ZagSlammed: Portland

The Zags have treated us to some highlight reel dunks (Silas Melson - see Recap: Zags over BYU 87-80 for video, Przemek Karnowski at Portland).  There might be more on the way, so I'm taking the liberty of coining the term "ZagSlam."  It's a noun, it's a verb, it's a cheesy way of describing something awesome.  In case it's not entirely self-explanatory, it's anytime a Zag dunks a ball, and puts some stank on it.  Typically the play will accentuate a run, turn momentum (either wake up the Kennel, or shut down an away crowd), cause the other team to immediately call a timeout, or some combination thereof.

The Dunk

Melson got cheated out of the first ZagSlam honors, but Karnowski's is very worthy.  Kevin Pangos poked and prodded the strong side wing defense while Karnowski roamed the baseline.  Pangos drove causing the defense to collapse on him when he reached mid-key.  Thomas van der Mars, guarding Karnowski, joined leaving Karnowski with the open baseline.  Pangos quickly fed Karnowski and rolled off as Karnowski dunked the ball with two hands.  It is a bit strange van der Mars didn't have a hand in the passing lane.  At 6'10" he seems long enough to at least obstruct the lane, but whatever happened (Pangos' pass too quick, van der Mars hook-line-sinkered, the camera angle showing less hardwood to cover than there really was), the defense took the bait, and it left Karnowski with the open baseline.  All that van der Mars could do against his own momentum was watch or hack, and he hacked.  That resulted in an And 1 and some sweaty chest-bumps.

ZagSlam Honorable Mention - Kevin Pangos

Karnowski obviously finished the play with style, but the real play-maker was Pangos.  He had the court vision to find the lane, notice van der Mars was straggling Karnowski for the help defense, and make the initial attack.  That's what really gave Karnowski the open baseline to finish the play.  Basketball purists still have a fetish for true point guard efficiency and if you do too, you ate up his high yo-yo, attack to bait the defensive triple team, and the quick feed for the easy dunk.

The following is a video of the big man doing it all (points, boards, assists, blocks, and even a very deep 3 with :15 left on the shot clock):

Karnowski's Highlights