they have a list of the 20 greatest dunkers of all time, with no mention of J-Rich. freakin Steve Francis, KG, Amare Stoudemire, and D-Wade are on there but no J-Rich. what gives? link: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation...t?event_id=2745
J-Rich also got snubbed my Magic Johnson that year Josh smith won the slam dunk event. He was saying "THE NBA SLAM DUNK CONTEST IS BACK...IT IS BACK EVERYONE..EVER SINCE VINCE CARTER THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IT IS BACK!" No respect at all for Jrich
Jrich is never respected. To everyone he is like another Fred Jones... but to us, maybe some Portland fans, some Detroit fans, and a few others, really dig his game.
<div class="quote_poster">oaktank88 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">they have a list of the 20 greatest dunkers of all time, with no mention of J-Rich. freakin Steve Francis, KG, Amare Stoudemire, and D-Wade are on there but no J-Rich. what gives?</div> Maybe only people who have actually done anything in their career were counted. JRich has never even made the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">XSV Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Maybe only people who have actually done anything in their career were counted. JRich has never even made the playoffs.</div> Yeah, but that's not his fault. Try building a franchise solely around Steve Francis or just Amare and no Steve Nash. It takes a TEAM to make the playoffs (both guards and big men feeding one another), not one guy shouldering the load for everyone. Just look at how far KG is going with one decent player and a bunch of scrubs and hardly any decent centers to speak of. Rockets didn't make the playoffs until they finally got some decent big man depth. Guard based teams with donut hole presence and soft/undersized big forwards tend to get killed.
Jrich is a GREAT dunker when he is not being guarded. All those guys can dunk on people and Jrich rarely does that...
<div class="quote_poster">custodianrules2 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, but that's not his fault. Try building a franchise solely around Steve Francis or just Amare and no Steve Nash. It takes a TEAM to make the playoffs (both guards and big men feeding one another), not one guy shouldering the load for everyone. Just look at how far KG is going with one decent player and a bunch of scrubs and hardly any decent centers to speak of. Rockets didn't make the playoffs until they finally got some decent big man depth. Guard based teams with donut hole presence and soft/undersized big forwards tend to get killed.</div> That's true, so my only other explanation is that it takes into account in-game dunks and posterizations, something that he rarely does.
<div class="quote_poster">XSV Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That's true, so my only other explanation is that it takes into account in-game dunks and posterizations, something that he rarely does.</div> Well, he was doing that when he was healthy. I don't see the point. And times like WFS93 suggested, he is guarded but he breaks free and gets the ball from somebody else finding him. Now if he's creating his own shot, well he's probably not even at Shawn Marion's level yet. Jrich's just plain bad with the ball once the pressure is on. If he gets a double team he'll try to pass or shoot, he can't really split defenders with sheer quickness/ballhandle control before the double team actually arrives.
Also, Jrich's ability to take those inside dunks really rests on the other four guys being able to spread the floor. One thing about teams like Toronto or Suns or Francis is they got terrific shooters on the floor with them. If we're talking Mobley, Mo-pete, or any of the Suns perimeter guys, they can allow the star dunker to finish it home because he has fewer guys to worry about collapsing on him all at once or screwing up the floor spacing. Now with Jrich I can understand his dribbling isn't all-star shooting guard level, but we have to treat him like an undersized forward like a Desmond Mason. In that regard, he is a great dunker and should get credit. I'm also treating Amare Stoudamire a bit like Kenyon Martin. Steve Nash is really making creating dunks for him very easy much like Jkidd did for Kmart. Also, Shaq should be on that list if he isn't, because he can create his own shot just by sheer force. I guess I can understand if Jrich doesn't make the list if we're talking all the oldies like Dr. J or Chocolate Thunder, but Francis???
<div class="quote_poster">XSV Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That's true, so my only other explanation is that it takes into account in-game dunks and posterizations, something that he rarely does.</div> ? How many Warriors' games have you watched? When JRich is healthy he posterizes someone like every other game, lol. I've been hearing a little bit of this "oh JRich doesn't dunk in-games on people" lately. Perhaps he's been injured so long you all forgot that he's one of the fiercest in-game, on-defender dunkers in the game today. What are you all talking about?
<div class="quote_poster">AlleyOop Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">? How many Warriors' games have you watched? When JRich is healthy he posterizes someone like every other game, lol. I've been hearing a little bit of this "oh JRich doesn't dunk in-games on people" lately. Perhaps he's been injured so long you all forgot that he's one of the fiercest in-game, on-defender dunkers in the game today. What are you all talking about? </div> short term memory loss is a chronic problem around here.
Ok...maybe ESPN forgot the Warriors were in the NBA??? I would like to see a link to this ranking though, to see what it's all about. Jason does energizing dunks quite often during games. Was the idea that JRich can't jump off one foot such a big knock that it took him off from being one of the best dunkers? If Jason Richardson wasn't listed there needs to be a very, very clever (or probably more rediculous) argument against him. Was Nate Robinson listed? Who knows maybe they just looked at a whole bunch of in-game high-lites to decide, and obviously ESPN has very limited Warrior footage in their collection I am sure. Still I am puzzeled.
<div class="quote_poster">custodianrules2 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Jrich is never respected. To everyone he is like another Fred Jones... but to us, maybe some Portland fans, some Detroit fans, and a few others, really dig his game.</div> Fred who? JRich does it in games and won the slam dunk contest two times in-a-row and his dunks are in the top 10 of all time. It must be because he's on the Warriors. This team never gets any respect . Seriously, I had to look him up in Wiki: "Frederick Terrell Jones (born March 11, 1979 in Malvern, Arkansas) is an American basketball player who plays at the shooting guard position for the Toronto Raptors of the NBA. Born in Malvern, Arkansas, he moved to Portland, Oregon in middle school and became the Oregon High School Player of the Year for Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. He then went on to play four seasons at the University of Oregon, where, during his senior year, he led the Ducks to the Elite Eight. Widely considered to be an underachiever his first three years at Oregon in part due to his tremendous athletic ability, Jones jumped onto the national radar screen as a senior. He was a candidate for Pac-10 Player of the Year honors as a senior at the University of Oregon after averaging 18.6 points per game. Jones was the 14th pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. He played sparingly as a rookie for the Pacers, averaging only 1.2 points per game in 19 appearances while playing behind Reggie Miller. That scoring average increased to nearly 5 points per game in his second year while appearing in 81 games. He more than doubled his averages during the 2004-05 season (to 10.6 ppg), partly due to fellow teammate and shooting guard Ron Artest being banned for the season for his involvement in the November 19, 2004 incident in Detroit dubbed The Malice at The Palace. In his first start after the incident, Jones scored a career high 31 points on the Orlando Magic, establishing himself as one of the team's primary scoring weapons in the absence of its stars. In 2004 he won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, beating out two-time champion Jason Richardson."
Sheesh, the whole point is to everyone else but us Jrich fans, he is like Fred Jones. A smallish guy who can dunk (Jrich is really 6'4 or so). That's the point...
<div class="quote_poster">CohanHater Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnCIGaWtVaA Check it out from half way through</div> Well I can point out insane Stevie plays as well: Invalid Video Link However, I agree that JRich got jipped. He is obviously a top ten dunker in this league today.
I couldn't find the listing on ESPN, maybe somebody has the link to it, so that I can take a look at it. But just by reading it and without knowing what exactly it is about, I think it's really a bit of a joke of ESPN if they include a plain power dunker like Amare who needed already four or more attempts for a simple between-the-legs dunk (if I remember correctly?!), but leave out a creative, mobile and versatile one like J-Rich who virtually showed dunks beyond belief already.
