Let's enumerate the wonderful things about this GIF:
- The Orange Crush is very bad at casting spells, judging by the two dudes right behind Nik Stauskas.
- Stauskas staring down 6'11" Nnanna Egwu for a couple seconds, going "yeah, I got this," and coldly hitting a three in his face.
- Derrick Walton meandering back on defense as soon as he sees Stauskas is going to shoot.
- Andrew Dakich beginning his roll the dice flourish while the ball is still mid-flight.
- Andrew Dakich, period.
- Exasperated Orange Crush girl throwing up her WTF hands at the very end.
- The Illini fans in the far corner whose will to move/exist has been completely destroyed.
This GIF, by my highly scientific ratings, comes in at #6 for the Illinois game. You're gonna want to hit the jump and watch the rest.
[JUMP and make Tracy Abrams bail the heck out]
As usual, click the links/stills to open each GIF in a lightbox, and don't forget to vote for your favorite at the end of the post.
HONORABLE MENTION
Cheerleading is repetitive (this GIF covers 45[!] seconds, so it opens in a new tab). Stauskas starts the trolling early. Derrick Walton drive and kick to Caris LeVert. Walton and-one. Yesyesnononononononoooalright. ZAK IRVIN DRIVE AND KICK ASSIST THIS IS NOT A DRILL. John Beilein won't allow TV Teddy to be unjustly offended. GroceFace. Spike loses musical chairs. BENCH MOB BUCKET.
SPECIAL INCLUSION: MattaFace/SMHBuckeye
A serendipitous request from friend of the blog Jane Coaston. This loop couldn't be more perfect—the fan on the left is forever shaking/rubbing his head in disgust, while Thad Matta is in an eternal state of gum-smacking disbelief.
10. Fantastic Finishes
I did my best to capture the exact moment Caris LeVert shoots in each one of these GIFs. It's like he spent the game trying to one-up his own degree of difficulty.
As you should always do when Michigan does something well on the same end of court as their bench, keep an eye on Dakich in both the above GIF and the following:
My man in charge of the fold-out chairs was on point.
9. Bing, Bang, Boom
As this play unfolded, my Twitter timeline filled with praise for (1) Stauskas's ridiculous entry pass into a small window out of a double team, (2) Horford's nearly as impressive kickout from the baseline, and (3) the universe, which determined that even Michigan's iffiest outside shooter (among players that actually attempt threes) would have it going that night. This is the basketball equivalent of a flawless 3-on-2 rush in hockey.
8. He Bought The Fake
Or: Tracy Abrams Hilarious Failed Shot Contest, Part I
7. The Townshend
A relatively elaborate celebration from Dakich, naturally beginning while the ball is still in the air. The Pete Townshend windmill flourish at the end kills me.
6. Hex Fail
A zoomed-in view of the GIF at the top of the post gives a better look at the failed spellcasters, how close Egwu came to blocking the shot, and some bonus Illini fan ennui at the end. Full GIF below:
This isn't the last you'll see of Dakich, who nearly got his own post today. (Yes, there's going to be a Best of Dakich post after the season. The people have spoken.)
5. Illinois Fandom
Missed dunks are always funny. They're even better when the crowd reaction encapsulates the state of the game and just being an Illinois fan in general. ENHANCE:
Foam Finger Guy is wonderful, of course. Don't miss out on the woman two rows above him posing for an Edvard Munch painting, then transitioning seamlessly into a full double facepalm. Also, way to sneak in and pad those rebounding stats, Spike. Crafty move.
4. Shhhhhhhhhhh
Poor Tracy Abrams played this about as well as anyone could; as a reward, he ends up on a poster—that is, if the poster has a wide enough angle to show just how hard he bailed out.
This part probably wasn't necessary, but damn if it wasn't appreciated anyway:
Alternate view of the steal, slam, and its rim-rattling aftershock.
3. Moonwalk It In
Great wraparound pass by Spike, left corner Stauskas three is automatic, and Dakich steals the show once again. Yes, he's already moonwalking(-ish) when the ball reaches its apex. Then Stauskas turns to troll the entire student section.
Zoomed slow-mo of Stauskas and the Orange Crush features a Marcus Hall wannabe and a fan turning his distraction attempt into a demonstration of the human reproductive process.
2. 16 Shots, 14 Swishes, 48 Points, 33 MB, 452 Frames
Three-point supercut GIF opens in a new tab because it has to. I posted this in the comments of yesterday's mini GIFs post, and it comes in handy here:
If GIFs take a really long time to load for you, there are browser extensions that will delay playback until each GIF is fully loaded.
Chrome: GIF Delayer
Firefox: GIF Delayer
There's also the Chrome extension GIF Scrubber, which lets you have movie-like control over playback. That one is a lot of fun to play around with.
Using GIF Scrubber to turn this montage up to ludicrous speed comes with my full recommendation.
FRAMES OF THE GAME: I DON'T HEAR YOU
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
[Nik Stauskas invades, patriotism dies.]
Cold. As. Ice.