An In-Depth Analysis of the UVa Bench Celebrations of DeAndre Hunter’s UNC Dunk

One of the most exciting parts of UVa’s complete dismantling of the Carolina basketball team yesterday was DeAndre Hunter’s massive dunk over Joel Berry in the second half. Considering Virginia’s stifling defense led to 19 UNC turnovers and numerous dunks for the Hoos, Hunter’s hustle in grabbing the offensive board and thereafter boomshakalaka perfectly summed up UVa’s domination in the JPJ Saturday.

While we’ve all had time to review and celebrate the basics of this momentous play, a further in-depth analysis is required due to the diverse and plentiful collection of reactions from the UVa players who were on the bench at the time of the dunk:

This broader view of the play allows us the best view of a few reactions:

Jack Salt - #33

Move: Double pump underarm flex: 3/5 Enthusiasm: 3/5

Overall: 6/10

A solid effort from the Big Kiwi, who had a few dunkalicious plays himself this game. I appreciate Jack’s reliance on his major strength: strength in his display.

Isaiah Wilkins - #21

Move: Raised both hands: 2/5 + bonus point for being in the game. Enthusiasm: 3/5

Overall: 6/10

Wilkins gets the bonus point to bring him to a six out of ten, because he was on the floor at the time. This of course limits the time and energy a player can really put into a celebration (note: this would not be valid in the case of an immediate timeout following the play).

Coach Tony Bennett

Move: Fist pump, clapping, brisk walk down the sideline: 2/5 Enthusiasm: 4/5

Overall: 6/10

This is about as much emotion as we can expect from Coach, so his 4/5 in enthusiasm is certainly relative.

The above shot gives us a closer look at the remaining bench.

Kyle Guy - #5

Move: Extreme hunch crab pose flex: 3/5 Enthusiasm: 5/5

Overall: 8/10

The face really makes this celebration. Perhaps not the most expressive physically, the extreme degree of the crunching of his body brought up the move score.

Mamadi Diakite - #25

Move: Shocked, slight stumble, bracing against others: 1/5 Enthusiasm: 5/5

Overall: 6/10

Mamadi has an unfair advantage with his naturally amazing smile already. His Enthusiasm score in life is already a 5/5.

Marco Anthony - #24

Move: The Ol’ Flex and Scream: 1/5 Enthusiasm: 4/5

Overall: 5/10

Marco’s reaction is a natural one, which is fine for the young first year. He’ll learn from the veteran leadership on this team how to truly celebrate a massive dunk. In time, Marco. In time.

Jay Huff - #30

Move: Pogostick 360 spin. 5/5 Enthusiasm: 3/5

Overall: 8/10

Great speed on the execution and spin, fantastic creativity in the move, to truly embody how a pogostick would enjoy the play. The judges were looking for more bounce though in the hops, as we should expect from a 7’1” player.

Justice Bartley - #2

Move: Car dashboard bobble-head nod: 3/5 Enthusiasm: 4/5

Overall: 7/10

The evil smile with glee really brought up Justice’s score. The move also benefited from his intense commitment to keeping his harms completely motionless. Impressive.

Trevon Gross - #10 and Austin Kastra - #45

Move: The dual “Brace Me, Friend!” and scream: 3/10 Enthusiasm: 5/5

Overall: 8/10

We’re always happy to see coordination, though we’re giving the benefit out the doubt to Gross and Kastra that this wasn’t a case of plagiarizing and rather a well executed duo display. An extra enthusiasm point was added jittery headbang and stomp from Trevon.

Francesco Badocchi - #1

Move: The Pinocchio and leap: 5/5 Enthusiasm: 5/5

Overall: 10/10

An exceptional display from the first year! What an advanced move and perfect execution. You can practically hear “IVE GOT NO STRINGS TO HOLD ME DOWN” as he leaps into the celebration. Magnificent.