With Hop and Flick, Little Guys Get Upper Hand

[boutons_deux]

The slam dunk has captivated the basketball world for a generation with its combination of raw ferocity and balletic grace, but this year a different shot is sweeping the N.B.A. playoffs.
It is called the teardrop. And it is the antidunk.

If the slam dunk is all power, the teardrop is all finesse, a dandelion fluff of a shot that is nearly always tossed up by the smallest player on the floor. The teardrop floats over defenders’ outstretched hands, arcs toward the rafters and then — especially this year — drops through the net with barely a whisper.

This week, teardrops have helped fuel an upset in Miami, a rout in New York and a double-overtime classic in San Antonio. Some of the brightest stars of the playoffs — Nate Robinson of the Chicago Bulls, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Raymond Felton of the Knicks — stand between 5 feet 9 inches and 6-3, shrubs amid courts packed with redwoods. But each has used the teardrop to take control of a game.

The San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, generally viewed as the league’s current teardrop master, insisted that he came up with the shot as a child. “I got copyrights on that,” he said. “I did that because I was small and it was the only way I could get a shot off on the bigs. I grew a little bit later.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/09...?from=homepage

[HarlemHeat37]

I miss the days when Parker could make floaters..seems like it's been months, tbh..