Can Ryan Young dunk?

[dukeinla]

has anyone seen him dunk a basketball even in practice? My friends and I were debating it. He has great moves around the basket without dunking and it doesn't matter but I am just curious

[CDu]

has anyone seen him dunk a basketball even in practice? My friends and I were debating it. He has great moves around the basket without dunking and it doesn't matter but I am just curious

Yes, he can dunk. He just prefers to get the shot up and on the glass quickly rather than elevating to dunk and risking getting stuffed by better leaders.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I have asked this same question. There have been a few times where he was wide open and had enough momentum to dunk but didn’t. I’m really not sure. If I had to bet I would say he can but I’m not sure. These are the things that keep me up at night…

[OldPhiKap]

Yes, he can dunk.

[JetpackJesus]

has anyone seen him dunk a basketball even in practice? My friends and I were debating it. He has great moves around the basket without dunking and it doesn't matter but I am just curious

This question was asked of JJ. So he dunked on a breakaway (at home against MD in '06, I think). He has since said that his legs were so much weaker later in the game that it affirmed his choice to not dunk.

Ryan is way taller, so he may not have that issue. But if it requires a lot more energy from him for the same result, I get just laying it in.

[plimnko]

'Ryan is way taller, so he may not have that issue. But if it requires a lot more energy from him for the same result, I get just laying it in."


2 points is 2 points. Personally, I like his old school game.

[UrinalCake]

He likes to get the shot up really quickly, almost releases it while he's still on the way up. I think for him to dunk he would have to gather and load before jumping, then get up over top of the rim and by then the defender would have just a split second to recover which may be the difference in blocking it. Two points is still two points, plus they often don't allow dunking at the YMCA.

[johnb]

Big fan of Ryan Young—he’s been a key to the success of the season so far. With more success to come.

As for the dunking, I recall that same question only being asked of a couple of former players, JJ and Hurley. There may be others, but that’s rarified air in Durham.

[dukelifer]

has anyone seen him dunk a basketball even in practice? My friends and I were debating it. He has great moves around the basket without dunking and it doesn't matter but I am just curious

After playing over seas, Young has a long YMCA career ahead of him- needs to perfect that below the rim game.

[4Gen]

After playing over seas, Young has a long YMCA career ahead of him- needs to perfect that below the rim game.

Interesting you should say that. Just this weekend I read in the Durham Morning Herald that the Durham YMCA just retired Ryan's torn tee shirt.

[killerleft]

Interesting you should say that. Just this weekend I read in the Durham Morning Herald that the Durham YMCA just retired Ryan's torn tee shirt.

You're not really a star until they retire your "skin".

[CDu]

Just as a general rule of thumb: it is safe to assume that anyone 6’4” or taller who is good enough to play college bball is also athletic enough to dunk. And almost all of the guys 6’2” or taller in major college bball can dunk. So yeah, anyone you see who is 6’9” can not only dunk but can do so fairly easily.

[hustleplays]

Just as a general rule of thumb: it is safe to assume that anyone 6’4” or taller who is good enough to play college bball is also athletic enough to dunk. And almost all of the guys 6’2” or taller in major college bball can dunk. So yeah, anyone you see who is 6’9” can not only dunk but can do so fairly easily.

That's pretty depressing, CDU. Thanks. Actually, it's amazing isn't it. The 40+ verticals are incredible. I did dream once that I could dunk easily. I was totally bummed when I woke up to reality.

[CDu]

That's pretty depressing, CDU. Thanks. Actually, it's amazing isn't it. The 40+ verticals are incredible. I did dream once that I could dunk easily. I was totally bummed when I woke up to reality.

Oh it is depressing. As a 5’11” guy who was JUUUST shy of dunking a bball (I could dunk a volleyball) I remain quite jealous of those guys. I needed either another 2-3 inches of height or 2-3 inches of vertical.

[Phredd3]

Oh it is depressing. As a 5’11” guy who was JUUUST shy of dunking a bball (I could dunk a volleyball) I remain quite jealous of those guys. I needed either another 2-3 inches of height or 2-3 inches of vertical.

2-3 inches of vertical is all I ever had. I'm a 6'0' guy, and at my physical prime and in the best shape of my life (days long since passed), I couldn't even come close to touching the rim. I could leg press twice my own body weight 100 times in a row and do 200 sit-ups in 10 minutes, but I have always been solidly earth bound. I would have LOVED to be able to dunk even a volleyball.

[ClemmonsDevil]

Just as a general rule of thumb: it is safe to assume that anyone 6’4” or taller who is good enough to play college bball is also athletic enough to dunk. And almost all of the guys 6’2” or taller in major college bball can dunk. So yeah, anyone you see who is 6’9” can not only dunk but can do so fairly easily.

5'8". Could dunk a volleyball and hang onto the rim with both hands. Couldn't palm a basketball (a Whopper looks HUGE in my hands), so I could never dunk a basketball cleanly. I could sort of "jello" it in or lay it up and touch the rim. We measured verticals and I think mine was 33 inches. I think I can say this with a lot of confidence, I have been dunked on the most of anyone on DBR. Not trying to brag or anything but a lot of dudes have dunked on me. And don't even get me started about how many times I've had my shot blocked.

[House P]

Not sure where he gets his stats, but Torvik shows that Ryan has dunked six times in his college career (in six attempts).

Here is a table from Torvik's site showing the number of dunks, dunk attempts, FG% in dunk attempts, total FGA, and percent of FGA which were attempted dunks for all players who finished their careers with Duke since 2008. Note: numbers include games played for other schools, but do not include pre-2008 stats.

A couple notes:
- Ryan's 6 career dunks put him ahead of Brian Zoubek (2 dunks from 2008-2010) and just behind behind Lance Thomas (7) and Kyle Singler (8).
- 44% of Derek Lively's shot attempts have been attempted dunks. This is the highest of any Duke player since 2008. Marshall Plumlee is 2nd at 39%.
- Of players with 10 or more dunk attempts, Cam Reddish had the least success converting (7 made dunks in 11 attempts).
- Grayson Allen had the most career dunks (50) without a miss.
- Not sure why Gerald Henderson doesn't show up on the list. I am pretty sure he had at least one dunk for Duke.

Height	Player	DUNKS	DUNK ATT	Dunk %	TOTAL FGA	% DUNKS
6-10	Mason Plumlee	209	232	90%	914	25%
7-0	Mark Williams	130	135	96%	373	36%
6-9	Theo John	97	107	91%	531	20%
6-11	Marvin Bagley III	94	98	96%	440	22%
7-0	Marshall Plumlee	84	92	91%	233	39%
6-10	Miles Plumlee	83	94	88%	471	20%
6-7	Zion Williamson	72	79	91%	435	18%
6-11	Jahlil Okafor	64	67	96%	420	16%
6-8	Jabari Parker	61	66	92%	499	13%
6-10	Javin DeLaurier	58	64	91%	234	27%
6-10	Wendell Carter Jr.	56	58	97%	319	18%
6-11	Marques Bolden	55	60	92%	227	26%
6-5	Grayson Allen	50	50	100%	1409	4%
6-10	Vernon Carey Jr.	47	51	92%	345	15%
6-10	Paolo Banchero	41	44	93%	513	9%
6-7	R.J. Barrett	40	42	95%	702	6%
6-9	Amile Jefferson	37	39	95%	687	6%
6-6	Cassius Stanley	32	33	97%	270	12%
6-11	Ryan Kelly	31	32	97%	682	5%
6-2	Nolan Smith	29	35	83%	1490	2%
7-1	Dereck Lively II	27	28	96%	63	44%
6-6	Justise Winslow	24	25	96%	356	7%
6-5	Wendell Moore Jr.	20	25	80%	736	3%
6-8	Rodney Hood	19	22	86%	699	3%
6-8	Jayson Tatum	18	21	86%	365	6%
6-7	Jack White	18	20	90%	242	8%
6-8	Mark Mitchell	18	20	90%	148	14%
6-9	Brandon Ingram	17	17	100%	484	4%
6-9	Matthew Hurt	16	16	100%	522	3%
6-6	Kale Catchings	16	16	100%	203	8%
6-6	Jacob Grandison	15	18	83%	1031	2%
6-10	Harry Giles	15	17	88%	78	22%
6-5	Andre Dawkins	13	15	87%	763	2%
6-3	Trevon Duval	12	15	80%	346	4%
6-11	Kyle Filipowski	12	12	100%	255	5%
6-9	Justin Robinson	10	11	91%	63	17%
6-8	Josh Hairston	9	11	82%	220	5%
6-6	AJ Griffin	8	10	80%	296	3%
6-8	Kyle Singler	8	9	89%	1879	0%
6-9	Jalen Johnson	8	8	100%	108	7%
6-8	Cam Reddish	7	11	64%	432	3%
6-8	Lance Thomas	7	9	78%	367	2%
6-10	Ryan Young	6	6	100%	592	1%
6-6	Gary Trent Jr.	6	6	100%	427	1%
6-6	Luke Kennard	5	5	100%	820	1%
6-3	Frank Jackson	4	4	100%	281	1%
6-2	DJ Steward	4	4	100%	265	2%
7-0	Antonio Vrankovic	4	4	100%	47	9%
6-2	Jaylen Blakes	3	6	50%	111	5%
6-5	Matt Jones	3	3	100%	798	0%
6-4	Austin Rivers	3	3	100%	402	1%
6-6	Dariq Whitehead	2	4	50%	128	3%
6-2	Jeremy Roach	2	3	67%	644	0%
6-4	Trevor Keels	2	2	100%	351	1%
7-1	Brian Zoubek	2	2	100%	316	1%
6-3	Tre Jones	0	2	0%	702	0%
6-4	Max Johns	0	1	0%	106	1%
6-2	Seth Curry	0	0		1518	0%
6-2	Quinn Cook	0	0		1235	0%
6-5	Jon Scheyer	0	0		1158	0%
6-1	Tyus Jones	0	0		324	0%
6-2	Tyler Thornton	0	0		308	0%
6-8	Bates Jones	0	0		173	0%
6-5	Tyrese Proctor	0	0		168	0%
6-2	Kyrie Irving	0	0		104	0%
6-0	Michael Savarino	0	0		10	0%
6-1	Jordan Davidson	0	0		10	0%
6-3	Nick Pagliuca	0	0		5	0%

[CDu]

- Not sure why Gerald Henderson doesn't show up on the list. I am pretty sure he had at least one dunk for Duke.

The reason Henderson doesn't show up is because Torvik only has dunk data back through the 2009-10 season. So the '09 and '08 teams don't have dunk data. Zoubek's 2 dunks on that list were from the '10 season, as were Thomas' 7 and 4 of Singler's 8 (he had 4 more in the '11 season). Each of those guys had a few more in previous seasons.

[House P]

The reason Henderson doesn't show up is because Torvik only has dunk data back through the 2009-10 season. So the '09 and '08 teams don't have dunk data. Zoubek's 2 dunks on that list were from the '10 season, as were Thomas' 7 and 4 of Singler's 8 (he had 4 more in the '11 season). Each of those guys had a few more in previous seasons.

Thanks. Torvik has individual player stats going back through 2008, so I (incorrectly) assumed that dunk stats were a part of this. That explains why Zoubek, Thomas, and Singler had so few dunks. It may also explain why our current head coach is listed with zero career dunks.

So, I guess the real question isn't whether Ryan Young can dunk, but rather "did Jon Scheyer ever dunk (for Duke)"?

[clinresga]

Not sure where he gets his stats, but Torvik shows that Ryan has dunked six times in his college career (in six attempts).

Here is a table from Torvik's site showing the number of dunks, dunk attempts, FG% in dunk attempts, total FGA, and percent of FGA which were attempted dunks for all players who finished their careers with Duke since 2008. Note: numbers include games played for other schools, but do not include pre-2008 stats.

A couple notes:
- Ryan's 6 career dunks put him ahead of Brian Zoubek (2 dunks from 2008-2010) and just behind behind Lance Thomas (7) and Kyle Singler (8).
- 44% of Derek Lively's shot attempts have been attempted dunks. This is the highest of any Duke player since 2008. Marshall Plumlee is 2nd at 39%.
- Of players with 10 or more dunk attempts, Cam Reddish had the least success converting (7 made dunks in 11 attempts).
- Grayson Allen had the most career dunks (50) without a miss.
- Not sure why Gerald Henderson doesn't show up on the list. I am pretty sure he had at least one dunk for Duke.

Height	Player	DUNKS	DUNK ATT	Dunk %	TOTAL FGA	% DUNKS
6-10	Mason Plumlee	209	232	90%	914	25%
7-0	Mark Williams	130	135	96%	373	36%
6-9	Theo John	97	107	91%	531	20%
6-11	Marvin Bagley III	94	98	96%	440	22%
7-0	Marshall Plumlee	84	92	91%	233	39%
6-10	Miles Plumlee	83	94	88%	471	20%
6-7	Zion Williamson	72	79	91%	435	18%
6-11	Jahlil Okafor	64	67	96%	420	16%
6-8	Jabari Parker	61	66	92%	499	13%
6-10	Javin DeLaurier	58	64	91%	234	27%
6-10	Wendell Carter Jr.	56	58	97%	319	18%
6-11	Marques Bolden	55	60	92%	227	26%
6-5	Grayson Allen	50	50	100%	1409	4%
6-10	Vernon Carey Jr.	47	51	92%	345	15%
6-10	Paolo Banchero	41	44	93%	513	9%
6-7	R.J. Barrett	40	42	95%	702	6%
6-9	Amile Jefferson	37	39	95%	687	6%
6-6	Cassius Stanley	32	33	97%	270	12%
6-11	Ryan Kelly	31	32	97%	682	5%
6-2	Nolan Smith	29	35	83%	1490	2%
7-1	Dereck Lively II	27	28	96%	63	44%
6-6	Justise Winslow	24	25	96%	356	7%
6-5	Wendell Moore Jr.	20	25	80%	736	3%
6-8	Rodney Hood	19	22	86%	699	3%
6-8	Jayson Tatum	18	21	86%	365	6%
6-7	Jack White	18	20	90%	242	8%
6-8	Mark Mitchell	18	20	90%	148	14%
6-9	Brandon Ingram	17	17	100%	484	4%
6-9	Matthew Hurt	16	16	100%	522	3%
6-6	Kale Catchings	16	16	100%	203	8%
6-6	Jacob Grandison	15	18	83%	1031	2%
6-10	Harry Giles	15	17	88%	78	22%
6-5	Andre Dawkins	13	15	87%	763	2%
6-3	Trevon Duval	12	15	80%	346	4%
6-11	Kyle Filipowski	12	12	100%	255	5%
6-9	Justin Robinson	10	11	91%	63	17%
6-8	Josh Hairston	9	11	82%	220	5%
6-6	AJ Griffin	8	10	80%	296	3%
6-8	Kyle Singler	8	9	89%	1879	0%
6-9	Jalen Johnson	8	8	100%	108	7%
6-8	Cam Reddish	7	11	64%	432	3%
6-8	Lance Thomas	7	9	78%	367	2%
6-10	Ryan Young	6	6	100%	592	1%
6-6	Gary Trent Jr.	6	6	100%	427	1%
6-6	Luke Kennard	5	5	100%	820	1%
6-3	Frank Jackson	4	4	100%	281	1%
6-2	DJ Steward	4	4	100%	265	2%
7-0	Antonio Vrankovic	4	4	100%	47	9%
6-2	Jaylen Blakes	3	6	50%	111	5%
6-5	Matt Jones	3	3	100%	798	0%
6-4	Austin Rivers	3	3	100%	402	1%
6-6	Dariq Whitehead	2	4	50%	128	3%
6-2	Jeremy Roach	2	3	67%	644	0%
6-4	Trevor Keels	2	2	100%	351	1%
7-1	Brian Zoubek	2	2	100%	316	1%
6-3	Tre Jones	0	2	0%	702	0%
6-4	Max Johns	0	1	0%	106	1%
6-2	Seth Curry	0	0		1518	0%
6-2	Quinn Cook	0	0		1235	0%
6-5	Jon Scheyer	0	0		1158	0%
6-1	Tyus Jones	0	0		324	0%
6-2	Tyler Thornton	0	0		308	0%
6-8	Bates Jones	0	0		173	0%
6-5	Tyrese Proctor	0	0		168	0%
6-2	Kyrie Irving	0	0		104	0%
6-0	Michael Savarino	0	0		10	0%
6-1	Jordan Davidson	0	0		10	0%
6-3	Nick Pagliuca	0	0		5	0%

So, on paper, we have three of the four worst dunkers (by dunk percentage) since 2008 on this team? Pretty funny.