Brandon Miller Made His Case To Be The First Entry For The Dunk Of The Year
Entering his second season, Brandon Miller is getting a lot of hype as a player who is poised to make a substantial Year 2 leap and for good reason. It's not his fault he just so happened to also be in the same Draft class as Wemby, because as a rookie Brandon Miller was certainly no joke. He also got kind of boned that Chet Holmgren was also considered a rookie after he missed his whole first year, otherwise Miller would have finished 2nd in ROY behind Wemby. A legit 17.3/4.3/2.4 on 44/37% splits in 74 games (68 starts), there's no reason that now with a legit head coach (Charles Lee) and a year under his belt, Miller shouldn't have a massive Year 2.
Take last night for example in the Hornets' preseason game against the Pacers, who were playing all their guys. In the first half alone Miller put up 20 on 6-10 (5-7), and while the outside shooting is certainly nice and for sure welcomed in the fast-paced Hornets offense, Miller also did this
Alright, this is tricky. As someone who has blogged my fair share of posters, this is an interesting case. I want to freak out over it, there's no denying what Brandon Miller did to Myles Turner on that play is extremely impressive, but there's just one thing I'm not sure what to do about whenever it comes to these types of plays.
Everything about this poster attempt started off about as perfectly as you could want. Plenty of time to collect the ball and gather, with a takeoff point right around the low block
From there, it's a one-on-one battle at the top against Myles Turner. When Miller jumped, he kept floating up, rising higher and higher in order to get over Turner's contest. Meeting at the apex is another key element of a quality poster. Your best vs their best and let's battle it out at the top and see who wins
From here, if Miller brings this dunk down with force and has a clean finish, we're talking about an early candidate for Dunk Of The Year no question. But this is where I get stuck, to me, that looked more like a throw-in finish with no contact on the rim. Watch that zoomed-in video again and tell me what you think. I slowed it down frame by frame and I "think" there may be the smallest of contact here
But honestly, it's too blurry to say for sure. If he even got the slightest bit of contact with his finger, it changes how I view this play. I've just never really put throw-in dunks in the same category as a true poster. The finish matters. For example, when Blake Griffin did something similar, he at least made contact with the rim
and even this one is controversial in terms of how people view it. Personally, I'm willing to count it as a poster. Plus Blake Griffin rules so the tie goes to him. With Millers attempt, I feel like I have to deduct points from the overall dunk given that I can't be sure he ever really made contact with the rim. As a result, I do not think it qualifies as a true poster. Dunk Of Year entry denied, unfortunately. You can't just throw that term around with everything, it has to mean something and if we're going to have any integrity with this race during the year then we have to have standards.
It's still an awesome play, absolutely worthy of praise, and as a Hornets fan I'd be over the moon with how Miller has looked this preseason. But at the end of the day, you have to stick the landing if you want a perfect score