on a HS kid. Big deal.

If anything Knight should have known better than to even try that.

Another than Knight foolishly jumping in his way there isn't anything about that dunk that separates it from any other great oop.. In my opinion anyways

With all due respect to the commenters (who I agree with to some extent), I feel like this whole playground, Sportscenter, hype-fueled way that basketball - and primarily the NBA - is viewed these days is really a turn-off for me. I guess I'm kind of an old (school?) guy when it comes to this kind of thing, and I enjoy a good posterizing as much as the next guy, but it's contextual and ultimtately not that meangingful. If you haven't been posterized at least a few times, I feel like you aren't trying hard enough on defense. You should be challenging dunkers every time: no free chili. Knight was trying to rotate over to help fill the spot vacated by the big guys down low, and he tried to challenge a player who had an open look at the basket, which is what you are supposed to do. OK, he should get some ribbing about what happened, but for everyone in the country to try to make it out like he should be embarrassed or something is crazy in my opinion. Little guy or not, you should challenge a shooter and not concede baskets at any time. If anything, the Pistons bigs should be embarrassed for putting the 1/2 guard in that position in the first place. I applaud Knight for trying to challenge an open dunker, at obvious peril to his own reputation (whatever that is).

My take is much ado about nothing.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

I don't follow the NBA anymore, but kind of keep my eye on it. Twitter was blowing up about this. Mike Greenberg was doing his usual hyperbole thing. So I looked at it. While it was nice, I can think of many that were better from when I used to watch.

My personal favorite is Pippen over Ewing. The way he destroys him, steps over him, then tells Spike to sit his *** down makes me laugh every time.

[VDusen04]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

I dont get basketball. Seriously.

Like, are you allowed to stiff arm people on the way up for a dunk?
That's what Blake and Jordan do half the time on their dunks (not a clipper ***** btw, i kinda like them)

Just curious is all.

When you're a two-foot leaper leading with your left foot forward before takeoff, that off arm will come upward naturally. I always suggest folks give that type of jumping a try to see for themselves. Planting right foot first, then left foot forward and attempting to explode will almost undoubtedly bring that left arm upward to subconsciously aide in explosion.

With that in mind, the fact that it's a natural body movement means a player is entitled to complete that process assuming they don't go out of their body motion's way to alter the direction of the arm so as to clearly and obviously elbow an opponent. Basically, if Blake Griffin begins his two-foot dunking process and a defender decides to step over to help after he's already begun to spring, there's a good chance that defender's going to make contact with that leading left arm in some way.

Unfortunately, many people believe making contact with that off arm is always intentional on the part of the dunker. I say, that's giving the dunker too much credit. To concentrate on rising as high as possible for a dunk while also trying to consciously stiff arm an opponent is tougher than we like to think.

Here's what the two-foot, left-leg lead slam tends to look like, even when wide open:



On the flip side, players who jump off two feet and lead with their right foot will still have an off arm come upward, but it'll be off to the side, away from the defender, since the ball is in the lead hand. The body's facing the rim in that dunking scenario, as opposed to being slightly crooked, as is the case with players like Vince Carter and Blake Griffin.

Terrence Ross is a good example of a frequent right foot lead guy:

[BlueNGold]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

If we're going to talk "best lobbed dunks ever", I'm pretty sure the discussion begins and ends with this:

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[volstopfan14]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

Yeah, probably.

The only two off the top of my head that come close are these:

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I'm not going to bother with the all-time talk. There's been plenty of other dunks that were better.

I thought this was just as good as Barnes over Pekovic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=khnCGF_I3dg

[wwharton]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

Speaking honestly here, I don't get all the "Brandon Knight was stupid for getting in the way" stuff. That's called playing defense. He did the only thing he could do in that situation to even have a shot at preventing that dunk, getting in the way of Jordan. I actually really liked the play Knight made. Not too many people in the NBA would be willing to do something like that

I see what you're getting at, but to be extra technical, he did not do the only thing to prevent the dunk... bc he didn't prevent the dunk. In short, ignoring the theatrics and posterization, he gave up two points and a trip to the foul line so whatever he was trying to do didn't work. In that sense, it would've made more sense to get out of the way. I'm not mad at him for trying to do something to prevent it, but in this case he should've gotten out of the way bc he had no choice but to foul and couldn't prevent the shot from going in (two things he probably could've assessed before jumping).

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

Giving up a free dunk to a terrible free throw shooter would be a horrible decision. Give Jordan credit for making a ridiculous play. 9/10 times Jordan gets fouled by Knight and the basket isn't converted. Jordan would then have missed at least one free throw.

You don't give up free lobs/dunks to terrible free throw shooters. Knight absolutely made the right play in trying to contest the dunk/lob/pass.

[wwharton]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

Giving up a free dunk to a terrible free throw shooter would be a horrible decision. Give Jordan credit for making a ridiculous play. 9/10 times Jordan gets fouled by Knight and the basket isn't converted. Jordan would then have missed at least one free throw.

You don't give up free lobs/dunks to terrible free throw shooters. Knight absolutely made the right play in trying to contest the dunk/lob/pass.

1. I give Jordan props which is why I give this dunk a lot of credit no matter how big the guy in front of him was.

2. Knight made the play he should make, hoping Jordan misses. That's not the same as "He did the only thing he could do in that situation to even have" which is what I was responding to... and pre-warned that my response was being technical. It ended up being the wrong play BECAUSE he made the dunk, but (like the post I quoted) I like that he tried anyway. I also agree with the other poster that most good defenders have been posterized. Gotta try even if you're wrong sometimes.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

I meant "give Jordan credit" in terms of him making a play that really, even someone like him will rarely make. I wasn't saying you didn't give him credit.

Again, Knight wasn't wrong in what he did. It's only that Jordan made an unbelievable play to convert the basket. Knight should not get any sort of criticism for trying to deflect the pass or impede Jordan. You make that play 10/10 times because as I said, most of the time, Jordan doesn't convert the bucket, he gets fouled and he's forced to make a pair of free throws. Something he never does.

[Kashanova]

Re: Where does Deandre Jordan's dunk rank all time?

I think initially Brandon Knight was going for the ball, but didn't realize what was going to happen until it was too late.