Who is the better dunker, Steve "Franchise" Francis or Russell Westbrook?

[tgan3]

Not player, which obviously goes to Westbrook. Who is the better pure dunker?

I believe Francis is underrated because he doesn't live in the era of HD videos so dunks are less appreciated, I remember the dunk on Jahidi White which was sick, only managed to find a grainy footage of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2F0XzDhZ-Q

Also, bringing to the topic of the dunk contest, if he wasn't up against the GOAT dunker, Francis would have won it...

http://ballislife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ef31b9408917103defc3554c6920fca8.jpg

http://www.oocities.org/tzovas/gallery/francis_reverse.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1va0jKaek1qm9rypo1_1280.jpg

http://ballislife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/425472_10150844188772178_433983352_n.jpg

[buddha]

Goatbrook, he throws it down with more power and speed.

[warriorfan]

empty dunks

[theaussieguy]

this ones an obvious one, westbrook fools a lot of people with his long arms that hes some special dunker. In reality Francis was getting up 43 inches on his dunks, some of the stuff he pulled is simply not possible for a 36.5 inch vertical possessed by Westbrook. That second picture of Francis with the double handed pump reverse is a clear example of something that just cannot be achieved by Westbrook because his lack of vertical.

[SHAQisGOAT]

I'll probably pick Stevie, on this one. Overlooked dunkers these days.

[Bosnian Sajo]

this ones an obvious one, westbrook fools a lot of people with his long arms that hes some special dunker. In reality Francis was getting up 43 inches on his dunks, some of the stuff he pulled is simply not possible for a 36.5 inch vertical possessed by Westbrook. That second picture of Francis with the double handed pump reverse is a clear example of something that just cannot be achieved by Westbrook because his lack of vertical.

Ok, but this isn't about who jumps the highest. And you lost me with the long arms shit, what you cant be a special dunker if you have long arms? And lack of verticle?? :oldlol: Have you ever watched Rus play, buddy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QX59NsUnmY

Most explosive dunker in the game rn, his in game SLAMS fire his entire team up, not to mention the stadium. Go to 1:24 to see what I mean by explosive, I mean the entire vid is good, but that dunk is just...mff!

[FKAri]

Francis

[theaussieguy]

Ok, but this isn't about who jumps the highest. And you lost me with the long arms shit, what you cant be a special dunker if you have long arms? And lack of verticle?? :oldlol: Have you ever watched Rus play, buddy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QX59NsUnmY

Most explosive dunker in the game rn, his in game SLAMS fire his entire team up, not to mention the stadium. Go to 1:24 to see what I mean by explosive, I mean the entire vid is good, but that dunk is just...mff!

I never said you cant be a long dunker because of long arms, I am just saying Westbrook doesn't get up as high as people think. Nor dod I say he was a bad dunker, hes a pretty good one. Just not as good as Steve Francis who was D rose level freak.

[GOATbrook]

this ones an obvious one, westbrook fools a lot of people with his long arms that hes some special dunker. In reality Francis was getting up 43 inches on his dunks, some of the stuff he pulled is simply not possible for a 36.5 inch vertical possessed by Westbrook. That second picture of Francis with the double handed pump reverse is a clear example of something that just cannot be achieved by Westbrook because his lack of vertical.

Westbrook has at least 39inch vertical, he hit backboard with his head.

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/229/files/2015/02/Russel-Westbrook-backboard.png

Obviously you are Westbrook hater, but you can't hate on da Brodie :cheers:

[Meticode]

Francis had better creativity. Westbrook is more powerful. For flash, give me Francis. For momentum in a game, give me Westbrook.

[theaussieguy]

prime D rose over both of them tho

[Rake2204]

Francis had better creativity. Westbrook is more powerful. For flash, give me Francis. For momentum in a game, give me Westbrook.I think this is pretty accurate. I've seen Westbrook mix it up with some reverses and more, but he does seem to be more about attacking hard and finishing with fury (which is awesome). Francis used to make me wonder more about what type of dunk might be coming next.

Also, Francis had just about perfected the two-footed poster for a guy his size. His execution seemed to allow him to go over the top of a fair bit of opponents body-to-body. This is not a rhetorical question but - does Westbrook have a share of those? I remember a lot of "to the side of the defender with authority" dunks, where he goes off two feet and rips the rim (like his slam against Detroit this year) but do you guys have some notable body-to-body clips? I presume they must be out there.

Either way, can't go wrong with either of these dunkers in their prime.

[rapker]

Westbrook is just aesthetically more pleasing to me. The speed, the power, the verocity, and the energy he puts in every dunk is just amazing. :rockon:

[Wally450]

That first picture is crazy, look how high he is. Didn't really see much of Francis as a dunker. Was he on the the same level that Westbrook is now?

[theaussieguy]

That first picture is crazy, look how high he is. Didn't really see much of Francis as a dunker. Was he on the the same level that Westbrook is now?

not on the same level, more like beyond WB's level, Steve Francis has one of the highest verticals of all time at 43 inches. This is what allowed him to get over defenders and have body to body dunks, like Rake mentioned. Westbrook with his 36.5 inch vertical would have a hard time doing that on anyone over 6 foot.

[SugarHill]

Steve Francis has no case. Get the fvck out of here if you think that shit. Overrated dunker. Aside from a couple stylistic dunks in the contest, what has he really done besides hang on the rim? No power behind his dunks. Just had a lot of bounce. His dunks weren't particularly amazing. Westbrook is the greatest dunker PG of all time and the only one in his range was Rose.

Seriously tho, people always say he had "flashy" dunks and I agree, but to be quite frank, I find Westbrook's dunks to be more aesthetically pleasing.

[Rake2204]

Steve Francis has no case. Get the fvck out of here if you think that shit. Overrated dunker. Aside from a couple stylistic dunks in the contest, what has he really done besides hang on the rim? No power behind his dunks. Just had a lot of bounce. His dunks weren't particularly amazing. Westbrook is the greatest dunker PG of all time and the only one in his range was Rose.

Seriously tho, people always say he had "flashy" dunks and I agree, but to be quite frank, I find Westbrook's dunks to be more aesthetically pleasing.Still having a tough time deciding myself.

Westbrook from a dunking standpoint reminds me of an evolutionary Latrell Sprewell (again, just from a dunking standpoint). Sprewell had the capabilities to do an array of dunks, but he was primarily a guy who simply enjoyed attacking at 110 miles per hour and hammering those two-hand tomahawks off two feet.

Similarly, I've seen Westbrook windmill and reverse, but his tendency is to go really fast and hammer with one hand (and sometimes two). It's great to watch and he has wonderful energy, power, and post-dunk enthusiasm. One of my favorite dunkers now.

But I don't know... Francis may have gone out and found different cool ways to dunk more often. He didn't dunk as powerfully, but almost no one does. He did have an awesome looking signature go-to dunk though (the side-facing one-handed rocket boost).

He was also a frequent alley-oop threat (remember the Mobley-Francis connection?) and seemed to enjoy keeping the people guessing whenever he could (jackhammer reverses, self-bounce alley-oop, tip-dunks). On top of all his dunk capabilities, they had good style too, in terms of rim-hanging, set-up, and aesthetics.

A video for reference, starting at the first dunk part. There's another dunk part later in the clip (2:35): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeqUefRwNSw#t=1m10s

[SugarHill]

Spree is actually a really good comparison for Westbrook. Both dunked with fury but Spree was even more one dimensional than Westbrook. 99% of his dunks were the 2 handed tomahawks. I don't think any guard dunked that hard with two hands.

Francis also probably had the GOAT reverse pump. He perfected that shit.

[Graviton]

Westbrook's dunks are something else, just the sound of the rim when he jams it is on another level. The only other player who got that loud pop noise on his dunks was 2009-2012 Lebron. It's like he has his own sound effects.

Just pay attention to the net and the ball bounce when Westbrook throws it down, the ball bounces off the floor and goes so damn high even after going through the ring, it's as if it GAINS more power and momentum instead of losing it. Never seen a PG, or hell any non big dunk with that much raw strength. Idk how it's even possible.

[j3lademaster]

Westbrook's the better game dunker. Much more fearless and tenacious.

[SugarHill]

Westbrook's dunks are something else, just the sound of the rim when he jams it is on another level. The only other player who got that loud pop noise on his dunks was 2009-2012 Lebron. It's like he has his own sound effects.

Just pay attention to the net and the ball bounce when Westbrook throws it down, the ball bounces off the floor and goes so damn high even after going through the ring, it's as if it GAINS more power and momentum instead of losing it. Never seen a PG, or hell any non big dunk with that much raw strength. Idk how it's even possible.

http://i.imgur.com/dPThq2n.gif http://i.imgur.com/ZbcHVl2.gif

Vince and Iggy did that a lot. Iggy did it on a windmill. That's impressive. :oldlol:

[John Tesh]

I doubt Westbrook would top Francis in the dunk contest, but Westbrook is better in game.

[HylianNightmare]

The franchise

[theaussieguy]

Westbrook's dunks are something else, just the sound of the rim when he jams it is on another level. The only other player who got that loud pop noise on his dunks was 2009-2012 Lebron. It's like he has his own sound effects.

Just pay attention to the net and the ball bounce when Westbrook throws it down, the ball bounces off the floor and goes so damn high even after going through the ring, it's as if it GAINS more power and momentum instead of losing it. Never seen a PG, or hell any non big dunk with that much raw strength. Idk how it's even possible.

I never understood why the sound of a dunk matters, so westbrook slams the hoop hard because hes got the emotional capacity of a 5 year old in the middle of a temper tantrum so what?. Anyone can throw it down hard most just choose not too. Its about how u get there not how hard u slam ur hand on the rim.

[eliteballer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIoDdxByoY

still crazy. I remember he was being measured at higher verticals than VC in the dunk contest.

and Russ clearly jumps with the best of them too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xNIhMSvcNo