POTD 12/18/12: Gerald Henderson Mozgovs Dwight Howard

How does a Gerald Henderson Mozgov compare to a Blake Griffin Mozgov? Well… more favorably than you might imagine, I’d say.

With about eight minutes to play in LA’s eventual one-point victory over Charlotte, Henderson curled into the lane and received a bounce pass from Bismack Biyombo. All in one motion, he gathered the ball, and himself, before exploding off of two feet. With the ball in his right hand, Henderson wound up for a powerful finish. Dwight Howard made a half-assed attempt to prevent the basket by shoving Henderson in the waist, but the contact only propelled him higher. Finally, at the peak of his jump, Henderson quite literally threw it down.

First of all, what in the hell is going on with Dwight Howard? He got mashed on twice during the preseason, and he’s been on the wrong side of two POTDs in the last three days. Pretty strange considering he had previously appeared on the posterized list just two times in four years. Oddly, it’s as though the less he tries on defense the more he gets dunked on. Usually it’s the other way around.

Alright, time to rate this dunk. I’ve been thinking about this all morning, and I’ve finally made my decision: I’m going with a 9.5. I’ve never deemed any dunk a 9.5 before, but I think this is the play that finally calls for it. Everything about the slam screams 10, but that ultra-weak contest from Dwight simply doesn’t warrant putting this poster amongst the absolute best of the best. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough contact here for me to award a perfect score. Remember, this isn’t a dunk contest, but a poster dunk contest.

Dunk rating on the Starbury Nastiness Scale: