Gist Gonna Get His Dunk On

As reported by the Diamondback this morning and other news sources, now ex-Terp James Gist will participate in this year's DiGiorno College All-Star Game, the most unheralded all-star basketball game on any level because it is for college seniors only, A.K.A. the kids who got left behind.

He'll be playing for the American squad with all your favorite players from Brian Butch to David Padgett. Lining up against him will be Duke's DeMarcus Nelson (very deserving) and Clemson's Cliff Hammonds. The game is on at 6 p.m. on Friday on CSTV, and you know what that means:

No one is going to watch it.

However, the more exciting news is that Gist is also registered for tonight's dunk contest at 9 p.m. on ESPN. You actually should be watching this. It should provide answers to questions we've had throughout Gist's college career, questions like: Can Gist go between the legs? Can he jump from the free throw line?

Actually, the answer to both of those questions is "no" (I say with 99% confidence), but it still should be interesting. Gist is one of my favorite power dunkers. Whenever I see him go for it, he reminds me of Dr. J because he just cruises through the air gracefully but comes down like a freight train:



He'll be going against Will Bullard (TA&M - CC), Patrick Ewing Jr. (G-Town), Brian Randle (Illinois), J.R. Giddens (New Mexico) and Deron Washington (VaTech). I'm not familiar with Giddens or Bullard, and I didn't know that Randle and Ewing were any good at taking it to the hoop like that. Washington, however is definitely someone to watch:



The "Paulus teabag" dunk is one of my favorites ever.

So remember to watch ESPN at 9 tonight and support Gist as he throws it down with the best ... of whoever the NCAA could scrape together.

Go Terp alums!

(Here's more dunks:)

A Handful of Maryland Links

Today, I don't have much to talk about, but I think it's a good time to break out some UMD-related articles I've seen online.

- An article by Don Markus in the Baltimore Sun today highlighted Boom Osby's recent development on the offensive end particularly. It's keeping in theme with the column I posted yesterday.

- The Balt-Wash blog Scott Van Pelt Style theorizes that Maryland relies too much on athleticism rather than discipline and quality shooting.

- I know every non-Terps fan will accuse me of living in the past, but here's a nice little reminder from the UNC game: James Gist dunking on Tyler Hansbrough.

- Maryland target Kenny Tate will be choosing where he's going to school on Thursday at 5 on Comcast SportsNet. Read about his recruitment in this ESPN article by Heather Dinich. By the way, Penn State is officially out of the running, so it's between UMD and Illinois (Thanks to Recruiting Report for the tip).

This isn't a link, it's a story. Before the game, the Terps had just finished their first shootaround, and started to have some fun. Gist put down a few nasty dunks (no surprise there). Boom surprised me by Rockin the Cradle and finishing with a reverse, which was very awesome. But Jerome Burney ... oh boy. His first dunk was a bounce pass to himself, caught in midair and finished with a frightening one-handed windmill. His second dunk was an arm through the hoop. The guy is simply monstrous, and a lot of people witnessed it and were asking, "Who is that guy?"

I'm about one game away from starting a Facebook group entitled, "Please play Jerome Burney." Since Gary doesn't seem to be in favor with Braxton Dupree lately, and Dave Neal is now the primary backup at forward, what can you possibly lose? Please just try it!

And for the grand finale, yes, fine, I'm still bitter. But I'd like to present to you: "Scheyerfaced."

In lieu of boring analysis, DUNKS!!!

The men's basketball team lost again, and the women's basketball team won again.

Surprise!

So instead of doing what I've been doing the past week or so (analyzing until you stop reading), today I'm just going to post bunch of my favorite basketball videos.

I'll begin with one I really liked the other night by James Gist. And after this, amateur hour is over.


Dwight Howard is a massive man with a massive wingspan. This really impresses me.


I know it's a highlight tape, but this montage of Charles Barkley always gets me pumped. It's just dunks and blocks - how sweet is that? But stop when the music changes.


This Vince Carter dunk over a 7'2 French center is pretty classic - a classic display of how the French are wimps. I can say that; I take French.


Dominique Wilkins has always been a favorite dunk artist of mine. Maybe you see why...


And for those who think anyone today is better than MJ, just watch this. It always ends with me shaking my head.


Maybe tomorrow I'll tackle the Terps, but until then, do what I do:

Ignore it.