No offense to the Friars, but I'm going to give out this anthem to our boy JAWANZA! because I want to go back to his dunk against DePaul last Thursday. And not so much to study his double-clutch reverse jam, but to take a look at how everyone on the bench reacted as he threw it down.
Here's the dunk again, as if you haven't already watched it about 75 times on YouTube.
Jawanza Poland steal & dunk (via mocksessiondotcom)
Let's go seat by seat and break down the reactions. This wasn't like a "they might charge the court" moment but it was pretty solid.
- Guy In Suit #1 (I'm thinking this is Victor Rudd): Holding a towel before the dunk. After Jawanza throws it down, he slowly gets up and then does a giddy hop-step in his spot at the sideline. Minor points off for not waving the towel like Jack Haley.
- Guy In Polo Shirt (probably the trainer): Stands up just before Jawanza's dunk. Lets out an "OHHHHHH!!!" towards the rafters and does a double fist pump after the dunk. Then he looks to his left toward the coaches and thinks he might look too excited, so he starts clapping modestly.
- Jordan Heath: Stands up quickly right before the dunk. He takes a couple of steps forward and strikes the Superman pose with his chest puffed out and hands near his hips. After the dunk he makes a violent left-handed fist pump and starts bouncing on the balls of his feet.
- Alberto Damour: Stands up at the same time as Jordan Heath waiting to see what happens. After the dunk he yells in delight at Jawanza and flexes his arms down in front of him. He's also the only player to cross the sideline after the dunk.
- Mike Burwell: Stands up at the same time as Heath and Damour. When Jawanza dunks it, he puts his hands up near his chest and reels back in "shock", laughing to himself.
- Shedrick Haynes: Stands up a little bit ahead of the other three at his end of the bench, but doesn't really react visibly after the dunk. Maybe he just got up so he could get a good look at it.
- Guy In Suit #2 (this might be video coordinator Anthony Brammer): My favorite reaction on the entire bench. When Jawanza throws it down, he forgets where he is for a second and starts to stand up to celebrate with both fists in the air. Then it hits him that he's in a suit and he can't jump up and start yelling like a fan, so he sits down quickly and glances down to Reggie Hanson with a "did you see that" expression. Hanson doesn't even look up from his stat sheet. Poor guy just wanted to high five somebody.
- Reggie Hanson: He doesn't have a straight reaction like the players do, but as Jawanza dunks the ball he shifts noticeably in his seat before writing down the basket on his stat sheet.
- Shaun Noriega: Shaun is one of the first guys up off the bench, and he slowly rises to his feet by the time Jawanza is dunking the ball. It takes him a second to react, like he was daydreaming what it would be like for him to dunk the ball, but then he snaps out of it and starts clapping.
- Lavonte Dority: Dority stays seated until the dunk happens. Then he stands up and puts his fist up near his mouth like he's trying to pinch himself or bite his lip to keep from getting too excited. Either that or he's making some kind of bird call, which would just be weird.
- Toarlyn Fitzpatrick: Hands down the most excited guy on the bench for this dunk. He's the first guy to stand up in anticipation, before Jawanza even gets inside the three-point line. He tosses his towel aside and cocks his arm to celebrate. Then he pumps it down in a "cha-ching" motion as the ball is dunked, kicking his right leg out and howling up to the roof in excitement.
- Gus Gilchrist: Didn't move a muscle and might not have even been looking.
- Eric Skeeters: Stood up for a better view of the dunk and filled out his stat sheet while still standing up. Looks like just the right level of decorum for a coach who is still impressed as hell by what he just saw.
- Stan Heath: Kind of leaned back as Jawanza was in the air, hoping he wouldn't blow the dunk or fall awkwardly. Then he quickly turned to the three players who stayed in the back court to call out the next defensive set. He was on to the next play before this play was even finished.
I know, you're expecting something like "Kryptonite' from 3 Doors Down for our USF basketball Superman. (The fouls are the kryptonite.) Well that would just be taking the easy way out, and I'm not exactly sure that song counts as queefcore. So instead, today's queefcore anthem is "Dizzy" by the Goo Goo Dolls. We don't have very much to hang our hats on this season, but at least we get ten more games of JAWANZA! this year to see if he can match or even exceed that moment last Thursday. Everything you are, whatever ever you are.
The Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy (via XxSmokeLoccxX)