For some reason I find this whole “keep Jason Maxiell humble” act by the veterans pretty hilarious. When they’re not throwing basketballs at him when he’s trying to give an interview, they’re throwing barbs when they’re giving an interview. Here’s Lindsey Hunter talking to Krista Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press after Max went 18 and 11 against the Nets:
“He was OK,” [Lindsey] Hunter said. “I’m not going to say he was all that, but Max was all right. He still missed a couple of defensive assignments. He gambled out on one play which he wasn’t supposed to gamble on, and they hit a three in the corner, so you’ve got to keep him focused or he’ll get besides himself.”
Maxiell, whose locker is next to Hunter’s, mumbled in mock outrage during that speech. Then, when asked about Maxiell’s dunks, Hunter said, “That’s nothing spectacular. He’s supposed to do that.”
Nothing spectacular?
Okay, maybe a little …
That was too much. Maxiell had to turn around, mouth agape, hands on hips.
Finally, Hunter relented.
“No, he’s been playing great,” he said.
Just for kicks, Maxiell eats another baby (this time over Yi Jianlian) after the jump.
And everyone made fun of me when I took Max on the ol’ fantasy team. Everytime I give the nod to McDyess he makes me pay.
pssst. Jason Maxiell is OH-BEAST! Pass it on.
I love that first dunk, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that was his best dunk to-date.
The crazy thing is, Max doesn’t jump all that high.
Most times he’s just far enough over the rim to jam it down with a lot of compression. Meanwhile his blocks are very unusual, often spearing the *underside* of the ball after it’s been released. Talk about a quick leaper! It’s as if he burns some hotter form of propellant in his leg muscles.
I’m going to take that back and say that dunk is TIED for best dunk to-date. Because the one he had against Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the 06-07 regular season was absolutely ridiculous, also.
Color me contrarian, but I much prefer the dunk over Yi. My preference probably has to do with the fact that in the (albeit nasty) dunk against New Jersey, no one is within 5 feet of him. In the Milwaukee dunk, Yi comes to challenge and ends up cowering back to his crib, hoping to avoid being feast upon by Maxiell. And even though he’s a third year player, this season seems to be Maxiell’s coming out party, so I got no beef with the veterans razzing him. I think Lindsey is too often overlooked for his ribbing skills. Most times I see him interviewed he’s razzing someone and it’s usually pretty funny. And let’s not forget how Lindsey responded to Baby Eater’s Soulja Boy.
Re: Diablo
Yes, the dunk on Big Z last year was ridiculous.
OT: Varejoke signed an offer sheet with the Bobcats apparently for 3 years at the midlevel exception (totaling $17 million over the term of the deal). Oh how I wish Danny Ferry sends him packing to the Bobcats so we don’t have to see him flopping come playoff time.
I would put Maxiell’s dunk on Kobe from the other week in the running as well. It gets bonus points for prestige, because it was Mamba. Kobe’s babies are worth 3x that of a regular baby.
Matt, Thanks for the links. Always nice to see Maxi in action
Hell Yeh, MAX!!