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  1. #1

    Best dunker in Duke history?

    Spurred on by this video...

    Duke dunks!

    I have to ask, who you do you all think is the best dunker in Duke history? Gotta pick one!

    I have to say, I put...

    At #3, Dahntay. He had some mean, mean dunks, and always threw it down with a lot of attitude.

    At #2, GHill. Grant was obviously spectacular; the only reason he isn't #1 for me is simply because he is so tall that it really made dunking a bit easier for him, when compared to the #1 guy...

    At #1, Gerald Henderson. He has, by himself, probably half of my favorite all-time Duke dunks. So much authority, power... and he always had that ability to just elevate, seemingly effortless, just that much higher than anyone else, and for that much longer than everyone else.

    So! What do folks think?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Raleigh, NC
    Make no mistake, I'm looking forward to the rest of the football season...but man is it basketball season yet? I can't wait to see this team play. For better or worse, should be a lot of fun this year!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Nashville, TN
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Ash View Post
    Spurred on by this video...

    Duke dunks!

    I have to ask, who you do you all think is the best dunker in Duke history? Gotta pick one!

    I have to say, I put...

    At #3, Dahntay. He had some mean, mean dunks, and always threw it down with a lot of attitude.

    At #2, GHill. Grant was obviously spectacular; the only reason he isn't #1 for me is simply because he is so tall that it really made dunking a bit easier for him, when compared to the #1 guy...

    At #1, Gerald Henderson. He has, by himself, probably half of my favorite all-time Duke dunks. So much authority, power... and he always had that ability to just elevate, seemingly effortless, just that much higher than anyone else, and for that much longer than everyone else.

    So! What do folks think?
    Corey Maggette for the Florida game alone at Cameron back in the 98-99 season. I know he played one year but everytime he was on the court you just waited for him to do something freakish.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Norfolk, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Ash View Post

    I have to ask, who you do you all think is the best dunker in Duke history? Gotta pick one!

    So! What do folks think?
    #33 Grant Hill.
    Bob Green

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Steamboat Springs, CO

    Talking In-Game Performance

    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Ash View Post
    Spurred on by this video...

    Duke dunks!

    I have to ask, who you do you all think is the best dunker in Duke history? Gotta pick one!

    I have to say, I put...

    At #3, Dahntay. He had some mean, mean dunks, and always threw it down with a lot of attitude.

    At #2, GHill. Grant was obviously spectacular; the only reason he isn't #1 for me is simply because he is so tall that it really made dunking a bit easier for him, when compared to the #1 guy...

    At #1, Gerald Henderson. He has, by himself, probably half of my favorite all-time Duke dunks. So much authority, power... and he always had that ability to just elevate, seemingly effortless, just that much higher than anyone else, and for that much longer than everyone else.

    So! What do folks think?
    IMHO (where the H is usually silent) the three best dunks in Duke history because of their art and game significance were (a) Tinkerbell over 7-4 Ralph Sampson circa 1980; (b) Phil Henderson over Alonzo Mourning of Georgetown in the 1989 regional finals and (c) the Grant dunk over Kansas in the 1991 National Championship game. FWIW, I don't have much interest in scoring dunks like a gymnastics or aerial skiing competition.

    sagegrouse

  6. #6
    I think our best in-game dunker was Gerald. As he learned to attack the rim with better angles he started to throw down some nasty ones off one-on-one moves, which is really impressive. Its not like these were back-door cut alley-oops (though he had plenty of those too). I'm thinking about the and1 on texas in the NCAAs. The up and under vs Wake (he had a couple of those, IIRC). The "answer" dunk @MD (and then mike patrick's response: "I don't care what the question was"). G takes it for me.

    Obviously love dante, maggette, grant and jdawk, but I think G had more "whoa" dunks in one season than anyone else.

    Jwill had some nice, surprise me-types. But he didn't dunk often enough to warrant consideration. There were also lots of other guys like banks, henderson, and thomas hill that could get up, but I guess the guys who are going to rise to the top of this list tended to have the ball a lot and were featured.

    Silky "recently, I also think demarcus and ewing were underrated" J

    edit: I wrote this before even watching the video. I'd add Mikey D to my underrated list, and change my answer to a tie b/w G Henderson and G Hill. It was 15-20 years ago so hard to remember all of Grant's amazing dunks, but glad I got a refresh

    "I am gerald henderson, and I approved this message"
    Last edited by SilkyJ; 09-16-2010 at 11:53 PM. Reason: just watched...

  7. #7
    I've got to go with Gerald, just for the sole reason that all of his baseline inbound alley oop dunks were so memorable to me that during the FIBA World Championships I kept waiting for us to run this for Rose, Durant, Westbrook, Iguodala, Gay, or Gordon.

  8. #8
    If Justin Anderson ends up coming to Duke, the top of this list may change.

  9. #9
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    Jan 2009
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    Durham, NC

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Portland, OR
    I have to agree that Grant and Gerald are, in some order #1 and #2. I would say that they are closely followed by Danhtay and next is Corey. I loved that the Dahntay's Ball State dunk was there with K imitating it. Obviously, there were also some legendary individual dunks in that video from the likes of Brickey and Dawkins.

    I love that video. Thanks, DBP!

  11. #11
    Robert Brickey. The *only* name that popped into my mind when I read the question.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    About 150 feet in front of the Duke Chapel doors.
    When I think of "best dunker", I think of guys that got me sitting on the edge of my chair in anticipation when they've got the ball at halfcourt and a clear path to the rim.

    Johnny D has to be on the list somewhere. He couldn't palm the ball, so his dunks were almost all one-handed, but there's something magical about watching a little guy fly. Johnny was listed at 6'2", but he was maybe 6' even, so he really had to get up to throw it down, especially two-handed. He would just levitate up there for a while. And he was so quick, he'd blow by guys and get to the rim before anyone expected it.

    I wish I had seen more of Tink's play. I wasn't yet a Duke fan when he wore the blue and white, and I now regret missing out, because he apparently had some thunderous dunks.

    David Henderson also should be mentioned. David was the athletic power dunker of the '86 team. His throwdown vs. Washington in 1985 was legendary. A lot like Gerald in that, in the words of Jay Bilas "that young man just has another step on his ladder that the rest of us don't have".

    Others have mentioned Phil Henderson (what is it about guys named Henderson?) and Robert Brickey. The Mourning dunk is just one of many that Phil thrilled us with, but I can't think of a signature dunk for Robert.

    But I'll agree with the folks touting Grant as the #1 dunker. At least of the ones I've seen. So, my list is:

    #1: Grant Hill
    #2: Gerald Henderson
    #3: Johnny Dawkins

    HM: Tink (on rep alone), Brickey, David Henderson, Phil Henderson, Dahntay, and Corey (makes it on this list with just one year of play)
    Last edited by JBDuke; 09-17-2010 at 08:41 AM.
    JBDuke

    Andre Dawkins: “People ask me if I can still shoot, and I ask them if they can still breathe. That’s kind of the same thing.”

  13. #13
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    Feb 2008
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    Charlotte, North Carolina
    Quote Originally Posted by sleepybear View Post
    Loved that video, complete with the era appropriate music...and for Marty Padgett and Bill Dracos going nuts at the start of the video. Brickey was amazing.

    As for the original question, however, I go with Grant. We had four years of him electrifying us with his athleticism, game after game. But it was the Kansas dunk that seals the deal for him. It would have been a sensational dunk in any game situation. But in that context - opening up the national championship game with an emphatic announcement that no, Duke is not tired or satisfied or emotionally spent after the UNLV game, and that Kansas is in for a long night - and the fact that I will always remember that moment, being in Cameron Indoor Stadium watching it on the big screen and going crazy with 5,000 of my closest friends - makes me remember that dunk as the coolest moment of basketball I've ever seen.

  14. #14
    To say who is the "best" is impossible, as it's really subjective/opinion. But I've been around long enough to have enjoyed watching and cheering for all the players named on this list, and they're all great and deserving. We Duke fans have really been spoiled!

    But the first and last name that comes to my mind is Brickey. What an unusual and spectacular and cool athlete. People used to say "Brickey" instead of "cheese" when someone was taking a picture...it always brought out the biggest and most genuine smiles!

    Also Johnny Dawkins deserves a mention and so does Jason Williams. Johnny just floated higher than you could imagine (the reverse jam vs. Navy has to be one of the best single Duke dunks ever), and Jason threw down some dunks that were just sort of violent.

  15. #15
    I'm surprised Josh McRoberts isn't at least in the conversation.

  16. #16
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    Feb 2008
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    Charlotte
    Quote Originally Posted by Reilly View Post
    Robert Brickey. The *only* name that popped into my mind when I read the question.
    I have a freind who was the PF on the William and Mary team that was associated with the famous quote - "I think only Mary showed up for this game (sic)." He said that he literally looked over and Brick's sneakers were right at his face-level...guy is about 6'8"...impressive.

    Does McBob get a mention on this thread? He might not have left on the best terms, but it was pretty amazing what he could do off of an inbounds pass, backward alley-oops and just throwing it down with authority.

    I also agree Markie and Ewing were under rated. All time, partly because of my age and partly because the dunk has become more common I would go:

    1) G - Amazing hops
    2) Grant - Significance of Dunks and for nearly hitting head on backboard a few times
    3) Between Dhantay and Maggette. I'd go with Dhantay bc I got to see more. I remember Maggette getting a couple of T's for doing pullups on the rim...

  17. #17
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    Feb 2007
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    Washington DC
    Quote Originally Posted by sleepybear View Post
    I always thought of Brickey. I think he aspired to dunk like Len Bias.

  18. #18
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    Feb 2008
    Location
    Lewisville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by superdave View Post
    I always thought of Brickey. I think he aspired to dunk like Len Bias.
    Another vote for Brickey.

    Lots of good candidates (and Mason Plumlee should be up there also), but Brickey is the name that came to mind first.

    Tremendous explosiveness.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Gerald Henderson. It's always more impressive with a little man (although a legit 6'4" isn't little, it is in the ACC).

    I like GHill, but another poster stated that GHill is taller, which makes his dunks a little less impressive (don't get me wrong, GHill's dunks are still amazing!).

    Of all the ACC games I've watched, the only non-last-5-minutes-of-the-game-play where I've gotten out of my chair is the GHenderson dunk against Maryland. That was the greatest revenge dunk I have every seen.
    Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill

    President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club

  20. #20
    Maggette. And I'm incredulous that others don't have him in their top 3. He had serious ups. And length of tenure should have nothing to do with it.

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