In Search of the Dunk Game
I saved this mailbag question because it required some digging, though little did I realize just how much. The query is simple enough:
When is the last time that all 5 of Michigan's starters dunked in a single game? #mgomailbag
— Dan Luchi (@Looukey) May 5, 2021
Michigan had a couple athletic point guards in the John Beilein era and tallied many glorious, dunk-filled blowouts. This should be easy. I'll still go year-by-year just in case something comes up; my shortcut is to use Bart Torvik's play-by-play data to check the number of dunks by the starting point guard(s), then investigate further if necessary.
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all for naught [Marc-Grégor Campredon]
2020-21: The starting point guard is Mike Smith, who records zero dunks.
2019-20: Zavier Simpson records his first career dunk in a loss to Wisconsin; the only other Wolverine to throw it down in that game is Franz Wagner. C'mon, guys.
2018-19: Simpson doesn't dunk.
2017-18: Ditto, same goes for Jaaron Simmons and a pre-"Thunder" Eli Brooks.
2016-17: Derrick Walton does many incredible things. Dunking is not one of them.
2015-16: The mortal version of Walton also doesn't dunk.
2014-15: A cursed year in which a dunkless Walton gets hurt and his replacements are Spike Albrecht and Andrew Dakich.
2013-14: A young, spry Walton attempts a slam at the Breslin Center. He misses it. Michigan wins, so it's cool, and he's also the only starter to even try to throw it down, so it doesn't really matter for this exercise. Anyway, that's the only dunk attempt of the year for him.
[Hit THE JUMP for the 2013 team getting remarkably close multiple times, but do they make it?]
2012-13: This has to be the year. Trey Burke punctuated his national player of the year status with nine dunks. Let's go through them in order:
- 11/23/12 vs. Kansas State. Burke is the only Michigan player to dunk.
- 12/4/12 vs. Western Michigan. Tim Hardaway Jr. is the only other starter to slam one home even though this is a 73-41 stomping.
- 12/8/12 vs. Arkansas. Burke tallies dunks in back-to-back games. This time Glenn Robinson III, future NBA dunk contest champion, is the only other starter to rattle the rim.
- 12/15/15 vs. West Virginia. Make it three throwdowns in four games for Burke. Robinson and Jordan Morgan both dunk but Nik Stauskas misses his attempt and Hardaway doesn't attack the rim in this game.
- 1/6/13 vs. Iowa. This has to be the game. Michigan wins 95-67 against a Fran McCaffery defense and puts down ten dunks as a team. Burke, Hardaway, Stauskas, and Robinson all get at least one. (GRIII has five, mercy.) Mitch McGary leads M's centers in minutes and throws one down.
Jordan Morgan starts. He makes two shots at the rim. Neither are dunks. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. - 1/27/13 vs. Illinois. This time Stauskas is the only other starter with a jam.
- 2/2/13 vs. Indiana. Michigan gets achingly close again. Jon Horford, starting in place of an injured Morgan, manages a dunk despite only playing ten minutes. Hardaway, Burke, and Robinson each get one. Stauskas does not. If there's a silver lining, it's that the last time all five starters dunked didn't occur in a loss, or at least not this one.
- 2/5/13 vs. Ohio State. A classic game. Alas, it's not our answer. Stauskas and Hardaway fail to get dunks on the board.
- 3/3/13 vs. Michigan State. You can probably picture Burke's dunk if you close your eyes right now. Michigan slams seven dunks home and gets at least one from all five positions. Unfortunately for this exercise, the shooting guard is Caris LeVert, who replaces a nose-bloodied Stauskas after four minutes, and the center is Mitch McGary, who's still coming off the bench—Morgan is back in the lineup and doesn't tally a dunk.
Damn. The search continues.
Just in case you didn't close your eyes. (Also, Uncle Verne's call. Phew.)
2011-12: Freshman Burke only dunks twice. Only one other Michigan player gets a slam in either game. Of all people, it's Jordan Morgan. The basketball gods have a sense of humor.
2010-11: Alright, a 6'4 point guard in Darius Morris who dunks about once a game. We're cooking, right? Not so fast. Zack Novak records one dunk all season; ditto Stu Douglass and Evan Smotrycz. Remarkably, Novak and Smotrycz both throw down in the same game against vaunted South Carolina Upstate, and it's one in which Douglass comes off the bench; in an equally unlikely twist, Colton Christian starts and doesn't attempt a shot. (Beilein also starts both Horford and Morgan in this game. Weird lineup!)
2009-10: Novak doesn't dunk this season. Next.
2008-09: We've moved beyond play-by-play shooting data. Michigan rotates between CJ Lee, David Merritt, Kelvin Grady, and Laval Lucas-Perry at point guard. Freshman versions of Douglass and Novak are in the lineup. I'd put the odds of an every-starter dunk game at +NOPE.
It's now time to make educated guesses based on the starting lineups and then try to hunt down box scores. The official site has box scores dating back to the 1999-2000 season, though those boxes don't have play-by-play data, so I'm not sure how I'll proceed from there. Here goes nothing?
2007-08: Beilein's first year, same point guard rotation as the 2009 minus LLP, almost certainly not this year.
2006-07: Michigan has good size and decent athleticism at most spots in Tommy Amaker's final season, including the most willing dunker in school history in Brent Petway. Unfortunately, they start the bounceless Jerret Smith at the point. Probably not this year, either.
2005-06: Maybe? Daniel Horton and Dion Harris have enough size to punch out at the rim. Starting two of Courtney Sims, Graham Brown, and Chris Hunter provides a big frontcourt. Lester Abram stands 6'6, though injuries impacted his athleticism for much of the season. The starting lineup undergoes frequent changes that aren't always conducive to dunks, though: Sherrod Harrell starts down the stretch and generally plays a scoreless shift before hitting the bench for the rest of the game, and when he wasn't starting it was often Ron Coleman, who's mostly a spot-up shooter.
The team also just isn't very good, so there are an alarming number of games in which at least one starter doesn't record a two-pointer. The most recent game in which a starter dunkout is even possible occurs before the team's NIT run when every starter makes a two-pointer against Minnesota on March 9th, 2006:
Now, it is likely that Coleman's only made shot is a dunk, let alone that Brown, Harris, and Sims each throw down in their two two-pointers apiece? Not very. Other potential games have similar issues: they tend to rely on Coleman, Brown, Sims, or Jevohn Shephard (who at least plays above the rim) having their only two-pointer be a dunk to keep the dream alive. Jerret Smith would sometimes start, for reasons unknown.
If I'm picking a most likely game to hit the dunk quintuple, it's 12/28/05 against Coppin State, and that still has Dion Harris starting and making only a pair of twos. Also, Horton isn't a frequent dunker. I'm guessing it didn't happen this season, either. This is where I throw my hands up.
Older Possibilities
2002-03: You still have Horton running the point, so you need to hit on a game when he throws down, which I doubt was often—he made 77 two-pointers all season. The rest of the lineup has good rim-rattling potential: LaVell Blanchard, Bernard Robinson Jr., a more spry version of Abram, and one of Hunter or Brown in the middle.
1999-2000: Seventeen glorious games of Jamal Crawford running the point before the NCAA decides to screw it all up. The other guard is Kevin Gaines, however, and he plays below the rim.
1997-98: A decently sized and talented backcourt of Louis Bullock and Robbie Reid are joined by Maceo Baston, Jerod Ward (still tall after knee problems sapped his five-star bounce), and the late Robert Traylor in the starting lineup. This is the most likely nominee yet, in my opinion.
1992-93: The final season the Fab Five is together. I refuse to believe there isn't a game—several games, really—in which they all dunk. That was kinda their thing! (Along with the shorts. And the socks. And the Final Four appearances.)
The intervening years between 1993 and 1998 all feature either Dugan Fife or Travis Conlan at the point and are therefore ruled out of contention.
Short of getting my hands on a treasure trove of play-by-play data that may not exist, this could remain a mystery. It's also unlikely the streak, however long it may be, is broken this season. DeVante' Jones hasn't attempted a dunk in his college career and Eli Brooks saves his thunderslams for special occasions.
The next hope is either Zeb Jackson (a lanky 6'4 with hops) or Frankie Collins (can dunk in transition) taking over for Jones—or beating him out this year, you never know with young guards or up-transfers. A Juwan Howard team with an athletic point guard should be able to get everyone throwing down against some hapless opponent within the next few years.
For your extensive research, dunk you very much.
"...Ron Coleman, who's mostly a spot-up shooter."
This feels.....extremely charitable.
Ah, yes, Ron Coleman of the great Ron Coleman recruiting class of 2004. To be followed up by the even less useful class of 2005, which was Kendric Price, Jevohn Shepherd & Jerret Smith. 3 MAC level players, generously.
Given his talent evaluation at Michigan, it's amazing that Amaker turned into a successful coach at Harvard.
What about the first round game against Tennessee? That was a beating and it felt like lots of run outs in the second half ended in dunks?
That was 2011, and Stu famously dunked in that game so Ace's records aren't totally complete. Other NCAA tournament game option would be did Trey and Stauskas dunk against VCU. I know McGary, Hardaway, and GR3 did.
Novak didn't dunk in the 2011 Tennessee game. Burke and Stauskas didn't dunk in the VCU game. The play-by-play dating back to 2010 is complete.
I remember Horton dunking at least once during the 2002-2003 season, but it may have been one of those weird sorta-dunks that looks like a tip-in.
Regardless, I'm sure we'll see this streak broke sometime soon.
I think it's more likely that we see all five starters hit a three in a game, than have all five dunk.
In fact I wonder if the former has happened before (when Moe was playing the 5?).
I was really hoping to check off the walk-on dunk box for Ellerbee back in the day. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.....
It may be harder to find a 92-93 game where all 5 dunked than you think. 4 of the 5 were regulars, on slashes, oops, and fast breaks. The fifth, more of a tactician. Yes, a very capable dunker, but not the team's highlight reel.
My old memory may be failing me, but IIRC, Juwan wasn't a regular at the rim like the others.
If you had play-by-play data from back then you would go with an approach of looking at games where Howard dunked and start from there.
This did get my mind wandering though . . . do you think there was a single game where Chris Webber DIDN'T dunk???
Great question. There has to be but I'm inclined to say no. That was his core move along the baseline, plus the simple spin-move oops from Jalen.
How about...do you think there was a single game in which Juwan DIDN'T use the glass?
If there's an MGoIntern....feels like a worthy project to send them off to do.
Yeah, there probably were a lot of games where the Webber/King/Jackson trio dunked, but Rose and Howard, not nearly as much. Jalen generally was the one who tossed the alley-oops and Juwan didn't throw it down that often.
I seem to recall that the Cazzie Russell - Bill Buntin teams (1964-66?) actually ran a "dunk drill" during pre-game warmups.
George Pomey and Larry ‘Trigger’ Tregoning were the starting guards on the 64-65 team. Don’t think there was much dunking going on from the guard spot.
Hard to believe those 10 to 15 year old kids getting autographs from the fab 5 are now 40-45.
There was really no need to viciously attack me like this.
Man I woulda thought a question like this was a. . . a really easy one!
I know that some athletes read the blog so I'm hoping one of them sees this and views it as a challenge.
As an “older” reader, I read the title and thought “Fab Five.” I then scrolled down and, yep. Fab Five.
I'm sure the 1989 team would have, multiple times -- Rice, Vaught, Rumeal, Mills -- except, again, that fifth starter was Mike Griffin, who ... um ... didn't dunk. Or score. Or do much except take charges and donate his shots to the better players, really. (And I was a fan!) Too bad, too, with both Sean Higgins and Mark Hughes coming off the bench.
That 2013 Iowa game was the one I thought of. To have five players dunk is super rare already. To narrow the criteria to five starters might be asking too much.
This probably has to happen in a blowout, because you will likely need some uncontested dunk opportunities, which don't happen too often in competitive games. But then in blowouts, you substitute more, so...
BTW, that 2005-06 team spent some time in the top 25, but - like other Amaker teams - faded as the year went on and went from looking like a Sweet 16 team to playing for its tourney life. I watched us lose at home to a mediocre IU team on Senior Day when a win would have sealed a bid. Then we lost in the first round of the BTT to a bad Minnesota team. Ugh.
2017-18: Ditto, same goes for Jaaron Simmons
Am I the only one that has no memory of Jaaron Simmons?
He was a grad transfer, so he only played that one season for us. He was brought in as a possible replacement for Walton, but Simpson ended up winning the PG job and Simmons saw only spot duty.
He's also been on the bench as a member of the support staff for a couple years.
He was brought in to be the savior at point guard then ended up 3rd behind a young eli and xavier. Situations like this are why Mike Smith was such a surprise and why people pump the breaks on all up transfers.
Wow....that was a journey I didn't expect to take. I figured it would be relatively easy to find the answer and it turns out that even finding games when five different players regardless of position dunked was hard! Some things I didn't expect to read:
- Novak, a one-time winner of a team slam dunk event, almost never dunked in his career.
- Jordan Morgan, a center that played a ton of minutes.....rarely dunked.
- Evan Smotrycz, a 6'9" PF/C at Michigan, didn't dunk very often.
- We went the entire, successful Beilein era without this happening.
Conlan wasn't much of a dunker, but it was pretty tall. I found evidence that it did happen....sort of.
JB would take freak athletes when he could get them (GRIII, Charles, to a lesser extent, THJr and Zeb!) but it wasn’t his top priority.
Hell, this is the guy who saw Spike Albretch and thought “there’s a B1G point guard in there”. And he was right!
The 21/22 team will make this topic moot, NBA Jam style.
Thanks for the memories though!
1999-2000: Seventeen glorious games of Jamal Crawford running the point before the NCAA decides to screw it all up
Amd Michigan decides to hang its own student athlete out to dry. Obviously we’ve seen evidence of far worse behavior by the AD that makes this look minor but it’s still outrageous. Crawford, by all accounts, did come here to play school and it’s remarkable that he seems to still be a Michigan fan. I most certainly would not be if I were him
How so? We appealed his punishment, and they reduced the amount he had to pay back a little. I'm not sure we could have done much else.
Yes they did. The facts were so entirely in his favor that they should have played him and dared the NCAA to penalize a kid for being poor while in high school
What facts were these?
There was a paper trail showing that he had been living with a businessman who wasn't his guardian who gave him a car and other stuff. It was a pretty straightforward case. All we could do was appeal to reduce his penalty.
Anyway, given that we were under an NCAA investigation for the Ed Martin scandal at that same time, I don't know that telling them to pound sand would have been a great idea.
But those facts are fine though. If the NCAA wants to stake its credibility on “poor children shouldn’t accept financial help from people if they want the privilege of being an NCAA Student Athlete (tm) in the future” I take that fight every time (with Jamal’s permission of course)
It seems like the athletic department has always been run by townie hacks who will do anything to remain latched onto the golden tit of the Michigan money train, damn the student-athletes and damn any real-world ethics or morality.
Clearly, the main takeaway here is that GRIII, in a single game, had 5 times as many dunks as Michigan's starting point guards combined over the last 8 seasons. That's pretty wild.
1997-98: A decently sized and talented backcourt of Louis Bullock and Robbie Reid are joined by Maceo Baston, Jerod Ward (still tall after knee problems sapped his five-star bounce), and the late Robert Traylor in the starting lineup. This is the most likely nominee yet, in my opinion.
Nah. I don't remember Sweet Lou or Reid ever dunking.
Robbie Reid was definitely not-a-dunker.
This post could have used an editor. If you don't have the goods, either say that and put some real analysis over it, or it's okay to just punt and not publish it either.
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