Duke Dunks

[jwillfan]

Because c'mon, we're all jonesing:

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1250173473063874560

I forgot what a DGAF MFer Maggette was - chin ups, slapping the backboard. I do remember his ankle-breaking move on Jason Capel at the 1:57 mark, backboard slap that earned him a technical.

Could be 30 second of 3 gens of Plumlees doing backwards dunks, but there are a couple including Marshall.

Lots of Zion and Cassius dunks -both because recency but also because awesomeness.

As you would expect, a lot of Grant Hill but I also spotted Ricky Price, Laettner, Battier, Brand, Ingram, Parker, Hood, even a Nolan Smith. Plenty more there - enjoy!

[DukeFanSince1990]

Nolan's was especially impressive because it was on two guys.

[Acymetric]

Nolan's was especially impressive because it was on two guys.

That dunk by Nolan and the time Henderson dunked on everyone in the state of Maryland after Nolan got knocked out by a hard screen are two of my sentimental favorites.

[Hingeknocker]

Voting has begun this morning on the official Duke MBB twitter page: https://twitter.com/DukeMBB.

I haven't seen the whole bracket, but for me, a great dunk is all about context, physicality, and the reaction. With that criteria, I have two clear favorites:

1. Dahntay Jones's dunk -> pushups against Virginia

2. Gerald Henderson's dunk -> floor stomp against Maryland after his buddy Nolan Smith got concussed

Grant Hill's soaring alley-oop in the '91 Final gets close as far as context goes, and Maggette's pull-up on the rim -> slap the backboard is up there in physicality/reaction, but nothing beats those two for me.

Zion's 360 against Clemson is the best pure dunk I've ever seen in a Duke game, but I'd vote for one of the above over it for sure.

[Acymetric]

Voting has begun this morning on the official Duke MBB twitter page: https://twitter.com/DukeMBB.

I haven't seen the whole bracket, but for me, a great dunk is all about context, physicality, and the reaction. With that criteria, I have two clear favorites:

1. Dahntay Jones's dunk -> pushups against Virginia

2. Gerald Henderson's dunk -> floor stomp against Maryland after his buddy Nolan Smith got concussed

Grant Hill's soaring alley-oop in the '91 Final gets close as far as context goes, and Maggette's pull-up on the rim -> slap the backboard is up there in physicality/reaction, but nothing beats those two for me.

Zion's 360 against Clemson is the best pure dunk I've ever seen in a Duke game, but I'd vote for one of the above over it for sure.

Henderson is getting robbed right now. Will there be more in the first round or is this it for the contenders?

[JosephReidBooks]

for me, a great dunk is all about context, physicality, and the reaction.

I 100% agree, but to me, tourney games trump all others. I know it makes me an old fart, but to me the G. Hill dunk over Kansas in the National Final is just unparalleled.

If you recall where we were at that point--a whole bunch of Final Fours but no banners; blowout loss to Vegas the year before; just beat Vegas, but huge questions about whether we were "tired" or could "get over the emotion of the Vegas game"; and questions about whether K could win the big one--that dunk was such a huge statement. I just remember exhaling after that and saying, yeah, we're gonna win.

I have a feeling more recent stuff will win out in this poll, but that's the way I'm voting.

[Hingeknocker]

I 100% agree, but to me, tourney games trump all others. I know it makes me an old fart, but to me the G. Hill dunk over Kansas in the National Final is just unparalleled.

If you recall where we were at that point--a whole bunch of Final Fours but no banners; blowout loss to Vegas the year before; just beat Vegas, but huge questions about whether we were "tired" or could "get over the emotion of the Vegas game"; and questions about whether K could win the big one--that dunk was such a huge statement. I just remember exhaling after that and saying, yeah, we're gonna win.

I have a feeling more recent stuff will win out in this poll, but that's the way I'm voting.

Can't really argue too much with Hill's '91 dunk. The athleticism it required alone is up there with any great dunk, period. For me, the instant trash talking of Jones's dunk over UVA with the pushups...man. It's perfect. I legitimately can't think of another dunk in basketball history that rivals this one in terms of the "F you" quality that every great dunk should have, except for Vince Carter over Frederic Weis, or maybe Vince Carter doing the "it's over" thing in the dunk contest.

[jv001]

The dunk by Phil Henderson over Alonzo will always be one of my favorites. He left us way too soon.

GoDuke!

[cato]

Can't really argue too much with Hill's '91 dunk. The athleticism it required alone is up there with any great dunk, period. For me, the instant trash talking of Jones's dunk over UVA with the pushups...man. It's perfect. I legitimately can't think of another dunk in basketball history that rivals this one in terms of the "F you" quality that every great dunk should have, except for Vince Carter over Frederic Weis, or maybe Vince Carter doing the "it's over" thing in the dunk contest.

I am with you on both elevating Grant’s ‘91 dunk above all others (WISH GRANTED!), and just how much I appreciated Jones’ pushups at UVA.

One other personal favorite was Maggette slapping the backboard in the Dean Dome. It was not as egregious as the one against Florida in Cameron, but it meant a lot more on a personal level:

https://youtu.be/zhvnTWKHwrU

[MarkD83]

My favorite for the old-timers....Tinkerbell over Ralph Sampson...

[Stray Gator]

And for the really old-timers, does anyone else here remember Mike Lewis dunking once in a home game -- I believe it was a non-conference game during the 1967-68 season? What made it so memorable, of course, was the fact that dunking was still illegal at the time, and Missoula Mike drew a technical. But he was angry about the officials missing a call, and it was a monster jam; I don't think he was sorry.

[Hingeknocker]

And for the really old-timers, does anyone else here remember Mike Lewis dunking once in a home game -- I believe it was a non-conference game during the 1967-68 season? What made it so memorable, of course, was the fact that dunking was still illegal at the time, and Missoula Mike drew a technical. But he was angry about the officials missing a call, and it was a monster jam; I don't think he was sorry.

Now this...this is my kind of dunk!

[fuse]

Great video, thanks for sharing.

My favorite dunks list had been pretty static pre Zion.

Post Zion:

1. Grant
2. Zion 360
3. Maggette backboard slap v. Florida
4. Dahntay push ups

We are so lucky to have has so many skywalkers at Duke.
It would be fairly easy to come up with a top 100 Duke dunks, I suppose.

[kako]

5 thoughts:

1. Hill v. KU, Henderson v. GTown, Dawkins v. Navy - these better make the S16.
2. IMO tourney dunks trump regular season dunks, except perhaps those vs. Carolina in a regular season finale.
3. Something is wrong with the field of 64 if no Robert Brickey dunks are on it. Did they lose the tape or something?
4. I liked Stanley as much as anyone here, but 3 dunks for him on the chart seems like recency bias to the extreme... one example of many. They dunked a lot, last century, too. Or even last decade... didn't they? The majority of dunks are from 2010 onwards.
5. Looks like Zion and GHill lead with 6 entries each - sounds about right. Zion was a monster, and some of his dunks were physically impossible for anyone else. But the GOAT has to be Hill v. KU in '91. That dunk would be crazy now *and* it was in the opening minutes of the final. It pushed KU back on its heels and set the tone for the rest of the game... and led to Duke's first natty.

9F

[JasonEvans]

5 more first round matchups have been put up on the DMBB twitter feed. Go vote now!

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB

Among the first round matches right now -- Dahntay Jones pushup slam against UVA, which is gonna be hard to knock off in these early rounds.

[Acymetric]

5 more first round matchups have been put up on the DMBB twitter feed. Go vote now!

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB

Among the first round matches right now -- Dahntay Jones pushup slam against UVA, which is gonna be hard to knock off in these early rounds.

I'm really struggling with the RJ vs. Battier dunk vote. https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1250962490684592128

The RJ dunk is a much better dunk...but I love Battier and his dunk was in the Natty. I guess since it is a "dunk contest" I should go with RJ, but I feel conflicted.

[Acymetric]

Next round of voting is up on the Duke men's twitter account.

Maggette's backboard slap getting blown out is a travesty.

[JasonEvans]

Maggette's backboard slap getting blown out is a travesty.

This is an abomination!! I voted... please, Duke fans, do what is right and fix this wrong!

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1251590777895038978

[Acymetric]

This is an abomination!! I voted... please, Duke fans, do what is right and fix this wrong!

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1251590777895038978

We need about 1,600 votes in the next 4 hours!

[Bluedog]

I'm confused because the Duke IG voting is already in the finals. Why is Twitter so far behind? Am I missing something or are there two parallel votings going on? Finals on IG is Zion 360 breakaway dunk vs. Tatum poster against UNC. I can't argue too much but definite recency bias in all the voting.