Watch The Best High-Flying Moments Of The Tournament So Far

Willie Cauley-Stein
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The Big Dance is about moments.

While those which most capture the country’s imagination is the pageantry and emotion of March, the best teams and players performing on the same stage lends itself to a plethora basketball highlights that enrapture the game’s true fans, too. And there’s nothing more exciting about hoops than giants showing off their surreal athleticism via impressive aerial feats.

BLOCKS

Dunks aren’t the only plays to be made in mid-air. There’s two sides to the floor in basketball, and a timely, momentum-changing block can be just as awesome and influential as a rim-ratting jam.

And who better to first exemplify that reality than Duke’s all-court defensive monster, Justise Winslow? San Diego State’s poor J.J. O’Brien simply had no chance here.

And that wasn’t even the 6-6 freshman’s best block of the Round of 32.

Neither of Winslow’s swats was as authoritative as Darion Atkins’, though. What was Michigan State’s Alvin Ellis thinking when challenging the ACC Defensive Player of the Year?

The problem is that the Virginia senior’s block came in a losing effort. Pat Connaughton’s epic game-saving rejection of Butler’s Kellen Dunham, on the other hand, gave Notre Dame the chance to win in overtime – one of which the Irish took full advantage.

DUNKS

Blocks are nice, but dunks are better.

And this classic rim-rocker from Arizona’s Stanley Johnson – which elicited a comparison to LeBron James from Reggie Miller – is aerial grace at its absolute finest.

Not every dunker can rise like Johnson, though. Some use length and sheer aggressiveness to pull-off slams, like Gonzaga freshman Domantas Sabonis.

Oregon’s Joseph Young, meanwhile, had the best “little guy” dunk of the opening weekend – one good enough that we enjoyed a lively debate about whether or not it was better than a jam by the Sacramento Kings’ Derrick Williams. What do you think?

How do you feel about the grassroots campaign to ban offensive charges? If you’re against the movement, this poster slam by Wyoming’s Derek Cooke, Jr. might change your mind. The dunk didn’t count because officials called a charge, but we certainly remember it.

And here’s the best jam of the NCAA Tournament so far. Lesson: Never jump with Willie Cauley-Stein! Too big, too strong, too good – kind of like the Kentucky Wildcats as a whole, actually.

THE CHAIR

Air is air, right Ron Hunter? The Georgia State coach’s fall could prove to be the moment of the Tournament, and rightfully so.

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