Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Dunk Vs: Part 4

Blake Griffin on Timofey Mozgov vs Tyrus Thomas on Jermaine O'Neal

     This episode of Dunk Vs poses the question; "If people say it is a better dunk, is it?" It's hard to put any dunk up against the Griffin-on-Mozgov facial, if not simply because of Griffin's popularity. Blake's rookie season was filled with dunks, 214 of them in fact. Many of them are dunks that would make the career highlights of many decent dunkers pale in comparison to Blake's body of work in just one season.
     No dunk is more emblematic of Blake's season than this crush against the New York Knicks, in LA. LA has been Kobe's town in NBA recent history, but this game made Blake into an overnight celebrity. Both the dunk over Mozgov and the spinning dunk on Gallinari were sensational dunks, and this game's legacy depends on the combination of the two dunks.
     Yet, taken by itself, the dunk on top of Mozgov is a moment that stands alone in Blake's rookie season. It spawned a website, and made us question "what counts as a dunk?" yet again. Blake's throw-in is akin to Dwight Howard's superman dunk contest jam, where dunk is defined as "forcing the ball downwards and through the rim," not necessarily even touching the basket at all.
     Tyrus Thomas' dunk was almost immediately forgotten. More likely it was explained away. Thomas had been a rookie with alot of promise and athletic upside coming out of LSU, but had been a bit of a dud in the NBA and couldn't find any kind of consistency. He showed flashes, and they were often brilliant like this end-to-end play, but the optimism of this dunk being able to define a career wasn't the same as the Griffin dunk. It was as if people said "wow, great highlight, but show me that on a regular basis" and neglected to think of the event by itself, the way we can now on YouTube. There was a time when dunking on Jermaine O'Neal would have meant something, but even at this stage of his career he a more high-profile victim than Mozgov.
     Griffin's dunk is great, and Mozgov's "boost" sends Blake even higher in a Tom Chambers-like mounting. Just when you think Blake has topped out he keeps on rising and whips the ball through the basket with force while seemingly floating. I give Mozgov credit for standing in place, taking the punishment, and neither falling nor even reacting at all.
     Jermaine O'Neal wasn't so lucky as he gets knocked back, slides across the baseline on his butt, and his feet kick up a little bit. It is the full court effort that makes this play stand out initially, but that side-view of the dunk itself shows just how powerful Thomas' extension was.
     Both players are dunking on their home court, but Blake's sends the bigger shockwaves. Nevertheless, I'm going to argue Tyrus Thomas' dunk was better and you can debate me on this. Thomas gets the block on one of Toronto's big men, runs the floor with intent, and knocks his challenger to the ground. Blake's dunk was huge in the halfcourt, but is more of simply a vertical dunk than ploughing through a defender. Plus, he never even touches the rim. Thomas' dunk was underrated, and unloved because of his questionable "bust" status in the NBA. Let this moment stand alone, and for once allow that Blake Griffin isn't the undisputed dunk champ.

Winner: Tyrus Thomas on Jermaine O'Neal

Griffin

Thomas


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