Dank Game: Top 10 Blocks

Monday, October 26, 2009

NBA Preseason Top 10s

In anticipation of the NBA tipping off tomorrow (!!!!), I bring you the NBA's Top 10 dunks, blocks, assists, and steals of the preseason.

Top 10 Dunks

10. Sweet fast break dunk by Sonny Weems.
9. Kevin Durant looking like a viscious version of Clyde Drexler, "cockin' the hammer, and pullin' the trigger."
8. I haven't seen much of the Hawks' center Randolph Morris, but he got absolutely worked by Dwight Howard on that one.
7. You've seen this one on Dank Game before. What impresses me most is Gerald Wallace's crossover on who I believe is Julian Wright.
6. AK47 gets abused by the Bulls' rookie out of USC, Taj Gibson. The Bulls have some seemingly promising rookies in Gibson and Wake Forrest's James Johnson. I'm a little worried about them taking minutes from Tyrus Thomas, though.
5. A nice backdoor cut and dunk by Rondo, but it really doesn't deserve to be at number 5. It probably doesn't even deserve to be on this list.
4. Sick oop from Mike Bibby to Josh Smith, but that announcer yelling "JJJJJJJJJJJJJJ-SMOOOOOOOOOOTH!!!" is probably the most annoying thing I've ever heard.
3. Amazing dunk by Shannon Brown. This guy had better be in the Slam Dunk Contest this All-Star Break. I don't understand how this dunk by Shannon Brown isn't on this list.
2. Wait, who is Josh McRoberts?
1. Nenê just completely destroys this dude on the Serbian team Partizan Belgrade. Unless Greg Oden or Andrew Bynum have huge breakout seasons, Nenê had better be the West's starting center in the All-Star Game. Actually, Al Jefferson could get the nod as well.

Top 10 Blocks

10. LeBron swats shots with such anger.
9. Chris Douglas-Roberts seriously gets up on this block on Iguodala. I love me some two-handed blocks.
8. Sheed with some great transition defense. Not sure if this is top 10 worthy, though.
7. This Nicolas Batum dude seems to be pretty soild.
6. Mikki Moore is not good. Not to take any credit away from Sean May, who looks to be in good shape compared to his days in Charlotte.
5. Apparently the NBA forgot to include a block at #5.
4. Pops Mensah-Bonsu had his moments last season with the Raptors during their abysmal season. He got a little revenge on that block. BTW, his name means King (Nana) Father (Papa) Thursday Born (Yaw) Three (Mensah) Whale (Bonsu) in Ghanaian, apparently because one of his ancestors slayed a whale.
3. Great block by the other rookie on the Bulls I had mentioned, James Johnson.
2. This block by the Pistons' rookie Austin Daye is reminiscient of the greatest block in Pistons history.
1. You've seen this here before. Just too nasty for words to describe.

Top 10 Assists

10. Great look by Al Harrington.
9. Apparently White Chocolate's still got something left in the tank.
8. I'm loving this no-look transition pass by the Nets' rookie Terrence Williams to Courtney Lee.
7. Nice overhead pass by K-Mart to 'Melo.
6. After nearly throwing it away, D-Wade recovers for the no-look dish to J.O. for the dunk. As much as I want Beasley to start at power forward over Haslem, I've got to point out how Halsem makes one of those plays that doesn't show up in the box score, which he often does. Wade's deflected pass was intended for Haslem, who automatically sets a screen once he recognizes that Wade recovered the ball. It's situations like these where Beasley often lacks the awareness to make little, important plays.
5. Another great oop to Josh Smith, this time from Joe Johnson. And again, that announcer yelling J-Smooth is annoying as hell.
4. Good set-up by Jared Dudley, but I think he gets a little too excited after the dunk.
3. Andre Iguodala threads the needle nicely here.
2. We'll probably be seeing a lot of that this season.
1. Dank Game readers might recall this through-the-legs pass by Kobe.

Top 10 Steals

10. Nice steal and pass from the Warriors' rookie Stephen Curry.
9. LeBron doing what he does best, despite the lack of a dunk.
8. Little Nate Robinson taking it all the way after the steal.
7. Great steal and an even better pass by Mike Taylor. That whole sequence by Taylor seriously blows my mind.
6. Ray Allen straight took that shit.
5. LeBron again, this time with a dunk to finish.
4. More "J-Smooth"
3. Heat fans are hoping to see more of this from Mario Chalmers.
2. The oop from Matt Barnes to Vince Carter is clearly more impressive than the steal.
1. Coming from a Heat fan, I don't know why this is at #1. As far as I'm concerned, Mike Taylor's steal and pass at #7 should be #1.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

NBA's Top 10s 0f 2008-09

In spite of this Andy Hams fellow, I'm going to continue to wax nostalgic on the 2008-09 NBA season. Fútbol is all well and good, but I definitely started this blog to talk primarily about the best sport ever. So I present to you, the NBA's Top 10s of the 2008-09 season. I meant to post this shit a while ago, but my computer died on me after I had written about the Top 10 Plays and I couldn't figure out how to widen the blog to fit 6x9 format videos.

Top 10 Plays
10. Somehow I missed out on this one during the season. Rodriguez getting that pass through such a small window is pretty unbelievable. Too bad we won't get to see more of Fernandez and Rodriguez together now that Rodriguez is on the Kings.
9. I swear that shit was staged, but it was amusing nonetheless.
8. Definitely one of the best posterizations of the year. It reminds me of why I loved Tyrus when I lived in Chicago during his rookie season. I can't help but feel for J.O. on that one. Dude got shat on so many times this year trying to block shots jumping off of one leg.
7. The fact that Kobe throws the ball off the glass to himself for a layup is ridiculous enough as is, but the fact that he's being guarded by one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and finishes with that one 7'6" Chinese dude under the hoop makes it totally absurd.
6. As if Vince Carter hadn't shat on Toronto enough already.
5. This is one of the few plays on here that I was lucky enough to catch live. At a Heat-Pacers game in Indianapolis, I snuck down to the good seats and happened to sit in front of Daequan Cook's cousin. She was cool as hell and I told her that I totally lost my shit when Daequan threw down Wade's lob. I also met Elton Brand's mom at Conseco Fieldhouse. She was a total sweetheart.
4. As far as I'm concerned, that was the best buzzer beater of the year, although Devin Harris' weird juggling heave coming up at #3 was definitely tight. That insane arc followed by the perfect swish is truly a thing of beauty.
3. This was another one I happened to catch live this season. I tuned in for the end of the game when I noticed it was close, and caught Devin's final shot. I thought that Iguodala had blocked him and was about to turn it off until I noticed the crowd going nuts. The refs having to review it killed the mood a little, but still, what an insane buzzer beater.
2. That was a pretty ballsy move by Wade, considering the Heat had a time-out left. I remember watching this live and seeing Brad Miller looking like he was about to cry, which was pretty hilarious. Unfortunately, they cut it out of this video, but Wade sort of swats a fan's hand away going for a high five as he steps up on the scorer's table to yell, "This is my house!"
1. I decided to go to the bar during this game and paused my DVR in hopes of coming home to watch it later. Of course, it didn't work. And of course, I missed out on one of the best finishes in the playoffs. Lebron's reaction is pretty hilarious.