This is the closest I could find for Omar over David West.  Gives a flavor of the moment and I disliked Doellman as much as West.  For those who didn't see, Omar almost jumped clear over West to slam the ball.  Almost.  West got a face-full of Omar's crotch instead.

Last edited by BM (4/01/2020 2:47 pm)

BM wrote:

Armwood putback dunk in OT vs (again) Dayton deserves a mention.  I also personally loved Pinnock's tomahawk and yawn in Martelli's face to win the A-10 tournament.

My votes:

Play in:  Omar Dunk over Rice Dagger

First Round:

Elliott half-court over Omar Dunk
Mo Rice shot over Creek Dagger
Elliott "from" Wilmore over Mo Rice to Diggs
Shawnta vs X over JoeMac putback
 

Great thread.

I would vote the same way except I’m having a hard time with Elliot from Wilmore vs Rob Diggs off the backboard dunk in traffic.   The former play sent us to 16-0 and set off the greatest spontaneous celebration in A10 history.  The latter is simply one of the greatest individual plays I’ve ever seen in any college basketball games.  I mean, you see maybe one off the backboard dunk somewhere in college hoops once or a year or so, but it’s always on a breakaway and never in traffic like that. 

I’ll give the vote to Rice/Diggs just because I’m sure the votes will go fhe other way but that spectacular play deserves a vote.


Here’s some others  worth mentioning that popped into my head as I was writing this:

-Pops jumps over a guy for a dunk.  I think it was a Bonnies player.  It was a play that could have possibly won an NBA slam dunk contest and he did it during a game.

- Jabari Edwards blocks Dayton star’s shot at the buzzer to win a game (forget who that was he blocked).

- Matt Hart from 30 feet for the swish in NiT game at MSG, where Longeran’s hands went up to signal good as soon as Hart released it.    To me that shot is the enduring image of the NIT championship. 

- Yegor Mescheriakov’s first touch as a Colonial.  Caught it in the post and spun around his defender for a monster jam.  It was only an exhibition, like the Pops FT dunk, but it was the greatest first touch I’ve seen.

- Two from the preseason NIt win at Syracuse: one, Antoine Hart blocks a shot off someone’s bald head so hard that the ball flew high in the air and landed near mid court.  And 2, Nimbo Hammond down the lane for the monster jam.

- Vaughn Jones strip of a rebound and putback against the Fab 5 in the sweet 16, followed by giving the Fab 5 some of the trash talk they were giving us earlier in the game.

- Yinka fast break down the lane slam vs New Mexico in our first ever NCAA win.

- Vaughn Jones with the coast to coast running one handed to beat Xavier in double OT

- Yinka dunking on Donyell Marshall in the NCAA second round so hard that Donyell pulled his hand away at the last second to avoid getting it broken.

- and of course, Mike Hall baits Leemire Goldwire into elbowing him in the face at the perfect time.

Gwmayhem wrote:

FQ, the Jabari block came against Chris Wright who was undoubtedly their best player and who likely did not have many of his shots blocked during his career.

I don't know if you're old enough to remember the Oscar Wilmington dunk against the Bonnies, likely around 1982.  It was on a breakaway but the thing was that back then, NOBODY in college was throwing the ball off the glass, catching it in mid-air, and throwing it down.  It may not be the most meaningful or timely play but it is the single most electrifying one I can recall at Smith Center.  It also helped GW overcome a 14 point deficit with around 6 minutes left to get a victory (and, without the benefit of a three point shot which hadn't become a rule yet).

Chris Wright.  I knew it was their star, but was blaming on his name.  That was an underrated play by a not so good team.

I am not old enough for the Oscar Wilmington dunk but I have heard about that on the old board over the years.

Another play I didn’t mention isn’t really a play exactly, but it’s when Tom Penders pantomimed the giant belly at the red who give him two Ts and ejected him vs Siena (resulting in a 10 point possession and a 7 point possession).

With all of the news over the past week or so, this tournament thread has fallen by the wayside.  Therefore, I'm going to give it a bump and extend the voting deadline to this Monday at noon.  If we don't receive a few more voters, we'll put this one to bed.

As a reminder, you should vote on the best play in GW Men's Basketball history from these choices:

Play-in Matchup:  The Mo Rice 3 point dagger at Xavier to keep the 2005-06 conference record undefeated VS. The Omar Williams Throwdown on David West of Xavier

Winner of Play in VS. Carl Elliott steal and heave at Dayton during the 2004-05 season

Mo Creek buzzer beater over Maryland VS. Mo Rice grabbing a rebound, dribbling the ball back outside the arc, and nailing a three to send the infamous Charlotte game into overtime in 2006. 

Rob Diggs slam off of an off the glass pass by Rice during 2007-08 season VS Carl Elliott game winner vs. Charlotte off the Noel Wilmore pass/miss to cap a 27-1/16-0 season in 2006.

Joe McDonald putback game winner over Dayton VS Shawnta Rogers bomb to win the A10 West over Xavier.

I'll tally the votes and will only vote to break any ties. 

It does not appear that we have enough interest to make this a tournament.  Thank you BM, FQ and 22nd&F for taking the time to vote.

Feel free to keep the thread alive by commenting on what you think the winner should be.  My top 3 were the Carl steal and heave at Dayton, the Carl putback to beat Charlotte, and the Shawnta game-winner over Xavier.   My analysis comes down to a) the actual play itself, b) the game circumstances of the play and c) the seasonal or historical circumstances.  The play at Dayton is tops for reason a), and I place a lot of credit on it coming at Dayton, a place that GW simply does not win at.  The Carl putback clinched the 26-1/16-0 regular season and launched the best celebration I have ever witnessed.  But, there were several outstanding plays that preceded it (the Rice 3 to send it to overtime and the "Hall-baiting of Leemire"; plus, the actual play itself was really an accident (unless you feel that Noel was throwing an alley oop to Carl).  The Shawnta play had great stakes (beating out Xavier for the A10 West title which I believe was GW's first-ever regular season title even if it was a divisional one), a great storyline (Shawnta coming out of a sick bed), a very unlikely hero in Andry Sola, who had 10 offensive rebounds that entire season, back-tipping the first Shawnta miss to Mike King who immediately found Shawnta), the thrill of a buzzer beater, and of course, it was Shawnta.  In my mind, when everything is factored, I believe that Shawnta edges out Carl's astonishing play at Dayton for the greatest play in GW men's basketball history.  The putback against Charlotte comes in 3rd; it arguably meant the most but it's sheepish execution causes it to lose some style points.