Bear Down Wildcats

This has to be the greatest dunk attempt in UA history. Look at Channing's expression and he will agree.

^^^^ One comment:


"Beau Muhlbach fails, transfers to Texas A&M."

Somebody ask Bob Elliot if he has film of some of his dunks.

[spoiler]That's a trick question. I think dunks were banned in his era.[/spoiler]

(huh why doesn't the spoiler tag hide the spoiler text?)

Spaceman Spiff wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:19 pm

U.P. Zona Fan wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 6:10 pm I agree with the other 4, AG, DWill, Iggy, RJ, then it is NJ or Benn.

Sorry, should have made that more clear, just disputing rawle, he had some good stuff but he's down the list a bit.

Or I could have been less of an internet jerk. I'd go NJ at 5, but even pushing for top 5 at Arizona is a big deal.

It is a big deal, we've had some exciting players. And I could be convinced that NJs three years of dunking > Benns 2 years of dunking.

I don’t remember Iggy ripping off too many truly great in-game dunks. He was more of a guy who did his work in the layup line before the game (when he wasn’t on the phone with his agent of course).

DWill
AG
Hassan
Benn
NJ

Chicat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:04 am I don’t remember Iggy ripping off too many truly great in-game dunks. He was more of a guy who did his work in the layup line before the game (when he wasn’t on the phone with his agent of course).

DWill
AG
Hassan
Benn
NJ

Take a look at the Iggy highlight package I linked upthread. The 2nd play alley oop vs Cal and the oop at MSG at 0:45 are unreal.

I remember seeing the MSG oop on TV as it was happening and it legitimately got me out of my chair. It was one of those oops that I thought was headed into the 10th row and he went and got it.

Spaceman Spiff wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:29 am

Chicat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:04 am I don’t remember Iggy ripping off too many truly great in-game dunks. He was more of a guy who did his work in the layup line before the game (when he wasn’t on the phone with his agent of course).

DWill
AG
Hassan
Benn
NJ

Take a look at the Iggy highlight package I linked upthread. The 2nd play alley oop vs Cal and the oop at MSG at 0:45 are unreal.

I remember seeing the MSG oop on TV as it was happening and it legitimately got me out of my chair. It was one of those oops that I thought was headed into the 10th row and he went and got it.

The reverse oop was impressive, the rest were pretty standard. Plus I’m always more impressed by the pass on an alley oop than the slam.

When I think of great in-game dunkers I think of creativity in the moment. Iggy didn’t move the needle for me in that regard like the five I listed.

Chicat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:41 am

Spaceman Spiff wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:29 am

Chicat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:04 am I don’t remember Iggy ripping off too many truly great in-game dunks. He was more of a guy who did his work in the layup line before the game (when he wasn’t on the phone with his agent of course).

DWill
AG
Hassan
Benn
NJ

Take a look at the Iggy highlight package I linked upthread. The 2nd play alley oop vs Cal and the oop at MSG at 0:45 are unreal.

I remember seeing the MSG oop on TV as it was happening and it legitimately got me out of my chair. It was one of those oops that I thought was headed into the 10th row and he went and got it.

The reverse oop was impressive, the rest were pretty standard. Plus I’m always more impressed by the pass on an alley oop than the slam.

When I think of great in-game dunkers I think of creativity in the moment. Iggy didn’t move the needle for me in that regard like the five I listed.

To me the Cal and MSG oops show creativity and one of the best qualities a dunker can have, the ability to turn a bad pass into a highlight.

The Cal oop is thrown too low, so Iggy adjusts in midair to duck and catch with one hand, then seamlessly comes back up for a two hand dunk. That's an amazing adjustment in midair. He's a victim of making it look too easy.

In MSG, the oop is thrown high and too far from the basket, so he has to catch behind his head away from the basket and redirect for a one handed tomahawk.

Not to criticize any other person we listed, but that's the elite stuff. DWill is high on my list for those midair adjustments like the putback vs Duke or the lob vs UCLA I linked. It's one thing to put down a good lob. It's that next level to make a bad lob into a play of the day. As much as I think Benn is awesome, I think Iggy has him there.

I appreciate you going all Zapruder film on this but I remain unconvinced.

RichardCranium wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 10:30 pm Somebody ask Bob Elliot if he has film of some of his dunks.

[spoiler]That's a trick question. I think dunks were banned in his era.[/spoiler]

(huh why doesn't the spoiler tag hide the spoiler text?)

Dunks were allowed in his era. They became allowed during Fred Snowden's fifth year (Bob's 4th). Fred told the players that they could dunk but if they missed they were to take a seat by him. Herman Harris was the first Wildcat to attempt a dunk. He clanked it, it went out of bounds. Herm hung his head and immediately marched over to take a seat on the bench. Herm did make some spectacular ones during the rest of his career.

Are there any videos at all of Bob Elliott? Heck, there are videos of the Cactus Comet Art Luppino from 1954.

Banning the dunk wasn't terrible, look how well Lew Alcindor/Kareem adjusted and was made unstoppable. You know when you are an exceptional athlete when the NCAA makes a rule just based on one player.

Chicat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:33 am I appreciate you going all Zapruder film on this but I remain unconvinced.

There was no second shooter.

Merkin wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 10:38 am Are there any videos at all of Bob Elliott? Heck, there are videos of the Cactus Comet Art Luppino from 1954.

Banning the dunk wasn't terrible, look how well Lew Alcindor/Kareem adjusted and was made unstoppable. You know when you are an exceptional athlete when the NCAA makes a rule just based on one player.

It's really a shame. There's some pretty solid Luppino video because it was transferred from game film that held up. But, for basketball, I think they mostly just stored a lot of the old magnetic video tape, which really degraded over time. Somebody probably transferred something to digital at some point, but it would likely be pretty cloudy or muddy, or whatever the technical term would be. Too bad, because the Snowden teams were pretty exciting from about '72 through '75. Elliot had bad knees, so he didn't run the floor all that well, but he had a big wingspan and a soft touch. So, he could step outside and shoot with his height, and he made his free throws. But, he'd mix it up inside and get plenty of blocks, rebounds and put-backs, and he had a little half-hook. One of his better moments in the pros was when he was playing for the Nets on Long Island and outplayed Kareem. But, that was probably one of those pre-Magic "if it's Tuesday, we must be playing the Nets" nights for #33.

I am going to go with Jeff Collins. Played two years for us then transferred to UNLV. He had a 42inch vertical and played almost 20 minutes a game as a freshman and then 30 as a sophomore. He was 6’1” and was drafted by the Suns. A fun article on his UNLV days

“Anderson's running mate at wing is junior Jeff Collins, a transfer from the University of Arizona. A 42-inch vertical leaper, Collins is so spectacular in the transition game—which is the kind of ball Vegas plays best—that his heavy-handed shooting isn't that much of a liability. In one second-half sequence against Long Beach, Collins scored nine points in 1:28 to put UNLV ahead 74-69.”

https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/1983/01 ... t-together

Robertas Javtokas scored six points in his entire Arizona career but there are video clips of him dunking on a 12 foot basket.

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 5:41 pm Robertas Javtokas scored six points in his entire Arizona career but there are video clips of him dunking on a 12 foot basket.

A thug Lute told not to come back. But did set a record at the time.

Merkin wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:39 pm

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 5:41 pm Robertas Javtokas scored six points in his entire Arizona career but there are video clips of him dunking on a 12 foot basket.

A thug Lute told not to come back. But did set a record at the time.

Thug?

Are you thinking of Rolf Jacobs?

Robertas Javtokas was a brute who couldn't handle the finesse game that Lute wanted. But glad he did well in Europe.

Although nothing compared to Rolf Jacobs who was nicknamed "Psycho". When you break the nose of Craig McMillan it's a pretty good sign you won't be around long.

Looking forward to this documentary about Fred Snowden, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16255450/

I was a student during his final year or two. Really couldn't get it going after the UA went into the PAC, and the press was really brutal. Then his wife was picked up for shoplifting at Levy's or someplace like that, and that was the end.

Then the UA decided to hire a coach with 2 NAIA championships, and we all know how that went.

He just didn’t like to fly and recruiting suffered for that. He tapped into his Detroit roots until that dried up and had one good California class before things turned south. Still, it was the beginning of a very exciting period of AZ basketball. Our first elite 8 and WAC championship.

Irish27 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 23, 2022 2:38 pm Looking forward to this documentary about Fred Snowden, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16255450/

Coincidence that Eric Money is in it?

Nope its him haha

I’ve never seen that fight before. Crazy!

For a little guy, Eric Money was a pretty bad dude, and really fun to watch, especially on a break. Kind of a forgotten point guard at Point Guard U, considering his fairly substantial NBA career. And WAC opponents who had to guard him were more than a little wary of the quick fists and hair-trigger temper. I went to a practice once, and Money just fired the ball off Herman Harris' head from 20 feet away and screamed at him for looking away when Money had the ball. The ball went 3 or 4 rows up into the seats and Snowden just smiled and looked away.

Dudley appears to be Kung fu fighting.

During the thug/drug years of the NBA. Then came Bird and Magic...

Jason Terry was on the Kuckleheads podcast this week. Great episode talks a lot about Lute and Arizona. Highly recommend it.

Donnell “Snoop” Harris was on 1450 today.
I guess he came back and got his degree this year.

From Steve K's Newsletter: https://content.govdelivery.com/account ... ns/3190e38

African American Museum of Southern Arizona

If you’ve been around Tucson for a while, you’ll likely recognize #55 – he's Bob Elliott from the early McKale Center days. In fact, Bob was on the team that played in McKale the first year it was open. Now he’s teaming up with his wife Beverly and several other local leaders in establishing the African American Museum of Southern Arizona. I’m certain one of the people who’ll be honored will be Elliott’s head coach Fred Snowden – the first black to coach a major college basketball team in the country – Arizona.



The team that’s bringing the museum to the UA campus has early fall as their target date for opening. You can see where this all is headed by checking out their website at www.aamsaz.org. If the current athletics department leadership had an ounce of class, they’d be making their facilities available for fund raising opportunities. That hasn’t happened, so the AAMSAZ team is working hard on its own to bring in the needed dollars. Please look over their site and consider partnering in honoring ‘Big Bird’, ‘The Fox’, ‘Popcorn’, ‘the Germ’, and the ‘Kiddie Corps’ in kick-starting this effort. I know you’ll be amazed at the contributions made in our community and Southern Arizona by the many black community members you’ll see on the site.

Museum website: www.aamsaz.org

Posted by Andy Morales on FB. Donnell looking like he smokes as much weed as Snoop.

AJ Bramlett, Eugene Edgerson, Donnell Harris and Bennett Davison with Kelly Olson. #LuteOlson

Saw this the other day and thought man, that's old school:

Gary Harrison the guard in that picture. Taylor was a really tough and good 4 man. Pretty sure he got drafted and had his cup of coffee in the league.

azcat49 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 4:17 pm Gary Harrison has a the guard in that picture. Taylor was a really tough and good 4 man. Pretty sure he got drafted and had his cup of coffee in the league.

Phil may have been drafted but he never played in the NBA. IIRC he did have a very successful career in the oil business in Texas.

azcat49 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 4:17 pm Gary Harrison has a the guard in that picture.

Averaged 4.7 APG as a senior, not too shabby. Not too many other stats were tracked then.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pl ... son-1.html

Was/is Pima County Clerk of the Superior Court too. https://tucson.com/ex-cat-gary-harrison ... 8da9d.html

Taylor was drafted in the 10th round 198th overall. Just nuts the number of rounds back then.

Averaged a double/double as a junior.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... oph01.html

LAURI
MARKKANEN
WITH
49
Tonight

TheCat wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:42 pm LAURI
MARKKANEN
WITH
49
Tonight

Copied it to this thread: viewtopic.php?p=574555#p574555

I wouldn't call Lauri quite Old School yet, but then again I was at the UA when Fred Snowden was just finishing up.

Some little known history. Arizona beat Wyoming in that first game in McKale with "Popcorn" Norman (RIP) scoring 37 (no 3 pointers back then). It was a lot of fun being there. Just another month later the Cats went on the road to Colorado State and Wyoming. They lost at CSU so super fan George Kalil went down to a bookstore, curio store, second hand shop, at the end of main street down by the tracks in Laramie and bought an old used base drum for about 20 bucks. George and the drum became an institution at all home and away games for awhile - until George got thrown out at the Pit in Albuquerque for banging on it and the WAC Commissioner banning the drum from all WAC venues. Nowadays when you see the girls bang the drum after wins in McKale you might want to thank George for being partly the inspiration for that tradition.

Was the Ooh Aah man in attendance at McKale much back in the day?

Not until sometime in the 80's at McKale.

He was still doing his thing in 2014 if memory serves.

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:49 pm Not until sometime in the 80's at McKale.

I think it was the 80-81 season. We laughed and said who is that nut when he first appeared.

And he also was a bartender at the Bum Steer if I recall correctly.

Carcassdragger wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:34 pm Was the Ooh Aah man in attendance at McHale much back in the day?

Dude. Fix that.

Carcassdragger wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:34 pm Was the Ooh Aah man in attendance at McHale much back in the day?

My first game was in ‘93. He did his thing in the second half.

Merkin wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:22 pm

Carcassdragger wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:34 pm Was the Ooh Aah man in attendance at McHale much back in the day?

Dude. Fix that.

Shit. Done.

Carcassdragger wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:50 am

Merkin wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:22 pm

Carcassdragger wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:34 pm Was the Ooh Aah man in attendance at McHale much back in the day?

Dude. Fix that.

Shit. Done.

Back to Ohh Aah man, yes he was in attendance. He got a "slot" each game.
He was also at football games.

Interesting yahoo interview with Harvey Mason who is doing the Grammy's this year. https://finance.yahoo.com/video/yahoo-f ... 42816.html

If you loved the Fred Snowden era and his story, here is a lot of what went on Friday night at the loft theatre

http://allsportstucson.com/2023/02/05/f ... x-snowden/