Bear Down Wildcats

On winning the 2016 Slam Dunk crown!

Oh wait, Pac 12 refs were judging.

My man cupped the ball like it was nothing. I can't believe he got robbed like that

FUCLA

Levine keeps doing the same dunk over and over and Aaron does this and loses. SMH

Aaron was so awesome still trying to figure out why he isn't holding the trophy smh too. weird.

I'm still fuming...

And I liked LaVine's dunks. But they were common compared to Gordon's.

Smith, who was fully in LaVine's corner, effectively said he'd never seen anything like that three times on Gordon's dunks. He proclaimed it over. He did a complete bias change mid-event.

Gordon may have had the most unlikely, yet best dunk in the history of the event, and did it as his final dunk in the final round, but somehow he didn't win.

Fans should have been the tie-breaker. No fucking way LaVine wins a fan vote.

I've been on 7 message boards tonight, and even the most ardent, prickish anti-dunk asshole was saying "holy shit!" on Gordon's fourth dunk.

The internet has spoken. It is either saying "Gordon was robbed" or "that may have been the greatest contest dunk of all time." His seated dunk and spinning hoverboard dunk were the two best of the night, and homerism aside, the seated dunk just may be the greatest dunk in contest history.

I was screaming. I dont know how you justify a man who had three of the four best dunks of the night losing. Lavine got a 50 doin the same shit gordon did, but without a maskot on a hoverboard, spinning with the ball moving, oh plus he had to cup the ball and he had the other hand behind his head. How do u justify that shit? Lavine just kept takin off from the free throw line, which we have seen tons before, and in none of them was he actually behind it. One of them he was a good 3 feet inside.

Then just give them a tie, they had to pull something out their asses. Gordons was way more difficult and way more creative. And surprise, Lavine does a three feet past the ft line dunk. I knew gordon was gonna get robbed and lose when they went to the first of the two tie breaking dunks. So was it predetermined Lavine was gonna be the winner and AG almost spoiled the show? Or are Dawkins,Tmac and his lazy eye, and Mutumbo legit retarded?

Im fucking livid. My wife was tellin me to chill out til i made her come out and watch, then she was mad. The iguodala shit was BAD and that one was rigged so Robinson could win on Spudd Webbs anniversary. This is a million times worse, this may have been the best individual dunk performance ever and if not, its top 3

Aaron Gordon was the number 1 trender on twitter til the republican debate took over. Lavine wasnt even in the top 20 list. Seriously, the whole world is sayin he was robbed and marveling over his performance and especially that dunk. Thats history. Thats Dr J or Jordan foul line, or Vince Carter history.

This is why so many people dont f--k with the NBA. People think things are rigged and predetermined. And maybe they arent, but they are always f--king things up to leave a sour taste in their fans mouths to where u dont even want to watch anymore. Like i dont even want to watch another dunk contest again and that may have been the best dunk contest since jordan and dominiques

Wait, are there actually people out there who think the NBA isn't just as scripted as the WWE? Ha.......

Those were golden posts RG.

Main Event wrote:

My man cupped the ball like it was nothing. I can't believe he got robbed like that

Wow!

AG is such a freak. So glad he's a Wildcat, even if it only lasted briefly.

Not the first time a 'Cat has been screwed out of a dunk title. . .

ghostwhitehorse wrote:Not the first time a 'Cat has been screwed out of a dunk title. . .

Remind me who it was, gwh. RJ? Bayless? DW?

Beachcat97 wrote:

ghostwhitehorse wrote:Not the first time a 'Cat has been screwed out of a dunk title. . .

Remind me who it was, gwh. RJ? Bayless? DW?

Iggy

Beachcat97 wrote:

ghostwhitehorse wrote:Not the first time a 'Cat has been screwed out of a dunk title. . .

Remind me who it was, gwh. RJ? Bayless? DW?

Iguodala in 2006 vs freakin Nate Robinson.

Start watching around 18 minutes: http://youtu.be/chaAyqcuO3A" target="_blank

Wow. It was definitely close with AI and NR. Both of these guys would've gotten smoked by Lavine and Gordon.

All you see across the internet is that Gordon got robbed. Well, he did. His first two dunks of the finals were the two best all night from anyone.

JMarkJohns wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

ghostwhitehorse wrote:Not the first time a 'Cat has been screwed out of a dunk title. . .

Remind me who it was, gwh. RJ? Bayless? DW?

Iguodala in 2006 vs freakin Nate Robinson.

Crazy that both times it was to another Pac alum

Not a dunk contest guy, but holy shit. Incredible stuffs. Maybe he should shoot free throws from seated position.

splitsecond wrote:

JMarkJohns wrote:

Beachcat97 wrote:

ghostwhitehorse wrote:Not the first time a 'Cat has been screwed out of a dunk title. . .

Remind me who it was, gwh. RJ? Bayless? DW?

Iguodala in 2006 vs freakin Nate Robinson.

Crazy that both times it was to another Pac alum

Nate sent a congratulatory tweet to Lavine after. I pointed out the irony

Loved Coach Miller's response when asked about it in the presser. He can be very funny!

Soar Loser.

That is unreal. If there are any future debates about the greatest dunk out there, this kills them.

And speaking of The Commissioner, Tobias Harris was just moved to Detroit. The future is now.

The scary part is imagine if he worked on his form for the high jump ..... He could become the Michael Phelps of the high jump. What an athlete!

PennZona20 wrote:The scary part is imagine if he worked on his form for the high jump ..... He could become the Michael Phelps of the high jump. What an athlete!

He probably could hurdle it at 7 feet no problem

Yea, that tells me with proper training, and without having to worry about grabbing a ball, swinging it under his legs and putting it in the hoop, he could be an olympic gold medalist if he wanted. Insane.

It appeared he gained some of his height from pushing down on the mascots head when he grabbed the ball. Impressive nonetheless.

FightWildcatsFight wrote:It appeared he gained some of his height from pushing down on the mascots head when he grabbed the ball. Impressive nonetheless.

Well and ignoring 2 feet worth of legs that didn't clear the bar

MrBug708 wrote:

FightWildcatsFight wrote:It appeared he gained some of his height from pushing down on the mascots head when he grabbed the ball. Impressive nonetheless.

Well and ignoring 2 feet worth of legs that didn't clear the bar

Oh where would we be without you Bug....

MrBug708 wrote:

FightWildcatsFight wrote:It appeared he gained some of his height from pushing down on the mascots head when he grabbed the ball. Impressive nonetheless.

Well and ignoring 2 feet worth of legs that didn't clear the bar

If only he did not have to land on his feet... I think that may have something to do with it.

Next year: Fosbury Flop, clearing an actual bar, into a reverse dunk. Get on it, Aaron.

Zach Lavine is too scared to take on our boy this year.

bump

97cats wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:11 ambump

Super paid. You love to see it.

4 years $92M. Career earnings $76M. Thats $168K per game played

Maybe he can hire a stylist

Postmaster wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:01 pm Maybe he can hire a stylist

LOL I love every version of this dude's hair - the buzz, the short crop top, the afro, the braids... it's all good in my book

At some point, AG is going to be a key role player for a contender, like Iggy. Hopefully it happens while he can still jump over buildings. Denver is an excellent core on that roster.

His defense in college was amazing. But in the NBA, it's still amazing. He completely seals the greatest offensive players in the world. He's like a moving wall.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 16, 2021 8:41 am At some point, AG is going to be a key role player for a contender, like Iggy. Hopefully it happens while he can still jump over buildings. Denver is an excellent core on that roster.

I hope he'll fit well after a full season Mile High. Last year, he was an awkward fit at times, but he seems to be working his ass off over the summer to develop his shooting.

Hopefully that helps because shooting the 3 poorly was a big part of why he didn't click in Denver. Murray returning should give him more open looks, and you know his D should always be strong. He brings a ton of versatilty and flexibility and he's still just turning 26 even though it feels like it's been forever since he left Arizona.

Some long form analysis from Tom Ziller on the Gordon signing:

The Denver Nuggets aren’t the most successful NBA franchise without a championship; that title goes to the Utah Jazz or Phoenix Suns. But Denver’s up there, especially if you’re looking just at the 21st century. The Nuggets have made the playoffs in 13 of the last 21 years and won six playoff series, including four in the past three years. Adjusting for shortened seasons due to coronavirus, Denver has won the equivalent of 50 games in each of the last three seasons. This is a good solid team with a legitimate and reasonably young MVP at the top of the pecking order and some good talent around him.

This is the type of team, at least in a middle market like Denver, that you hang onto as long as possible.

So the contract extension for Aaron Gordon, announced earlier this week, makes perfect sense. Denver traded for Gordon last season, and he fit in well as a flexible defender and complementary offensive piece alongside Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. We don’t know how well he fits long-term next to Jamal Murray because they only got five games together before Murray went out with an injury. But Gordon is pretty malleable, at least in his Denver form, and Murray is not so dominant a ballhandler that there would be friction. Gordon’s lack of a confident outside shot perhaps just emphasizes the need for Murray to be efficient from long range.

Gordon was due to be an unrestricted free agent next summer, and Denver stood the risk of losing him outright if something went haywire between now and then. Something like a dozen potential 2022 or 2023 free agents have gotten extensions this offseason, which actually makes inking your own near-future free agents to extensions more important. Why? Well, good players are taken off of the table with extensions, increasing the free agent value of those remaining. Teams have to spend their cap space somewhere. Theoretically, a team the Clippers extending the contracts of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard takes those players off the table in 2022 and 2023, so teams planning to have cap space in those years need to look to the next tier of option. Extensions for great players puts pressure on the teams at risk of losing free agents at the next level.

Plus, Gordon’s deal maintains a level of flexibility. Barring catastrophic injury, it shouldn’t be a burden at the $20-25 million level. Right now, the albatross contracts are those in the $35-45 million range. (See: John Wall.) Smaller contracts than that are troublesome only when players aren’t really playing or there is other team-player dissension. (See: Kevin Love.) If two years from now the combination isn’t working, chances are that the Nuggets can pivot to another look around Jokic.

The next big decision is centered on MPJ, who can become a restricted free agent next summer. I don’t think this is actually much of a tricky decision at all. Denver can offer him an early extension in the next month for what it thinks is reasonable, and MPJ can decide whether or not to take it. I imagine the offer is below the max, but not by much. I suspect MPJ may reject anything less than the max, knowing that playing hardball next summer will draw it, assuming another good season for the Nuggets. But that’s fine for Denver: they can a) make a max offer on Day 1 of free agency next year, a la the Bulls with Jimmy Butler; or b) match whatever max offer MPJ pulls. Every dollar counts to some extent, but the difference between MPJ at 90% of max and 100% of max isn’t huge in the grand scheme of what the Nuggets are trying to do, which is win a championship behind Jokic. You keep good players so long as you can make the salaries work.

Which brings us back to Gordon. Denver is making the numbers work to keep a four-player core of Jokic, Murray, Gordon and Porter Jr. It seems like a good idea for a team in the mix of the championship hunt

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And a note from me: I don't think Gordon's lack of efficiency from three really bothers the Denver offense given how effective the remaining four players are from distance - they all shoot 39% or higher at a high clip. His role in that offense is as a cutter and rim runner who can make intelligent passes and score efficiently, while rebounding and defending with energy at the other end. It's a great fit given the rest of their core personnel.

YoDeFoe wrote: ↑Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:22 am And a note from me: I don't think Gordon's lack of efficiency from three really bothers the Denver offense given how effective the remaining four players are from distance - they all shoot 39% or higher at a high clip. His role in that offense is as a cutter and rim runner who can make intelligent passes and score efficiently, while rebounding and defending with energy at the other end. It's a great fit given the rest of their core personnel.

I don't know how much it bothers Denver, but he was shooting .375 for Orlando prior to the trade and dropped to .266 in Denver.

To me, it's more that he has the potential to be a solid 35% shooter to balance the opportunities his athleticism creates. He took 2.6 threes per game in 26 mpg, so bringing that number up would help him. His 14.1 PER last year was subpar and the efficiency and volume of threes is a big part of why that # was lower than past years.

If he just got back to where he's been from 3, Denver would be a real tough team to guard, with Jokic initiating at C while surrounded by a bunch of interchangeable parts without real weaknesses.