Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
It takes a lot to impress Terrence Ross. Producing SportsCenter/Centre’s play of the night doesn’t do it, because “I don’t even have cable to see it.” Being able to bring a crowd of 20,000 to its feet with a dunk doesn’t faze him either because he’s usually so zoned in on the court he can’t hear it until afterward. Ross got a welcomed surprise when he caught highlights of the game after the Toronto Raptors handled the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Watching the replay of his ridiculous two-handed catch and one-handed finish off of an alley oop tossed up by Kyle Lowry, Ross was pleased. “The [dunk against the Jazz] was literally my favourite dunk,” he said. Adding weight to this claim was the Instagram post of the play Ross uploaded with the same caption. When something gets the Instagram stamp of approval, you know it’s real.
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Ross’ dunking ability is such that the posterization atop everyone from Sports Illustrated to NBA.com’s “Best Of” lists for last season didn’t really impress him. That dunk was his own over (and through) Denver’s Kenneth Faried. “I don't really like most of my dunks, not even the Faried dunk,” Ross shrugged. “I didn’t really like it. It was never really my favourite dunk. It was a good dunk to everyone else, but I just didn’t like it.” Ross’ teammates have raised the bar when it comes to his dunking, too. “You really can’t get too excited with things T. Ross does because he’s one of the best dunkers in the league,” DeMar DeRozan said. “If you throw it it up there and there’s any chance he can get it, he’s going to get it.” As amazing as Ross’ in-game dunks can be, 10-year veteran Amir Johnson is most in awe of Ross during practice. “He does some stuff in practice and I'm like, 'Wow,'” Johnson said. “Without even warming up, he does a between the legs dunk.” Asked to describe the feeling of flying through the air, reaching heights the rest of us could only dream of, Ross’ response had a nonchalance that only the most athletic of humans can manage.
“You’re zoned out,” the 23-year-old said. “You never really hear [the crowd], it happens so fast. It’s something you do and then you’re like, ‘Yeah okay, cool. I just dunked. Got a little dunk. That’s nice,’ but after that it’s whatever. “You can’t explain it,” a chuckling Ross continued. “It’s more emotion, like a habit. It’s just something that kind of happens. It’s not like I plan on going up and doing whatever I do.”
In a career littered with breathtaking displays of athleticism, the thing that made Saturday’s play so special was that Ross didn’t think he was going to be able to get to it. “I personally just like it because I honestly didn’t think I was going to make the dunk,” Ross said. “I was honestly just trying to like lay it up or shoot it in, or do whatever, but I got so close to the rim I actually dunked it. It was one of my hardest dunks I've ever done.” Helping to make it so aesthetically pleasing was the extent to which Ross had to extend himself to receive the pass and then guide it through the net. “For sure,” Ross said. “I liked everything about it because I didn't think I was going to get it. It just, I caught it with my fingertips and I just had enough force to push it towards the rim.” What does one think about while soaring above the rim, en route to a throwdown? “When I know I’m about to dunk I just zone in on one thing,” Ross said. “I look at the rim or find the ball or do whatever and hope it goes in. For the most part, it’s kind of something that takes over.” Something most of us will only be able to experience vicariously.